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      Daria Kasatkina’s Tumultuous and Triumphant Season

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      The tennis star has spoken out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and come out as gay with her partner, the figure skater and fellow Russian Natalia Zabiiako. And she’s winning.FORT WORTH — As Daria Kasatkina’s match with the American teenager Coco Gauff took many a twist and turn on Thursday night, Kasatkina’s thoughts were hard to read: Her neutral, deeply focused expression gave little hint of the score until she had closed out her round-robin victory, 7-6 (6), 6-3, at the WTA Finals with a roar and a clenched fist.Kasatkina, a 25-year-old Russian who will face Caroline Garcia on Saturday for a place in the semifinals, is in the moment and back in the groove in her first appearance in this elite year-end event, reserved for the top eight women’s singles players and top eight doubles teams.But it has been a tumultuous, ultimately triumphant season for Kasatkina. In July, in an interview with the Russian blogger Vitya Kravchenko, she came out as gay, making her relationship public with the former Olympic pairs figure skater Natalia Zabiiako. In that same interview, Kasatkina also became the first Russian tennis star to speak out in depth against the war with Ukraine.Both are risky moves in Russia, where the government led by President Vladimir V. Putin has enacted laws restricting dissent against the war and banned the portrayal of gay relationships in books, films and the media.Kasatkina, who called the war a “full-blown nightmare” and expressed empathy for Ukrainian players, has long trained in Spain with her coach, Carlos Martinez, and is now based in Dubai. She has not returned to Russia, where she still has family, since a visit to St. Petersburg in February, shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Has this been her year of being brave?“Maybe yes,” she said in an interview in Fort Worth. “I was saying those things not to look brave but to give to the people my point of view and my feelings. So, if they see that this was brave, good, but it was not to look brave, completely not.”Some Ukrainian players, including Ukraine’s former Billie Jean King Cup captain Olga Savchuk, thanked Kasatkina personally.“At least she tried and did something and can live with a clean soul,” Savchuk said in a text message on Friday. “I can easily look in her face now when I meet her, because I know what she thinks.”Asked what the feedback had been like in Russia, Kasatkina demurred. “Let’s not talk about it,” she said.But she said that she had been touched by the level of support internationally for her decision to come out about her sexuality and to live openly with Zabiiako, a 2018 Olympian for Russia, who is with her and Martinez in Fort Worth.More on Women and Girls in SportsHawaii Sex Discrimination: A lawsuit alleging Title IX violations at a Hawaii high school could be a landmark stress test for the law.Abuse in Women’s Soccer: The publication of the Yates Report, detailing “systemic abuse” throughout the sport, is only the beginning.Pretty in Any Color: Women’s basketball players are styling themselves how they want, because they can. Their choices also can be lucrative.Title IX’s Racial Gaps: Because race has never been part of the law, Title IX has heavily benefited white women over women of color.“I didn’t know what to expect, and everything went perfectly, I think,” Kasatkina said. “And I’m just really thankful to everyone who messaged me, who supported me. Of course, there was also some negative parts, but I just didn’t feel it at all. Just the people on the internet, so it wasn’t important to me at all.”Kasatkina said her life day-to-day had not changed nearly as much as her mood.“I just started to feel much better,” Kasatkina said. “Just being myself and feeling more free to do the things I want to do, the things I feel I need to do. It’s amazing. To live with the feeling of freedom, it’s a great feeling.”Kasatkina, left, came out as gay earlier this year, making public her relationship with the Russian figure skater Natalia Zabiiako.John G Mabanglo/EPA, via ShutterstockShe has climbed back into the top 10 in 2022, snagging the eighth and last singles qualifying spot for the WTA Finals after serving as an alternate in 2018 in Singapore without getting to play a match.“I guess we could say I caught the last train to be here,” Kasatkina said. “I was pretty stressed in the race, because it was pretty tight. But being here feels great.”Banned from Wimbledon along with all players from Russia and its ally Belarus, Kasatkina might not have qualified for Fort Worth if the tours had not stripped Wimbledon of ranking points in retaliation for the Russian ban.Elena Rybakina, a Russian-born player who now represents Kazakhstan, won the Wimbledon women’s singles title, but, without the 2,000 points that normally go with a Grand Slam title, did not qualify for the WTA Finals.Kasatkina and the Belarusian star Aryna Sabalenka both finished in the top eight and have been able to play a nearly full season because of the tours’ decision to allow individuals from Russia and Belarus to compete, albeit without flags or national identification.“Of course, we appreciate that we can keep our jobs and play,” Kasatkina said. “We are lucky, and we are super thankful for this.”Her resurgent season has been a long time coming. Though Kasatkina can summon baseline power, her game is, above all, based on craft and spin, on rhythm and tactical shifts.Her former coach Philippe Dehaes called her “a tennis genius,” and with his help she rose to No. 10 in 2018, reaching the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., before losing to Naomi Osaka in what was a breakthrough tournament for both young talents.But Kasatkina was unable to sustain that momentum, splitting with Dehaes in 2019 and spiraling, by her own account, into depression and a crisis of confidence that had her seriously contemplating quitting the sport.Carlos Martinez began coaching Kasatkina in June 2019.Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesBut she worked through it with help from a psychologist, as well as her brother Alexandr and Martinez, a former Spanish satellite-level player who long coached Kasatkina’s Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.“Carlos took me from the bottom when I was completely broken, let’s say,” Kasatkina said. “We did a very good job together coming back to the top 10. I’m glad and grateful that he had this patience.”Martinez, who began coaching her in June 2019, believed in Kasatkina’s talent but needed to help her recover confidence.“She came from tough moments when the expectation around her was very high, finishing top 10 in 2018,” Martinez said Thursday. “In the beginning, it was just about building a base, building a player who could play on every surface and can adapt to different games.”Although she can summon baseline power, Kasatkina’s game is based on craft and spin.Martin Divisek/EPA, via ShutterstockThe pandemic gave them additional time to work at Martinez’s club, and they focused more on improving tactics and attitude than on technical adjustments“Two or three years ago, this match with Coco, she would have lost, 6-2, 6-2,” Martinez said. “No chance. You would have seen frustration, but now, no. She knows she can change the course of the match every single point.”Consistency remains an issue. Kasatkina has lost in one of her first two rounds in 11 events this year, but she also reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open and won two singles titles, compiling a 40-20 record through all the travels and the tumult.Against Garcia on Saturday, she can extend her finest season for at least one more match and then head to the Maldives with Zabiiako for sun, calm and vacation.Returning to Russia will have to wait.“Maybe when the war will be finished,” she said. More

