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      Patrick Filien, Peripatetic Basketball Coach, Dies at 51

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesRisk Near YouVaccine RolloutNew Variants TrackerAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThose we’ve lostPatrick Filien, Peripatetic Basketball Coach, Dies at 51After assistant coaching jobs around the country, he found his dream job as the head coach at a small college in Albany, N.Y. He died of Covid-19.Pat Filien got his first head basketball coaching job in 2018, at Bryant & Stratton College in Albany, N.Y., and it came with the job of athletic director. “This was something I’ve had to create,” he said. “You name it, I’m doing it.”Credit…University of AlbanyFeb. 25, 2021, 3:45 p.m. ETThis obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.After nearly 25 years as an assistant coach of men’s and women’s basketball teams at seven colleges, Pat Filien achieved his professional dream in 2018: He became a head coach.But he faced an unusual challenge. He was named not only to coach the first men’s basketball team at Bryant & Stratton’s campus in Albany, N.Y., but also to take charge of the small college’s inaugural plunge into sports as its athletic director.“Everywhere else I had been, everything was already established,” he told The Times Union of Albany in 2019. “This was something I’ve had to create. You name it, I’m doing it. This time last year, we didn’t even have a recruit. I didn’t even have a basketball.”In addition to guiding the basketball team to an 18-10 record and the small-college United States Collegiate Athletic Association tournament in the 2018-19 season, Mr. Filien oversaw the start-up of the school’s baseball team in 2018 and the creation of the women’s basketball team and the men’s and women’s soccer teams in 2019.Mr. Filien died on Feb. 4 at his home in East Greenbush, near Albany. He was 51.The cause was Covid-19, his brother Robert said.Patrick John Filien (pronounced FILL-ee-en) was born on Sept. 28, 1969, in Brooklyn and raised in Ozone Park, Queens. His father, Jean-Claude, had started a cellphone company in Haiti; his mother, Yolande (Charlemagne) Filien, was a legal secretary.Pat played football — he was the quarterback of his Pop Warner football team — as well as baseball and basketball, together with his brother Robert and another brother, Lesly.After playing for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s basketball team, he transferred to the College of Saint Rose in Albany, where he helped the Golden Knights to their first appearance in the Division II N.C.A.A. men’s tournament, in 1992.A 6-foot-7 forward, he was known for his exuberance, his embrace of opponents after a game and his fierce rebounding.“He literally rebounded the ball like he hadn’t eaten in a month and the ball was meat,” Brian Beaury, the former Saint Rose coach, said in The Times Union’s obituary for Mr. Filien.After Mr. Filien’s graduation, he embarked on a series of coaching jobs around the country that included stints at the University of Vermont, from 2001 to 2005, and the State University of New York at Albany, from 2005 to 2011. His teams won five consecutive conference titles, three of them while he was at Vermont and two more at Albany.“That’s what he talked about most,” his brother Robert said by phone.In addition to his brothers, Mr. Filien is survived by his wife, Tiffani (Adams) Filien; his parents; his daughter, Lauren, who plays high school basketball in East Greenbush; his son, Marcus, a forward on the Cornell University basketball team; and his sister, Marie Hamilton.After moving around so much in his coaching career, Mr. Filien was glad for landing at Bryant & Stratton, which allowed him finally to settle down, in Albany. And he had ambitions to move his school up in the ranks.“He loved it,” Robert Filien said of his brother’s job. “He was hoping to make a name for Bryant & Stratton and make it a Division III school.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Australian Open Offered Unexpected Lessons About Pandemic Sports

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka Wins TitleMen’s Final PreviewDjokovic’s RideWilliams’s Future?AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAustralian Open Offered Unexpected Lessons About Pandemic SportsThe goal was to hold a major international sports event without putting public health at risk. Mission accomplished, but pulling it off presented major, unforeseen challenges and many sleepless nights.Naomi Osaka won the women’s singles final, claiming her fourth Grand Slam championship.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesFeb. 22, 2021Updated 8:06 a.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — The leaders of the Australian Open wanted their intricate safety strategy to teach the sports world important lessons for the coronavirus pandemic: How to hold a major event with big crowds without worsening the dangers to public health.It pulled off its event — a collection of tennis tournaments played over three weeks in a major city of a country that has sacrificed much to minimize infections and deaths. But as the virus inevitably made its presence felt both directly and indirectly, the Australian Open experienced unforeseen headaches and complications that became warnings for the next group that tries to pull off a major international sporting event (hello, Tokyo Olympics).Surprise setbacks are inevitable, and don’t expect to make many friends.As the Australian Open closed Sunday night with Novak Djokovic winning his ninth men’s singles title here, it was clear that the difficulties could last for months or perhaps even years.Craig Tiley, the chief executive of Tennis Australia, said local organizers of the Tokyo Games reached out to him for advice about staging the Olympics, which are scheduled to begin in July. “I just told them, ‘Good luck,’” he said.Tennis Australia officials regularly briefed reporters on coronavirus protocols.