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      Jessica Pegula Is Peaking Just in Time for the WTA Finals

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      After winning her second career singles title a week ago, the American player with world-class timing on the court has found herself the world No. 3.The tennis partnership between Jessica Pegula and David Witt got off to a roaring start. Only a few days after their first practice session, Pegula arrived in Washington, D.C., for the Citi Open with Witt, her new coach, and went on to win her first WTA singles title.That was in 2019, when Pegula was ranked No. 79 and still learning to trust her body and talent after major knee and hip injuries.“In the beginning, it was more me pounding it into her head that she’s really good,” Witt said. “And that she can beat these people and that there’s nobody better and whether they are top 10 or 20, it doesn’t matter.”Three years later, Pegula is a genuine member of the tennis elite: at No. 3 in the world in singles a week after winning her second career singles title in Guadalajara, Mexico, and beating four former Grand Slam singles champions along the way.The top-ranked American, Pegula is one of the headliners of the WTA Finals — the year-end championships of the women’s tour, reserved for the top eight players — beginning Monday in Fort Worth. It will be her first appearance in the exclusive event, and that has extra resonance for Pegula because it comes at the relatively advanced tennis age of 28.“Of course, I would have liked success younger, but I don’t know if it would have panned out the same,” she said in a recent interview. “I don’t think it would have. So, I’m particularly appreciative of it now. If I didn’t go through all the stuff I went through, I don’t think I would have developed the kind of strength that I think I used to help me do well now.”Pegula comes from an overachieving family. Her parents are Terry and Kim Pegula, the billionaire owners of the N.F.L.’s Buffalo Bills and N.H.L.’s Buffalo Sabres. Terry Pegula made a fortune in natural gas and real estate and married Kim, who was born in South Korea but abandoned by her biological parents and later adopted at age 5 by a family in the United States.“I think my mom was left on police station steps,” Jessica Pegula said. “It’s a crazy story. It could be like a movie.”Kim has been facing significant health issues since the summer, which the Pegulas have acknowledged publicly without providing details. Jessica, tearing up, dedicated her victory in Guadalajara to her mother.“My mom always kind of joked I was the first sports team as far as helping me with my tennis career growing up,” Pegula told reporters in Guadalajara. “I definitely wanted to dedicate it to her. She’s had a really tough year. I know she was watching.”Pegula after defeating Maria Sakkari at the Guadalajara Open.Ulises Ruiz/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesPegula plans on giving her mother plenty more tennis to watch in the next two weeks. After the WTA Finals, she will travel to Glasgow to lead the United States in the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup team event.It will be a grueling finish to a busy season, one that No. 1 Iga Swiatek will not attempt. Swiatek declined to play in the King Cup finals for Poland, explaining that the tight, intercontinental turnaround put her at risk of an injury.Pegula agrees that the scheduling is far from ideal. She wants the team experience she missed last year when she had to withdraw from the King Cup finals; she tested positive for the coronavirus shortly after her wedding to Taylor Gahagen in October and had to spend what she called “a Covid honeymoon” at home in Boca Raton, Fla.“I definitely want to go,” she said of Glasgow. “I think it’s a good problem to have if I’m in the finals of both. So, it’ll be a tough turnaround, but it’s a tough two weeks and then I’m done. It’s like a reward.”Pegula’s best season has been about juggling it all: newfound success, newlywed life, her skin-care business and a spot on the WTA player council in the midst of a politically and financially fraught time for the tour.She is eager to develop skills that could translate into a role with her family’s sports franchises after her tennis career is finished. She said she has learned to feel at home outside her comfort zone.“Player council, I was really nervous,” she said. “I didn’t know if I knew enough, but I felt that if I was afraid to do it, then I should probably do it. I like to put myself out there and learn through different experiences. At one point, I’m probably going to have to say no, but I like saying yes, and my mom always told me to say yes and to do a lot of things and put yourself in different situations too.”Her agenda will be packed again this week. Pegula has qualified in singles and in doubles with Coco Gauff, her 18-year-old compatriot. Pegula and Gauff, who is ranked No. 4 in singles, are the only competitors playing both events in Fort Worth.Pegula and Gauff each extol the benefits of playing both events regularly on tour for fine-tuning their games and lifting some of the pressure from the singles result. They have teamed up to win three doubles titles in 2022, also reaching the French Open final.Asked for one word that summed up her partner, Gauff thought for a while before settling on “resilient.”That rings true despite Pegula’s privileged upbringing, which alleviated concerns about the training and traveling costs that pose obstacles for many other tennis talents.“It doesn’t matter how much money you have,” Witt said. “It’s something inside that drives you to want to win. A lot of people probably say, she doesn’t have to play tennis, but what would somebody do to satisfy that competitiveness if they didn’t play a sport or challenge themselves with something? I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there that would have never thought in a million years that Jessica would be top 10 or top five. But they don’t know her as a person. They don’t know how hard she works.”Witt, a 6-foot-3 former touring pro from Florida who had a huge serve and forehand, struggled to duplicate his junior success on the main circuit. But he has now proved himself twice as a top-drawer coach, working with Venus Williams, first as a hitting partner and then as a coach, for 11 years before they split at the end of the 2018 season.Dave Witt coached Venus Williams for 11 years before they split in 2018.Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesPegula and Witt clicked from the start; they have become regular golfing partners and often travel without any other support team members.“Dave’s very calm, laid back a little bit, but at the same time super competitive,” Pegula said. “He’s a good fit for me because I’m kind of similar. Not a lot of things get me fired up or revved up, but I’m also very competitive. A lot of times growing up, I didn’t really know how to balance that. It was like, ‘You need to show more emotion.’ But that’s not me.”Pegula is not an explosive, acrobatic mover like Gauff or Swiatek; she’s not a flashy shotmaker like No. 2 Ons Jabeur. But Pegula is a clean hitter with world-class timing and plenty of pop in her groundstrokes and improved serve. Unlike some baseline bashers, she also has a Plan B and C and is ever more comfortable at net. In Witt’s view, her even-keel approach (with the exception of the occasional thrown racket) allows her to channel her energy effectively during matches. Her progress with Witt has been steady and increasingly heady. She was ranked No. 62 at the end of 2020 and No. 18 at the end of 2021 after reaching her first major quarterfinal that year at the Australian Open. She is now within range of the No. 2 ranking after reaching three more Grand Slam quarterfinals in 2022, losing to the eventual champion in all three — including another loss to Swiatek at the U.S. Open in September, after which she sipped a beer in a downbeat post-match news conference.Pegula now expects more. The thought of winning a major singles title still makes her uncomfortable, but that seems all the more reason to increase the pace of the chase. Stagnation, as Novak Djokovic once said, is regression.“Exactly,” Pegula said. “That’s perfect.” More

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      The WTA and Women’s Tennis Struggle With Challenges

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      Money problems, shifting venues and a costly dispute with China have left the tour looking for answers — and a financial lifeline.As the women’s professional tennis season draws to a close this week, with the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, it’s fair to call this a Dickensian year — the best of times, the worst of times.Rarely since the founding of the WTA Tour in 1973 has the women’s game experienced as much tumult as it did in 2022. There were enormous highs and shattering lows, much to be proud of and plenty to be concerned about.“This was certainly a year filled with challenges in the women’s game. Not only did we lose an anchor when the established No. 1 retired, but doing business hasn’t been easy in this post-Covid world,” Pam Shriver, a former player who once ranked No. 3 in the world and served as the president of the WTA Tour Players’ Association, said, referring to the departure of Ashleigh Barty.After two years of pandemic-related interruptions and protocols, the tour welcomed fans back unconditionally to arenas worldwide. Players once again signed giant tennis balls courtside and threw their sweaty wristbands into eager crowds. The enthusiasm at late-night matches in New York and Miami reminded athletes just how much they had missed that raucous interaction.There was pomp and emotion when Serena Williams left the game after the United States Open. Williams, a transformative figure on and off the court, won 23 major championships over her 27-year career. She has already hinted at a possible comeback in 2023.There were also tender moments, such as when Barty won the Australian Open in January and became the first Aussie, man or woman, to win the title since 1978. But then, about two months later, Barty abruptly announced her retirement, leaving the game momentarily rudderless.This season included tender moments, as when Ashleigh Barty won the Australian Open. She was the first Australian, man or woman, to win the title since 1978.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesIga Swiatek proved to be a willing successor. The now-21-year-old won 37 consecutive matches from February through June, including at top-tier events at Indian Wells, Miami, Rome and the French Open. By the fall, she had added her second major of the year at the U.S. Open. Swiatek heads into the WTA Finals with eight titles on the season, the most since Serena Williams won 11 in 2013.Swiatek was also outspoken. She was one of the first to speak out about mental health issues in the tennis world and against the war in Ukraine. She also donated prize money to organizations dedicated to both causes.Swiatek also showed her persnickety side this season, as she complained about the quality of the tennis balls used at various tournaments and about the scheduling at the end of the season, which she said was arduous. Swiatek even declined to represent her native Poland in the Billie Jean King Cup because, she said, it would be too difficult to travel to Glasgow a week after the WTA Finals in Texas.Swiatek is returning to the year-end championships for the second time. Last year, she was eliminated before the semifinals. Also returning this year are Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, a semifinalist last year, and Caroline Garcia, while the newcomers include Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina.The most notable player left out of the event is Elena Rybakina, this year’s Wimbledon champion, who would have qualified if the WTA had awarded rankings points for that tournament. Both the WTA and its counterpart on the men’s side, the ATP, declined to do so when Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian players from competing this year.The fact that the WTA Finals are being held in Texas, rather than in China, is yet another point of contention. The tournament was supposed to be played in Shenzhen, as it was in 2019, when China made a $500 million investment in women’s tennis, including $14 million in prize money for the year-end championships. The plan was for the tournament to be staged there every year until 2028.Jessica Pegula signs autographs during the WTA 2022 Guadalajara Open tennis tournament. This season, fans were welcomed back unconditionally to arenas worldwide, after two years of pandemic-related interruptions and protocols.Ulises Ruiz/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesBut in 2020, the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic. Then, last December, Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star at the time, posted a social media message in which she accused a high-ranking Chinese government official of sexual assault. Steve Simon, the WTA chairman and chief executive, unable to meet with Peng and ensure her safety, announced the suspension of all women’s events in China.It took Micky Lawler, the WTA president, months to secure an alternate venue for the Finals, which were temporarily moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, last year. This year, after much consideration, the WTA chose the 14,000-seat Dickies Arena in Fort Worth as the venue, less than two months before the tournament. All the costs, including fees and prize money for the eight singles competitors and eight doubles teams, are being absorbed by the WTA.But the biggest issue in women’s tennis now is financial stability. Despite the WTA adding Hologic as a title sponsor earlier this year, the loss of revenue from China has forced the tour to operate at a deficit all season. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia tried to step in and make an investment, similar to the one that it made in men’s golf in the form of the LIV tour, but it was rebuffed.To rebuild its financial house, the WTA is set to announce that CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Luxembourg, is investing $150 million over the next five years to hold a 20 percent stake in the tour.Simon, the WTA chairman and chief executive, declined to be interviewed about the deal, saying in an emailed statement, “The WTA can confirm we are in exclusive discussions with CVC Capital Partners regarding a strategic agreement, which would strengthen women’s tennis and support the ambitious growth of the tour.”Much of that money would go toward equalizing prize money between the WTA and the ATP.Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Opens offer equal prize money to men and women, as do major combined tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. But in Rome, for example, even though the men and women play side by side, Novak Djokovic, the men’s champion last year, earned almost $900,000 while women’s winner Swiatek took home less than half that.“In Miami, equality is a given,” said James Blake, a former player and the current tournament director for the Miami Open. “It’s goes back to Venus [Williams] when she fought for equal prize money at Wimbledon. We also have equal time for men and women on the show courts, equal practice courts, even equal locker rooms. I’m very proud of that.“The men may be a bigger draw right now, but the women might be next year,” Blake added. “We need to all work together equally. A rising tide raises all of the ships.”Simon has been the chief executive of the WTA Tour since 2015. Assuming that the deal with CVC goes through, Lawler, the WTA president, said that he would remain chairman of the WTA Tour and she would stay on as president. But CVC will add its own executive, another administrative position in an organization than can sometimes resemble a seven-layer cake. Since its inception in 1973, two women, Anne Person Worcester and Stacey Allaster, have served as chief executives of the WTA.Lawler said the deal with CVC wasn’t all about prize money distribution.“It is important that we invest in our own assets, such as content and broadcast production,” she said. “They drive the overall value of the sport for all of our stakeholders. As far as technology, we have seen innovation in areas such as ball and athlete tracking. If we add these data points to the data output from the umpire’s chair, we are able to produce deep match insights. Both our athletes and fans expect us to tell stories with every tool available.”Even for the players, prize money is only part of the equation.“We’re a group of individual athletes that has to be brought together to find commonality,” said Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a doubles specialist and a former member of the WTA Players’ Council. “Prize money is still a huge issue, since we all have to pay our bills. We have to reconfirm the way we distribute it.“But just as important is how we elevate the brand and make the game sustainable for the future,” she said. “We are a very small share in the world of entertainment. We compete for airtime with the NFL, pickleball and cornhole.“We shouldn’t be competing with each other.” More

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      The Forehand Slice, Once Disdained, Makes a Comeback