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesProblems started even before participants traveled internationally, as tournament organizers had to scramble to make sure they could get to Australia following late cancellations of charter flights. Once the players were in Australia, strict quarantine restrictions got even tighter for roughly 25 percent of the athletes for two weeks. Then there was an unexpected day of isolation and emergency testing just before the start of the marquee event. And a statewide lockdown, prompted by infections that were not related to the tournament, banished fans from Melbourne Park for five days, a move that cost organizers dearly in ticket revenue.Amid the changing dynamics, those involved with the tournament had the persistent worry that if even a few players tested positive the event would have to shut down. That was the ante backing the deal organizers made with government officials to stage the tournament without endangering the public, a prospect that meant strict protecting against a reintroduction of the virus to the Melbourne region, which had emerged from a 111-day lockdown last year and was living life much as it had before the pandemic.Jessica Pegula, who made the women’s singles quarterfinals and whose family owns the Buffalo Bills of the N.F.L. and the Buffalo Sabres of the N.H.L., said the challenge and complexity for those organizing and competing in worldwide events is far more complicated than for domestic leagues and the N.H.L., which has teams in Canada and the United States.Jessica Pegula during her quarterfinal match against Jennifer Brady.Credit…Daniel Pockett/Getty Images“It’s so tough with an international sport having to travel,” Pegula said. “Do all the logistics of going to another bubble, figuring out I got to get tested three days before, I got to get my results, make sure I get tested when I land.”Organizers were somewhat ready to deal with some developments, like a shift to empty stadiums in the middle of the tournament. But other difficulties they were not prepared for at all.“It’s been relentless,” a sleep-deprived Tiley said of the daily problems as he watched the women’s semifinals last week in a bunker beneath Rod Laver Arena. “A roller coaster from the start.”Government officials imposed a hard lockdown for 72 players who were aboard charter flights that carried 10 passengers who tested positive after arriving in Australia. The new restrictions meant those athletes, even if they continually tested negative for the virus, could not leave their hotel rooms at all for 14 days before the first tuneup tournaments before the Open. Some of those rooms had windows that could not be opened, which became a magnified irritation when some of the players were not allowed to leave for any reason.Organizers had also set aside 11 exercise bicycles in case some players were isolated, but after getting more bikes for the players who couldn’t leave their rooms, they got similar requests from the rest of the field since their training was limited to two hours on the court and 90 minutes in the gym each day. So, Tiley needed several hundred bicycles, plus yoga mats, kettlebells and medicine balls.Only one player tested positive, Paula Badosa of Spain, and organizers could not do much for her beyond transfer her to a medical hotel and keep her there for 10 days with no exercise equipment.Once the quarantines ended and the warm-up tournaments began, a security worker in the main hotel for players tested positive. Health officials ordered more than 500 people who were staying there, including many players, to be tested and remain in their rooms for the day. The start of the Australian Open was five days away, and no one knew what another positive result might prompt. Fortunately there were none.But five days into the championship, a small outbreak in the Melbourne region caused health officials to send the entire state of Victoria into a five-day snap lockdown. They allowed the tournament to continue, but without crowds.Tiley said that cost Tennis Australia as much as $25 million in ticket revenue, money that it desperately needed because crowds were already limited to 50 percent of capacity and the tournament has so many extra expenses this year.Each day without crowds, more tarps with the Australian Open logo appeared on the seats in Rod Laver Arena. Workers installed them as soon as manufacturers could deliver them to make the tournament look better on television.An empty Rod Laver Arena on Day 6 of the tournament following a hard lockdown of Victoria to curb a coronavirus outbreak.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesThen came the injuries to several top players, especially on the men’s side — Djokovic and Alexander Zverev played their quarterfinal match with tape on their abdomens. Grigor Dimitrov’s back seized during his quarterfinal. Matteo Berrettini of Italy, the No. 9 seed, could not take the court for his fourth round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. Some players blamed injuries on the quarantine and limited training.“I want to understand what continuation of the season post-Australia is going to look like, because this is definitely not good for the players in terms of their well-being,” Djokovic said.The problem is that what is good for athletes, who thrive on routine and training and normalcy, may not be good for anyone else, and finding a balance that will satisfy everyone will be a major challenge until Covid -19 in no longer the menace it has become.An organization with a seemingly airtight plan to keep everyone safe had to scramble to make it to the finish line. Tiley said it was worth it, because no one can say with certainty that all will be well a year from now. The challenges and the need to adjust on the fly will be with everyone in sports for a while yet.“You can either choose to play and go through whatever you have to go through, or you stay home and practice and that’s it,” Dimitrov said in a philosophical moment. “We all know what is going on in the world, we all know what is going on in every single country. It’s tough. It’s very uncomfortable. It makes life difficult for so many, not only for us as athletes but people around the world.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Keeping the Australian Open Safe from Coronavirus