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      It was once considered a desperate shot, but experts say it can give players an edge. Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz use it.Tennis players commonly hit three types of backhands — topspin, flat and slice — yet on the forehand, they have, in the modern game, traditionally limited their arsenal of shots to just the first two.The forehand slice — which involves sliding the racket beneath the ball to create backspin or sliding it to the left or right of the ball to create side spin — is used for drop shots but has long been frowned upon as a desperate play in an extreme situation. Yet while many players still view the shot with disdain, it is starting to get some respect as a shot that, when used strategically, can give players an edge.“There are a handful of players who use it as a tactic and who do it well,” says Madison Keys, a power player ranked as the world No. 11, who said she did not practice the shot much.Pam Shriver, a former Top 10 player who is now an ESPN commentator, used the forehand slice extensively during her playing career. She would like to see more players take the shot seriously.“It has become a really important specialty shot to have,” Shriver said, adding that it is particularly effective on fast, low-bouncing surfaces like indoor courts such as the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, which will host this year’s WTA Finals. (The slice is less effective on clay.)The slice is most frequently used as a defensive shot when a player is stretched wide, but Shriver noted that it could also be effective to disrupt an opponent’s rhythm and keep the ball extra low, especially on the offensive approach shot.“Serena Williams introduced a generation of really dynamic and powerful players, but now you see the new generation getting more creative,” said Wim Fissette, a coach who has worked with several world No. 1-ranked women, including Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka. “It started a few years ago in men’s tennis, and now it’s happening in women’s tennis. With all that power, you need to develop ways to defend; you need creative solutions.”He, like many others, credits Roger Federer’s occasional “squash shots” — in which he would chop down on a ball to create a fast, low, hard-spinning shot — with giving the forehand slice momentum among modern players including Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur and Carlos Alcaraz.“If you only hit powerful shots from the baseline, your opponent only has to run left and right,” Fissette said. “Federer started using his slice to bring the opponent into the court, taking them away from the baseline to where they weren’t as confident. The forehand slice is a way to find ways to break the rhythm of your opponent and to make the court bigger.”Karolina Pliskova playing a forehand slice during the 2021 Australian Open. According to the tennis coach Wim Fissette, the shot can help extend points and draw opponents to portions of the court where they are less comfortable.Daniel Pockett/Getty ImagesAdditionally, he noted that when a player “does not have their A game, they need a Plan B” and that using slices on defense can allow a player to fight their way into a match.Many players still think of the forehand slice as something to be used grudgingly and only when pulled wide, but Shriver points out that today’s open stances, combined with the ability to slide into shots even on hard courts, allow players extra reach, enabling them to flick a slice back even if they cannot get their full body into a shot for a flat or topspin ball.“More players are using the forehand slice, but as a defensive shot,” said eighth-ranked Daria Kasatkina, who, like Keys, does not practice the shot. She said she did not think about it tactically, employing it only when cornered by a hard-hit ball that forces her into a defensive play.Keys said she used the forehand slice only on the run and “when absolutely necessary.”Even top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who has a diverse array of weapons, said that while the shot “can really reset a rally,” it was not a priority for her. “I use it only when I can’t make another shot.”Fissette, the coach who worked with Halep and Osaka, said that it was worth doing speed training drills to practice those forehands on the run because it extends points, and that opponents who are not comfortable attacking the net will feel compelled to hit riskier groundstrokes closer to the lines, causing them to make more errors.He said Swiatek was adept at using the shot defensively but added that she, like Gauff, gripped the racket in a way that could make hitting low forehands difficult, especially when coming forward, and that the slice could be helpful there.