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenOsaka Wins TitleMen’s Final PreviewDjokovic’s RideWilliams’s Future?Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesThe Cleanest Open EverAn army of workers toiled to create a safe environment at the Australian Open.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyFeb. 21, 2021, 6:00 a.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — A funny thing happened at the end of plenty of matches at the Australian Open this year: Players gathered their used water bottles and their sweat-soaked towels and put them in garbage and laundry bags rather than leaving them for someone else to clean up and, in the process, come into contact with their germs.Cleanliness has truly been a virtue at this tournament. Workers scour the grounds looking for recently vacated tables to scrub. The moderator of news conferences cleans the dais with a disinfecting wipe as soon as a player leaves it. Bathrooms are seemingly in a constant state of scrubbing.Studies have shown that the coronavirus does not easily spread from unclean surfaces. People have to breathe in the tiny virus particles. But a clean tournament helps make all the people who come to Melbourne Park feel that they are in a healthful atmosphere. Perhaps cleaner sporting events will be a legacy of Covid-19 that stays with us, but it does not come easy. It takes work.Cleaners working in Rod Laver Arena between sessions of the Australian Open.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesThousands of spectators visited Melbourne Park during the tournament. Australia, with its strict protocols, has averaged just a handful of coronavirus cases per day since October.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesCarolyn Blackledge and her son Corey wore masks while helping fans as customer experience ambassadors. Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesSanitation efforts began at the front gates: A staff member disinfected the turnstiles at the entrance of Melbourne Park.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesThe tournament employed 1,200 cleaners who scoured high-contact surfaces at Melbourne Park. Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesWorking in pairs, cleaners disinfected surfaces including tables, handrails, chairs and water fountains.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesCredit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesFans at Melbourne Park had access to 800 hand-sanitizing stations, kept full by a team of workers. Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesIn a moment of team bonding, court services workers broke into a dance at the start of their shift.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesSama Bajracharya, 29, on a break from working as a cleaner at Melbourne Park. Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesA corporate suite at Rod Laver Arena was cleaned before the women’s singles final. Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesAttendance was limited in an effort to keep fans and players safe. Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesMany of the hygiene workers were from Latin America and Nepal and in Melbourne on student visas. Andres Diaz and Yesica Gutierrez carried disinfectant bottles at all times.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesCredit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesThe court services team used ultraviolet disinfecting guns to sanitize player areas before the start of play.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesAll of the efforts of the sanitation team were meant to create an environment that felt clean and healthful.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesAdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      High School Basketball Players Are Jumping to College

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesVaccine RolloutSee Your Local RiskNew Variants TrackerAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyLast Month, the High School Gym. This Month, the College Arena.An N.C.A.A. decision related to the pandemic inspired some elite players to finish high school early and jump to college to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility.Guard Carter Whitt finished high school early, jumped to Wake Forest and made his Division I college debut 10 days later.Credit…Charles Krupa/Associated PressFeb. 19, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETIn September, Carter Whitt, a 6-foot-4 guard from Raleigh, N.C., was preparing to spend his senior season at Brewster Academy, the prep basketball powerhouse in New Hampshire. But with the season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, he made a strategic decision to return to his high school in North Carolina. He took online classes in history and English and graduated “a little bit early.”By New Year’s Eve, Whitt, whose long, dirty-blond hair makes him hard to miss on the court, was playing guard for Wake Forest, registering 11 points, 4 assists and 1 rebound in 25 minutes against Catawba College.Whitt is part of a wave of elite high school players taking advantage of an N.C.A.A. ruling that effectively gives them a free season of college eligibility. A decision by the Division I Council in October gives winter athletes who compete during 2020-21 the opportunity to play five seasons within a six-year window rather than the typical four seasons in five years.For many men, the goal is to get to the N.B.A. as fast as possible. Women are starting their college careers early as well, lured by the extra year of eligibility and the opportunity to compete at a higher level.“Carter Whitt should be playing his senior year in a fast-food-sponsored holiday tournament,” Wake Forest Coach Steve Forbes said. “Instead he’s playing against a seven-course meal” in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He continued, “On Jan. 6, when his high school team was playing their season opener, he was starting on the road against the defending national champions, the Virginia Cavaliers.”To Whitt, it didn’t make sense to continue at Brewster. “I figured if I’m going to be away from home, I might as well just be in college,” he said.For some players, the journey from their final high school game to their first Division I game was even shorter than Whitt’s.On Dec. 21, Jordan Nesbitt scored 18 points in a winning effort for St. Louis Christian Academy. On Feb. 1, having completed his academic work to finish high school, the 6-6 guard from St. Louis played seven minutes for Memphis in its 96-69 win over Central Florida.Guard Saylor Poffenbarger graduated from high school in Middletown, Md., in early January and made her college debut for the Connecticut women’s team against DePaul on Jan. 31.“I’m excited for Saylor and her family that they wanted to take advantage of this opportunity,” UConn Coach Geno Auriemma said.In recent years, it has become common for high school players to do the academic work needed to “reclassify” with a graduating class earlier than their original one, but there are obvious benefits to midyear enrollments this year.In the men’s game, DePaul added two midyear enrollees in Keon Edwards and David Jones. Among other high-profile high school players to make the jump: Sean Durugordon (Missouri), Mac Etienne (U.C.L.A.), James Graham (Maryland), Ben Gregg (Gonzaga), Trey James (Iona), Meechie Johnson (Ohio State), Franck Kepnang (Oregon), Austin Patterson (Wofford), Trey Patterson (Villanova) and Whitt of Wake Forest.Some are already playing, while others are practicing with their teams and will wait until the 2021-22 season to compete in games. Some plan to participate in their high school graduations this spring either virtually or in person.The Coronavirus Outbreak More

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      N.B.A. Announces All-Star Game Plans Despite Player Objections

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The NBA SeasonVirus Hotspots in the N.B.A.The Friendship of LeBron and Anthony DavisThe N.B.A. Wanted HerMissing Klay ThompsonKobe the #GirlDadAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyN.B.A. Announces All-Star Game Plans Despite Player ObjectionsThe game and three related events will happen over several hours on March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, even though the city’s mayor and top players have expressed concern about the health risks.N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver said the All-Star Game “will continue our annual tradition of celebrating the game and the greatest players in the world before a global audience.”Credit…Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesFeb. 18, 2021Updated 6:37 p.m. ETThe N.B.A. will host its All-Star Game on March 7 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, despite the misgivings of the city’s mayor and strong pushback from several top players because of the health risks. In announcing plans for the game and related events on Thursday, the N.B.A. and the players’ union said they would commit $2.5 million to support Covid-19 relief efforts and historically Black colleges and universities.The league had been criticized in recent weeks for planning to hold the exhibition game during the coronavirus pandemic while also requiring players and staff members to stay at home and avoid all nonessential contact outside basketball activities during the season. This week, the league postponed six games because of a virus outbreak among the San Antonio Spurs and contact tracing among the Charlotte Hornets. More than two dozen games have been postponed this season in connection with the pandemic.But the league views the All-Star Game as a key outreach to fans around the world, and there is a financial benefit, although the extent of it is unclear. By one estimate, according to a person familiar with the league’s television deal, a traditional slate of All-Star events is worth about $60 million for the league.“We made a decision beginning last summer that we were going to take the pandemic on in a full-throated way and we were going to attempt to conduct our business to the extent that it was safe and healthy for our players and our staff to the full extent we could,” Silver told ESPN on Thursday afternoon. “All-Star has been a tradition in this league now going back 70 years. We only missed one year over those 70 years and for us, it’s our No. 1 fan engagement event of the year.”He added: “It seems like no decisions during this pandemic come without uncertainty and come without risk. And this is yet another one of them. But it’s my job to balance all those interests and, ultimately, it feels like the right thing to do to go forward.”On Tuesday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta posted a message on Twitter urging fans not to come to the city for the game. Aside from a small group of players’ guests, no spectators will be admitted to the arena, but there are concerns that fans will gather in Atlanta anyway.