“Players should be practicing the slice and practicing how to defend against that spin,” Shriver, the former player and commentator, said, citing Ons Jabeur as a player who uses the slice well defensively and offensively.Shriver and Fissette said it was an ideal approach shot, especially to an opponent’s forehand, because it kept the ball low and allowed the attacker to hit while moving through the ball, getting her to the net quicker. “Karolina Pliskova has an excellent down-the-line approach slice,” Fissette added. “I’d like to see more women develop that.”Fissette said that since WTA players were generally less comfortable at the net than men, the slice could also be effective to open the court and draw opponents to short shots that might be trickier for them to handle.That is especially worth trying on balls to your opponent’s forehand, Shriver said. If you slice to players’ backhands, they might just slice it back and then you would not gain an edge. But on the forehand, you want to keep the ball out of the main strike zone where players can really drive the ball, and lower shots are tougher for many players.“And the slice often has more than underspin, it also has a bit of side spin, which adds another element for them to deal with,” Shriver said.Neither Shriver nor Fissette thinks the shot will, or should become, as common as the backhand slice.“You have to pick the right ball and the right moment,” Fissette said,The backhand slice is a more natural shot, Shriver said, and “it can get really messy” when a player cannot find the feel for the forehand slice. Additionally, switching grips back and forth too much can throw a player’s power forehand out of sync.Still, “while the forehand slice is a gamble, it can be well worth it,” she said. “And it makes tennis more interesting to watch.” More

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      The Tennis Player Ons Jabeur Is Full of Surprises

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      She almost conquered Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and is making her first appearance at the WTA Finals.Ons Jabeur, a finalist at Wimbledon and the United States Open this year, is ranked a career-high No. 2. But the Tunisian star has never qualified for the year-end WTA Finals until this year, when she will be among the eight women competing in singles in Fort Worth.Jabeur, 28, the highest-ever-ranked African and Arab tennis player, combines deceptively fast foot speed with an ability to unnerve opponents with her spins, dips and drop shots. She said in a video call that sometimes when she saw a player try unsuccessfully to chase down one of her shots she had a hard time hiding a grin.The following interview has been edited and condensed.Have you ever been to Texas before?No, that’s why I’m going 10 days early, just so that I have time to adapt to the weather, to the court, to the round-robin system and everything else. And to try all the barbecue food they have.Would you call yourself the riskiest player on the WTA Tour?I like to surprise everyone not knowing what shot I’m going to go for. It can also put me at risk at the same time, but it’s good. I love the adrenaline about it.During your first eight years on tour you couldn’t break into the world’s Top 100. Do you think it was more technical, more tactical or more psychological?I think it was a little bit of everything. I was training hard. In my head I was doing everything right, but then during the matches I wasn’t patient enough to hold a long rally. Maybe I wasn’t fit enough at certain times to really back up my game because if you make people run you have to run as well.You played a lot of lower-level tournaments without making it to the WTA level. What kept you going?I think knowing deep inside that I belonged at the level to be one of the best tennis players really helped. And a lot of experts told me that my game was really different. Having too many options as a tennis player — slices, drop shots, hitting hard —- is tough. I had to put in my mind that I can do anything, but that I had to become more organized. Plus, I used to be everywhere, just traveling with a suitcase, and I didn’t have a base or a home. As soon as I got organized everything became clearer for me and all I needed to worry about was playing tennis.What was the turning point for you?In 2018, I was at a good level, but not the one I expected to be at. I got a little mad and told myself: “This is enough. I really need to go full and not stay in between.” Do whatever it takes to go forward and give myself the chance to be one of the best.Everyone talks about how popular you are with the other players and how you’re the minister of happiness. So what makes you mad?A lot of things make me mad, trust me. One of them is if my drop shot doesn’t work. I don’t like that. I like to be punctual. When people promise me something I like that they stick to it. I like good food, so bad food makes me angry as well. (Her favorite food is market loubia, a Tunisian white bean stew.)What’s your message to all those young women who are trying to be the next Ons Jabeur?A lot of people say you have to have a certain technique or certain ways to be fit. But every player is different, and you should play with what is yours. We’ve all been there. Just be patient and your time will come.What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about yourself?I always believe that I want to stay the person that I am. I don’t want to change to be No. 2 in the world or No. 2,000. There are a lot of players out there who can achieve even better than me. And that’s what the game is about. For me, the tennis career is short, so I want to be remembered as a great person, not just a great tennis player. More