“Under normal circumstances we’d be grateful for the opportunity to host the N.B.A. All-Star game, but this isn’t a typical year,” Bottoms wrote. “I’ve shared my concerns w/@NBA & @ATLHawks & agree this is a made-for-TV event only & people shouldn’t travel to Atlanta to party.”What is traditionally a weekend full of events will be truncated to one day, without the typical parties, fan activities or game for rookies and sophomores. The skills challenge and 3-point shooting contest will take place before the All-Star Game, and the slam dunk contest will occur at halftime. According to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, players must participate in the All-Star Game if selected unless they are excused by Silver. The starters will be announced Thursday, and the reserves will be named on Tuesday.The league will provide private transportation for players to and from Atlanta. Each player will be allowed to bring up to four guests, but they and the players must all remain at a designated hotel — the N.B.A. is calling it a mini-bubble — when they are not at games or daily testing.Earlier this month, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, the N.B.A.’s highest-profile star, said that holding the game would be a “slap in the face” and that he had “zero energy and zero excitement” for it. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks star and the most recent winner of the Most Valuable Player Award, said he agreed. Both are expected to be named All-Star starters.Other potential selectees have been more open to holding the game.“I understand both sides,” Julius Randle, a Knicks forward who might become an All-Star for the first time, told The New York Times last week. “And I understand the impact and the benefits it has for the league, if we do have All-Star games. It’s a tough decision. Everything this year has been tough.”Damian Lillard, who is likely be named to his sixth All-Star team, said recently: “A lot of players are saying, ‘Why are we even having a game?’ And I understand that. If they said, ‘We’re not going to have a game,’ I’d be perfectly fine with it. I just had two newborns, and I would love to spend that extra time at home with my family.”“But,” he added, “if they say we’re going to do it, I understand that because this is our job, and I understand that with the kind of money we make, you’ve got to make sacrifices.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Trust Me, Sports Without Fans Is Not Sports

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownFifth seed Stefanos Tsipsipas celebrated facing a cheering crowd after winning his second round match.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesTrust Me, Sports Without Fans Is Not SportsFor five days the Australian Open had cozy stadiums half-filled with fervent fans, and sports once again felt normal. Then a snap lockdown quieted the stands.Fifth seed Stefanos Tsipsipas celebrated facing a cheering crowd after winning his second round match.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyFeb. 14, 2021Updated 6:05 a.m. ETRemember what sports was like with crowds? Listen.Recorded as Nick Kyrgios took on Dominic Thiem in Melbourne on Friday night.MELBOURNE, Australia — For roughly the past two decades, the analytics crowd has peddled the idea that sports is essentially math, that what unfolds on the field of play is predictable and intelligible if viewed through a proper algorithm. Occasionally that crowd has even been right. And in many ways the pandemic sports environment was an analytics aficionado’s dream, a chance for games to unfold in a laboratory, free of the noise, both literal and figurative, that can turn an expected outcome into a beautiful mess.Now, nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic, we really do know the roar of the crowd is as vital to sports as a ball or a net. The artificial crowd noise that Major League Baseball, the N.F.L., the N.B.A. and the N.H.L. have piped in, both for those in the stadiums and arenas and for people watching at home, is a terrible facsimile that makes the spectator-free games feel nothing like sports at all. What stage actors refer to as the “fourth wall” — the metaphorical barrier between performers and spectators — doesn’t exist in sports. A crowd’s passion can seemingly help power comebacks. Its scorn can smother one, too. For five glorious days at the 2021 Australian Open, I got to experience that noise again, because government officials allowed up to 30,000 fans, about 50 percent capacity, to attend the tournament each day. It was both a joy and a revelation to rediscover the power of what quantum physicists call the “observer effect” — the fact that any observation, however passive, alters an outcome — even in a half-capacity crowd of tennis fans. Sports felt like Sports once more.Nick Kyrgios and Dominic Thiem in one of the last matches with a crowd before the tournament closed to the public.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesFans left the Australian Open on Friday after it was announced that the tournament would proceed without spectators for the next five days.Credit…Jaimi Joy/ReutersThen on Friday, the coronavirus did what it has done so relentlessly for the past 11 months: It shut down the party. A recent outbreak was what much of the world would consider a nuisance. But in Australia, which has managed the pandemic more effectively than any other major economy, it qualified as a critical mass.The cluster of coronavirus cases grew to more than a dozen, and the state government of Victoria, where Melbourne is, declared a “snap lockdown” of five days, beginning at midnight Friday.Everyone, except those deemed essential workers, must stay home, though two hours of outdoor exercise and one hour to go to the grocery store or pharmacy are permitted. Players and people considered essential in running the Australian Open will be allowed at Melbourne Park. Spectators, sadly, must stay away until perhaps the singles semifinals, scheduled to start Thursday.“The players will compete in a bubble not dissimilar to what they have done throughout the year,” said Craig Tiley, the chief executive of Tennis Australia, which organizes the tournament.No one is happy about it.Fans watched Serena Williams during a practice session at Melbourne Park ahead of her second-round win.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York Times“It’s been really fun to have the crowd back, especially here,” Serena Williams said after she beat Anastasia Potapova in straight sets in the third round Friday. “But, you know what, at the end of the day we have to do what’s best. Hopefully it will be all right.”I am here to tell you it won’t be. After what I witnessed during the first five days, it’s going to be terrible, without the essential dynamics that make sports the ultimate in improvisational theater.Nick Kyrgios, the tennis antihero everywhere except Australia, where he is beloved, rode the fans to a miracle Wednesday night. He saved two match points in the fourth set against Ugo Humbert, the rising 22-year-old Frenchman. Then he edged Humbert in the fifth set in front of an explosive crowd that never gave up on its hometown hero.Kyrgios is the rare tennis player who brings in rugby fans. They screamed their heads off to keep Kyrgios alive and Humbert, the No. 29 seed, on edge until the very last point.“Half-packed and it felt like it was a full stadium,” Kyrgios said. “I got goose bumps toward the end.”Humbert lost those two match points, even though he was serving. He heard the fireworks from the seats a few feet away. As he watched Kyrgios both encourage it and soak it all in, his eyes appeared to fill with fear. There was another set to play, but the crowd was not going to let Humbert get out alive.Fans cheer on Nick Kyrgios of Australia.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesKyrgios has attracted a raucous fan group at the Australian Open.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesIt is not a stretch to say that Humbert wins that match easily on a quiet court.Kyrgios and his crew were back at it Friday night, when he took on Dominic Thiem of Austria, the reigning United States Open champion. The roars started as Kyrgios broke Thiem in the first game. As the crowd bellowed, Kyrgios waved his arms and cupped his ear, signaling to his fans that if he had any chance against the machine-like No. 3 seed, they were it.And so began three-plus hours of interactive drama, with all the seat-banging, taunting and fist-pumping needed for someone who has barely played in a year to stay competitive with one of the best players on the planet. As the match stretched into the fifth set and past 10:30 p.m., a strange clock watching began, because fans were supposed to be home and observing lockdown by midnight.In the end it wasn’t enough, as Thiem prevailed in five sets, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, but it’s hard to believe it would have been close without it. “It’s not the same sport without the crowd,” Kyrgios said.So, here is one big reveal of the past week: All those star athletes who have always insisted they are so locked in that they do not hear the crowd? Well, it seems pretty clear they have been lying.Spectators watched the evening matches outdoors on the big screen at Melbourne Park on the fifth day of the Australian Open.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesHere was Novak Djokovic, who has won this championship eight times. He has described Rod Laver Arena as his backyard. He was getting ready to play a game the other day, when a clump of women with a Serbian flag stood up and serenaded him with the “Ole-Ole” tune, culminating with, “Novak Djokovic is hot, hot, hot!”Djokovic gave up on trying to play cool. He stepped back from the court, started giggling, then shook his head to regain his focus.Here was Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, trying to serve out the third set for what would have likely been the biggest win of her career, an upset of Simona Halep, the No. 2 seed. She was in front of a hometown crowd that carried her all night but couldn’t will her to victory.“I felt that rush of people just cheering for you,” Tomljanovich said, her voice breaking following the loss. “I’m afraid to say it, but it could be the highlight of the year with the atmosphere and the crowd.”She is not the only one. I do not know what I am dreading more about the end of this assignment — the last freezing month of a winter in the Northeast, or the largely empty version of sports that the pandemic has wrought.It’s something, yes, but it is not sports.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      How a ‘Hard Quarantine’ Benefited a Player at the Australian Open

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyHow a ‘Hard Quarantine’ Benefited a Player at the Australian OpenWhile some players blamed strict virus measures for their troubles at the event, Jennifer Brady of the United States thinks it might have helped her advance.Jennifer Brady after her win over Kaja Juvan in the third round.Credit…Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/ReutersFeb. 13, 2021, 6:48 p.m. ETThe talk of the Australian Open is not just who made the arduous journey to the second week, but whether a so-called “hard quarantine” has taken a toll on players who did not.Several had to remain in their hotel rooms around the clock — deprived of a five-hour break for training and treatment afforded to everyone else — for 14 days after arriving if a passenger on their flight had tested positive for the coronavirus.Though Tennis Australia has not released a complete list of the players who were in hard quarantine, at least 26 players in the women’s singles draw were in the stiffer quarantine, including 12 of the 32 seeded players.Two former Australian Open champions, Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber, lost their first-round matches after going through the hard quarantine. Six other women who had endured it reached the third round, but all lost in decisive straight sets.