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      Stefanos Tsitsipas, So Near the Greats, but Not One of Them Yet

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      He has an impressive game, with a dominating serve and a huge wingspan. Winning a major is next on his list.LONDON — Stefanos Tsitsipas stood behind the courtside sofa in the O2 Arena on Sept. 22 watching Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray practice their doubles game.Tsitsipas applauded when Federer hit a classic backhand down-the-line passing shot — a stroke Tsitsipas has modeled his own picturesque one-handed backhand after — well out of Murray’s reach. Tsitsipas looked saucer-eyed when Federer hit another winner, this time a backhand volley off a Djokovic midcourt half volley.Eventually, Tsitsipas, of Greece, couldn’t resist any longer, and he climbed into the umpire’s chair so he could get a better view of the four legends who would be among his teammates in the Laver Cup, starting the next day.“I’m stunned by their level of play,” Tsitsipas said later. “Just admiring [Federer’s] natural ability to kiss the ball with his racket. That’s a beautiful thing to see.”There are many tennis experts who say that Tsitsipas’s game is also a sight to behold. With an enormous wingspan on the forehand and backhand, he looks almost eaglelike as he strikes the ball. He glides rather than rumbles around the court and uses a hammer of a serve to set up points that can be won with topspin and brute force.Tsitsipas knows that his game is particularly effective indoors, especially given that he won the ATP Finals in 2019 played at the O2 Arena in London.“I’m a player that can serve big, and I have a big forehand,” he said. “I have good placement around the court, and it helps that I’m not a player that stays back. I have so many options out there that I can use to close off points.”Diego Schwartzman, who lost to Tsitsipas at the Laver Cup, said that Tsitsipas was more patient and felt the ball well.“He has that combination where he can be aggressive and be patient,” Schwartzman said. “He has many chances to win Grand Slams.”Tsitsipas reached the semifinals at the Australian Open in January.Darrian Traynor/Getty ImagesIt is the majors that have eluded Tsitsipas. At 24, he has already been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world and currently sits at No. 5. He enters the Rolex Paris Masters having won two titles this year, in Majorca and in Monte Carlo, Monaco. He was also runner-up in five other tournaments.While Tsitsipas reached the final at the 2021 French Open, losing to Djokovic, and has reached four major semifinals, including at this year’s Australian Open, he has often faltered when it mattered most. At the United States Open in August, he was upset in the first round by 94th-ranked Daniel Elahi Galan, a match in which he dropped the first two sets 6-0, 6-1.“I don’t think I have ever played so bad in my career,” Tsitsipas said. “And I know what happened.”The issue at the Open, Tsitsipas said, was his decision to experiment with new rackets, racket head weight, strings and string tension. The reason was an elbow injury late last year that forced him to retire in the first round of the Paris Masters, pull out midtournament at the ATP Finals and then have surgery after the season. Since then he has been trying to find the right equipment combination that will enhance his game but not hurt his arm.“The surgery was difficult to come back from, and there was a lot of doubting at the time,” Tsitsipas said. “There are certain decisions and moves that I need to take in order to prevent getting my elbow in that state again. But I should not have so much experimentation going on. It took away a lot of my confidence.”Tsitsipas is keenly aware that he is one of the best players never to have won a major.“I know where my tennis is capable of reaching and which zone I can be at,” he said. “I guess I’ll learn from all the mistakes. It was something that I don’t want to replicate again because it was psychological suffering. Those are opportunities that I need to grab.”Introspection is important to Tsitsipas’s personality. Asked about his favorite philosopher and his preferred quote, Tsitsipas didn’t hesitate.“I like the Socrates one,” he said. “‘I know only one thing: That I know nothing.’” More

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      So the Forehand Is Your Best Tennis Shot? You Sure?