“I mean, there’s no escaping the fact that we were in the room for two weeks before a Slam — that’s not how you prepare for a Slam,” said the 21st-seeded Anett Kontaveit, who lost on Saturday evening to Shelby Rogers.Brady said she believed a strict quarantine benefited her physically and mentally.Credit…Matt King/Getty ImagesYet consider the case of Jennifer Brady, the only woman who was in hard quarantine to advance to the second week.Seeded 22nd, Brady has not only survived, but soared: She defeated Aliona Bolsova, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round on Tuesday and went on to victories over Madison Brengle (6-1, 6-2) in the second round on Thursday and Kaja Juvan (6-1, 6-3) in the third round on Saturday.“At first I was a little bummed, and then I was like, OK, I’m fine,” Brady, of Pennsylvania, said of the hard quarantine in an interview on Saturday. “There’s worse things out there in the world than being stuck in a room for 14 days. It’s not the ideal preparation before a Grand Slam, but if you looked at it, you’d see you still have eight days before your first match at the Grand Slam.”Brady said she slept more than usual during the 14 days, often not waking up until around 11 a.m. She worked out twice a day, at noon and around 5 p.m. Brady’s coach, Michael Geserer, said that while Brady used tennis balls, a stationary bicycle and weights, her most important work was mental.“We couldn’t simulate on-court practice, but we tried as best we could to adapt to this new situation,” Geserer said. “The most important thing was the mind-set. We were not complaining. We were taking it.”Geserer said he admired Brady’s positive attitude.“She has bad days, but she tries to make the best out of her bad days,” he said. “That’s also important in matches: You won’t play your best tennis, but she tries to find a way to win.”For Brady, who surged up the rankings last season as she won her first WTA title and reached the United States Open semifinals, the forced confinement proved a welcome respite.“Coming out of the quarantine, speaking for myself, I was definitely a lot fresher mentally,” Brady said. “It was a long year for me last year. I didn’t really take a break. Deep down inside, I was a little bit fortunate that I had the 14 days in lockdown. It kind of helped me reset mentally — and physically, also.”As she eased herself back into physical activity when the quarantine ended, Brady was relieved by how she felt on the court.“The first two hits I had I was trying to feel the ball, and just get my feel for the court and moving, not trying to overdo it because I didn’t want to risk injury,” Brady said. “I was afraid I was going to be super-sore, which I actually wasn’t.”Far from being sore, Brady has been craving more time on the court. After her win over Juvan, which was straightforward except for an 18-minute service game midway through the second set, Brady immediately booked herself a practice court to hone her technique.Brady admitted, ultimately, that she did not expect things to work out as they had, finding herself in the second week of the Australian Open after her compromised confinement.“Yeah, I’m a little bit surprised,” she said.One aspect of this unusual Open for which Brady may be uniquely prepared is the lack of spectators. Because of a five-day “circuit breaker” lockdown enacted by the state of Victoria, matches are being played before empty stands, as they were at the United States Open in September.“I think especially in the first couple games of the match, having that atmosphere of having people cheer for you and wanting you to win, you put a little extra pressure on yourself,” Brady said. “Having no fans, it’s just you and your opponent out there.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Goodbye to Fans at the Australian Open

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowTesting Australians’ VIrus AnxietiesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyGoodbye to Fans at the Australian OpenA new coronavirus lockdown for the state of Victoria means five days of no fans at the Grand Slam tournament.Spectators exited Rod Laver Arena mid-match to meet a lockdown deadline on Friday night in Melbourne, Australia.Credit…Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockFeb. 12, 2021Updated 5:17 p.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — The reigning men’s champion Novak Djokovic was on the ropes on Friday when Melburnians were made to leave Rod Laver Arena. It was 30 minutes before the clock struck midnight, a Cinderella-like moment when their freedom turned to confinement and their lives reverted to what they experienced during a 111-day lockdown last year.As the Australian Open spilled into Saturday, it ended at 1:20 a.m. with Djokovic, the world No. 1, eking out a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2 third-round victory over Taylor Fritz, an American ranked 31st. The stadium lights remained on overnight, but the electricity left the building as the state of Victoria entered a five-day quarantine at 11:59 p.m. that spared the tournament but not the spectators.The retreat of the fans did not sit well with Fritz. “I understand the fact that Victoria is going back into lockdown and people have to go,” he said. “If that’s the case, then we shouldn’t have played tonight if we weren’t going to finish the match on time.”A surreal fifth day of play provided a tableau of the times, with the best-laid plans redirected midstream by a more contagious variant of the coronavirus that was first found in Britain. By Friday, it had infected 13 