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      It is usually the most powerful, but that greater strength may also be its greatest weakness. It can break down under pressure.During the Rolex Paris Masters, you will consistently see players taking a circuitous route to a ball, running around what should be a backhand to take a whack from their forehand side. Most players hit forehands harder and with more spin, seeking a better chance to seize control of the point.And yet that greatest strength may also be the greatest weakness. Despite the peril, players attack the opposition’s forehand while serving and during a rally because the forehand is also less stable and more likely to result in an unforced error, especially on a faster indoor court like the one for this tournament, which begins Saturday and runs through Nov. 6.“Around 90 percent of the time a player’s forehand is stronger, so you fear it more, but it isn’t always the most consistent,” said Steve Johnson, adding, “I’m one of the players who’s going to let it fly and litter the stat sheet with winners and errors.”Backhands, especially two-handers, are more compact so less can go awry.“The forehand is a bigger swing and a more complex shot technically,” said Michael Russell, who coaches Taylor Fritz. “If you look at the top-10 players you’ll see many hit their forehands quite differently, but the backhands have more similarities. So the forehand is going to break down more under pressure.”Taylor Fritz hits a forehand during a match in Indian Wells, Calif.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesAttacking the forehand is more common than in the past because of changes in technology and playing style, said Wayne Ferreira, Frances Tiafoe’s coach. Modern rackets and strings enabled players to hit stronger backhands, while the desire to further amp up the forehand has led most players to more extreme Western grips, he said.(The Semi-Western and Western grips favored by many players, men and women, involve rotating the racket in the hand to the point that it looks almost unnatural to swing it, until you see a player whip through and rotate up on the ball creating tremendous topspin impossible with less nontraditional grips.)“The reason forehands are worse today is because of the grip — you can create more pace, but you’ll have a harder time controlling it,” Ferreira said, blaming training and development that locks in these grips when players are young. “Frances has a Western grip forehand, and I think it’s too far over, but sometimes it’s too hard to change it back.”Just because a player may be more prone to mistakes on their forehand does not mean you can just go after it all the time.Denis Shapovalov hits a forehand during a match in the Australian Open.Graham Denholm/Getty Images“You still try to stay away from that shot and then force the player to hit one when you have a good opportunity,” said Denis Shapovalov, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the Paris Masters finals in 2019. “It’s a gamble any time you go there. You might get beat or you might get a point out of it.”Russell said that each point had many variables, including both players’ confidence, but said the court surface was also a crucial factor.“On a faster indoor court [like at the Paris Masters] or a grass court you have less time to prepare and a lower bounce, so guys with big swinging forehands have a hard time getting set,” Ferreira said. “On clay the ball is slower and bounces higher, so it’s more in the pocket where players are comfortable on the forehand.”Sometimes players begin targeting the forehand with their serve. If a player has a big backswing, Brandon Nakashima tries exploiting that by tossing in more serves to the forehand. “They will be more prone to mis-hits or shorter returns,” he explained.Russell said the shorter backhand swing made it easier to absorb a first serve’s power and block it back. Ferreira noted that while “you have to mix it up a lot,” most players prepared to return serve by setting up for the backhand, so players must adjust to serves to the forehand. (One-handed backhands require a more notable grip shift in those moments.)During rallies, Johnson said, attacking the forehand is necessary to open up the backhand. “I try to catch guys by surprise and go to their forehand when they’re looking for the backhand,” he said.Frances Tiafoe hits a forehand during a match at the French Open.Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesPlayers have to choose their spots, Ferreira cautioned. “Players do very well hitting inside out forehands from the backhand corner, but because of the grip they don’t do as well hitting forehands on the run as they used to,” he said. Ferreira said there were certain players (like Matteo Berrettini) with huge forehands where you need to be more careful and others (like Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner) where you’re more likely to gain a free point. “But even with Berrettini you can go to the forehand when he’s not expecting it.”Ferreira said players should also attack opponents’ forehands when they were hitting approach shots or at the net, because if they kept the ball down, with a slice or flat shot, it was more challenging for forehands to handle.Russell agreed that every player could be pushed on the forehand side, especially if they had to hit the ball while moving. “On the backhand they’ll use the slice as a defensive shot, but most players don’t practice the forehand slice, and you can make them late if they have to hit forehands on the run.”He said even Rafael Nadal, who with Roger Federer now retired is the forehand king, can be beaten on that wing. “If you can rush Rafa, he has a tendency to lift a little more,” Russell said, before adding, “but you have to execute it perfectly or you’re running on a yo-yo.Johnson said some players lacked confidence and pressuring the forehand early could pay off.“If they miss a couple early, they’ll stop going for as much on that shot,” he said. Not everyone falters, however. “Some guys can miss a hundred forehands in a row and won’t question going for the 101st one.”Nakashima and Shapovalov added a final caveat: A crucial moment, with the set or match on the line, may not be the best time to test your opponent’s forehand. “In a key point, you don’t want to get surprised by a big shot,” Nakashima said.Attacking the forehand at that juncture is like throwing a changeup instead of your best fastball with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Shapovalov added. This tactic is a weapon to deploy, but wisely.“In the big moments,” he said, “you want to go where you’re confident and where the percentages are highest to win the point.” More

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      Which Men’s Tennis Player Will Be No. 1 at the End of the Year?