people linked to a quarantine hotel near the Melbourne airport that was being used to sequester returning travelers.In the early afternoon, as Serena Williams, a seven-time champion, stepped onto Rod Laver Arena’s court for her third-round match, Premier Daniel Andrews of Victoria stepped to a microphone a few miles away to announce a “circuit-breaker” five-day lockdown aimed at preventing a third wave of infection from inundating the state.Victorians, he announced, would be allowed to leave home only for essential shopping, work, caregiving and exercise. Sports and entertainment venues were shutting down, but professional athletes like tennis players were considered in the category of “essential workers” and would be permitted to continue their matches, albeit behind closed doors.It was bittersweet news for the players, who for the first time since last year’s Australian Open were contesting a Grand Slam in front of crowds, with the number of fans allowed on the Melbourne Park grounds each day capped at 30,000.The players had arrived in the country early and completed a 14-day quarantine aimed at protecting Australians from them, so eager were they to play in front of crowds in what promised to be a significant step toward their old normal. Instead, the players found themselves in the new normal established when they traveled last year to New York for the United States Open and to Paris for the French Open: sequestered to protect them from their hosts.“It’s going to be a rough few days for I think everyone,” Williams said after her 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory against the 19-year-old Russian Anastasia Potapova.Serena Williams after beating Anastasia Potapova in the third round.Credit…Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesAll morning, rumors swirled around the tournament grounds, whipped into a tempest by spectators half-watching matches while they scrolled through their news feeds and studied texts from friends and family members.After Andrews confirmed the worst of the rumors, a bottleneck formed in the aisles, with spectators exiting the stadium to call airlines to rebook flights hurrying past those still filing inside. Two fans, Lauren Grundeman and Belinda Brown, waited until after Williams closed out her match to call Qantas Airways. Anticipating that flight schedules would be slashed in the coming days because of the lockdown, they wanted to move up their return travel to Sydney and leave in a few hours’ time.“We were too late,” Grundeman said. “All the flights today sold out a half-hour ago.”Grundeman and Brown considered themselves fortunate to secure seats for a Saturday afternoon return. They weren’t sorry that they came. It was worth the inconvenience, they said, to see Williams inch closer to a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.“Definitely,” Brown said. “Serena is amazing.”Williams is a charismatic headliner, but the atmosphere was lacking its usual fizz, said Grundeman, who regularly attends the Australian Open. The lines to get inside, which are usually long, were nonexistent on Friday. There were no Swedes with national colors painted on their faces. No Dutch decked head to toe in orange. Grundeman described the energy as “flat.”Friday’s announced attendance, on a day tailor-made for soaking up the sun and world-class groundstrokes, was 22,299. Many Melburnians had said in interviews and letters to newspapers that they were forgoing this year’s event out of an abundance of caution. Brown said she couldn’t blame them.“If I was local, I’d be a bit like, we don’t need people coming and bring extra cases,” she said.Julie Dunlop rose before the sun and phoned her daughter. They held tickets to the day session Friday but Dunlop was discomfited by television reports that a lockdown — or “the dreaded L-word,” as she called it — was imminent. Should they soak up the sunshine before holing up in their houses? Or was the prudent play to stay away?“I was ready to pull the plug on it, but my daughter was keen to come,” said Dunlop, who warmed to the outing as she sat in the stands on an intimate outside court and watched the Australian doubles team of James Duckworth and Marc Polmans defeat Ricardas Berankis and Mikhail Kukushkin.Roughly 100 fans, most of them cheering enthusiastically for Duckworth and Polmans, filled the air with the sounds of solidarity. The Victorian premier hadn’t spoken yet, but Dunlop had a pretty good idea what he was going to say. “We’re lucky in one way to be here before it’s too late,” she said.Spectators cheered during the last match of the day on Court 3.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesIn the stands, fans were checking their phones constantly. But on Court 13, Polmans tuned out everything but his harmony with Duckworth. Afterward, his coach filled him in on the lockdown rumors.“My first question to my coach was, ‘Do you think they’re going to cancel the tournament?’” Polmans said.Craig Tiley, the Tennis Australia chief executive, stood outside Rod Laver Arena on Friday afternoon and wearily assured everybody that the show would go on. “The players will compete in a bubble,” he said, adding that their movements would be restricted to traveling from wherever they were staying to Melbourne Park and back. He told the athletes to be alert, not alarmed.Tiley kept this year’s tournament slogan, “No Place for Impossible,” in his jacket pocket. It was part of a speech best saved for another day. Friday’s news made a line uttered before the tournament by Williams’s sister, Venus, a better motto for the moment: “Stay positive and test negative.”The tournament bubble could burst any day, and then what?“It’s definitely a worry,” Polmans said, adding, “If one of the players tests positive, then I think the tournament’s going to be done.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More