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      Novak Djokovic has taken the top spot for the last two years, but, with his struggles, now it’s up for grabs.By the time Novak Djokovic took to the court for his match against Daniil Medvedev in the finals of the Rolex Paris Masters last year, he already knew he would end the season ranked No. 1 in the world for a record-breaking seventh time.With his win over Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals of that event Djokovic ensured that he would surpass Pete Sampras, who finished as No. 1 for six consecutive years from 1993-98. Close behind are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Jimmy Connors, each of whom ended the season ranked No. 1 five times.“It’s always one of the biggest goals, to try to be No. 1 and end the season as No. 1,” Djokovic said last year. “To do it for the record seventh time and surpass my childhood idol and role model, Pete, is incredible. Very grateful, very blessed to be in this position.”This year, Djokovic has no chance to end the year ranked No. 1. Because of his decision to remain unvaccinated, he was unable to play tournaments in Australia and the United States, including two of the four majors — the Australian and United States Opens. The one major that he did win, Wimbledon, did not award ranking points after Russian and Belarusian players were banned from competing after Russia invaded Ukraine.Heading into the Paris Masters, Djokovic had played just 10 events all season. He didn’t compete from mid-July to mid- SeptemberSince losing to Nadal in the quarterfinals of the French Open in June, Djokovic has won 17 of his last 18 matches, beating Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Astana, Kazakhstan, earlier this month. Still, he is ranked No. 7, his lowest ATP ranking since August 2018 when he was No. 10 following an extended break because of elbow surgery.Rafael Nadal is one of five players who could potentially end the year ranked No. 1.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesSo with the sport’s most dominant player faltering in the rankings, the year-end No. 1 ranking is up for grabs. Multiple players have more of the ATP points that determine the top spot than Djokovic, with Carlos Alcaraz, this year’s U.S. Open winner, sitting at No. 1, about 650 points ahead of second-ranked Nadal and about 3,800 ahead of Djokovic.“The rankings are really skewed this year,” said Pam Shriver, a former top-10 player and now an ESPN commentator. “A lot of people still look at Novak as No. 1. After all, he’s only lost one match since June. His ranking may say No. 7, but that’s all because of Wimbledon. He’s playing like the No. 1 player in the world. It’s not apples to apples like other years.”Under the normal points system, Djokovic might not even qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, this year. Heading into Paris, he was in 10th place in the points race. But under the ATP’s Grand Slam champion rule, any player who wins a major title and is ranked within the top 20 is guaranteed a spot in the year-end championship. (The WTA Tour has no such rule, which is why Djokovic’s fellow Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, did not qualify for the WTA Finals in Fort Worth.)“Most of the upheaval this year is because of Djokovic,” Patrick McEnroe, a former United States Davis Cup captain and now an ESPN commentator said. “He missed two majors and didn’t get points for the one he won. It really affected the rest of the field. You could make the case that if Djokovic runs the table, wins Paris and the ATP Finals, that he deserves to be No. 1.”The player most likely to end 2022 at No. 1 is Alcaraz. So far he has won five tournaments this year, including ATP Masters 1000s in Miami and Madrid. In Madrid, he beat Nadal, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in succession. At the U.S. Open, he knocked off Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals and then Casper Ruud for the championship. He then, at 19, became the youngest No. 1 in ATP rankings history.The issue for Alcaraz is his lack of indoor experience. Entering the Paris Masters, Alcaraz had played just two tournaments, in Astana and Basel, Switzerland, and two Davis Cup matches indoors this season. Last year he lost in the third round in Paris, but went on to win the Next Gen ATP Finals.“The way this game is supposed to work is that the new guys get better and start beating the old guys,” said Jimmy Arias, once ranked No. 5 and now the director of tennis at the IMG Academy in Florida. “Alcaraz has shown that he’s the guy to replace them because he’s beaten Nadal and Djokovic this year. I don’t want those older guys to just fade away. The new guys won’t get respect without beating them. It’s the natural order of things.”In the last few weeks of the season, there are five players who could potentially end the year No. 1 — Alcaraz, Nadal, Ruud, Medvedev and Tsitsipas. Ruud reached two major finals this year, finishing second to Nadal at the French Open and to Alcaraz at the U.S. Open. Ruud has also won three lower-level titles and was runner-up to Alcaraz at the Masters 1000 in Miami.Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in the final of the U.S. Open last year, was runner-up to Nadal at the Australian Open in January. Shortly after, Medvedev, ascended to world No. 1.But Medvedev was banned from playing Wimbledon and then lost to Nick Kyrgios in the round of 16 at the U.S. Open. He is now ranked No. 4.Tsitsipas is also within range of No. 1. He has won two ATP titles, in Monte Carlo, Monaco; and Mallorca, Spain, and reached the semifinals at the Australian Open. Though he faltered at the other three majors, Tsistipas has a 14-6 record on indoor hard courts this year and reached the finals in Astana and Stockholm this month.“This year has been so bizarre,” McEnroe said. “It’s almost hard to legitimize the game and its rankings. The wrinkle in all of this is Ruud, Tsitsipas and Medvedev could all end up mathematically No. 1, but that would be too bad. I don’t think they deserve it.”Some experts said that Nadal should be crowned year-end No. 1, especially given the way he started the year. He had a 21-match win streak, taking three tournaments, including the Australian Open. He was finally stopped by Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final.Nadal went on to win his 14th French Open, beating Djokovic in the quarterfinals and advancing to the final when Zverev had an ankle injury that would sideline him for the rest of the season. Nadal also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, but withdrew because of a torn abdominal muscle.“To me, the person who wins the majors is actually No. 1,” Arias said. “I look at the guy who played less, but won more. And that’s Nadal.”Regardless of what the computer says in December, this men’s season will be controversial. Had Djokovic been vaccinated and allowed into Australia and the United States, he might well have equaled his 55-7 record of 2021.“I do have empathy for Djokovic,” McEnroe said. “I don’t agree with his decision, but he suffered the consequences. He paid a high price for sticking to his guns.”Arias said this would be a year for the record books.“With Novak not being able to play, and with Wimbledon banning players and then giving no ranking points, I almost feel like this year shouldn’t count,” he added. “But 25 years from now no one is going to remember any of this..” More