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      In Tennis, Bookends of Drama in 2023

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      The year was full of unlikely winners and exciting team competitions.There was no champagne courtside. So, as Matteo Berrettini embraced Jannik Sinner after Sinner’s victory over Alex de Minaur last month to clinch Italy’s first Davis Cup title in 47 years, their teammate, Matteo Arnaldi, did the next best thing: He shook a water bottle and poured it over Sinner and Berrettini.Sinner, 22, ended the season with his 20th win in his last 23 matches. This year, he had a 64-15 record, won four tournaments, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and was runner-up at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. He had wins over the three top-ranked players — Novak Djokovic, whom he beat twice in two weeks, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. Starting 2023 at No. 15, he ended it at No. 4.Djokovic sorely wanted to lead Serbia to just its second Davis Cup title. But in the semifinals, he fell to Sinner after squandering three match points and then teamed with Miomir Kecmanovic to lose the deciding doubles match to Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego. The loss sent Italy into the final, where it beat Australia.Jannik Sinner helped clinch Italy’s first Davis Cup title in 47 years this year. He also had a 64-15 record and won four tournaments.Jorge Guerrero/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDjokovic was devastated by the defeat.“For me, personally, it’s a huge disappointment because I take the responsibility, obviously having three match points, being so close to win it,” he said after the match. “When you lose for your country, you know, the bitter feeling is even greater.”It is ironic that the season began and ended with exciting conclusions at the men’s and women’s team competitions. The Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup have been under siege in recent years as many of the game’s top players, including Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, shunned the historically heart-thumping, pride-producing finals because of scheduling conflicts. The U.S. women lost early in the finals, and the U.S. men didn’t even qualify as one of the top eight teams.Still, despite the player defections and a merry-go-round of format changes, both competitions provided some of the most striking moments of the year.Leylah Fernandez’s five wins helped lead Canada to its first-ever Billie Jean King Cup.Raul Caro/EPA, via ShutterstockLeylah Fernandez rode a wave of patriotic passion, winning five matches to lead Canada to its first Billie Jean King Cup. Her teammate, then-18-year-old Marina Stakusic, who had never won a WTA Tour match, became an overnight star when she won three matches against opponents ranked in the top 70.If 2022 was billed as the season of King Carlos when Alcaraz went from No. 32 to No. 1 on the strength of his U.S. Open championship, then this season mostly belonged to Djokovic.He is considered by many in the game as the greatest player ever. The statistics prove it.At 36, Djokovic had one of the best seasons of his career. For the third time since 2015, he reached the finals at all four majors, falling just shy of attaining the Grand Slam.In January, a year after being removed from Australia because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Djokovic returned to Melbourne Park and captured a record 10th Australian Open title by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. With the 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal injured for most of the season, Djokovic won his third French Open in June by beating Alcaraz and Casper Ruud.After falling to Alcaraz in a scintillating five-set Wimbledon final, Djokovic bounced back and beat Medvedev at the U.S. Open to earn his 24th major, surpassing Serena Williams. He is now just one win away from breaking the men’s and women’s major record held by Margaret Court for 50 years.Djokovic captured his record 10th Australian Open by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesIn all, Djokovic played just 12 tournaments in 2023 and he won seven of them. He did not lose from mid-July until mid-November, when he fell to Sinner during the round-robin portion of the ATP Finals. He then beat Sinner in the final after assuring the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record-extending eighth time.Alcaraz, who won six titles in 2023 on three different surfaces and reached the semifinals at the French and U.S. Opens, in addition to his Wimbledon win, ended the year ranked No. 2. But he was candid after he lost to Djokovic in the semifinals in Turin.“I am not at his level on an indoor court,” Alcaraz, 20, said in November. “He has shown why he is the best player in the world. I have to practice more to be a better player.”With his 66 wins, Medvedev led the ATP in match victories. He won 19 straight, and reached the finals at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, which he won. He also won at Rome and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and was runner-up to Djokovic at the U.S. Open. He ended the year ranked No. 3.Two upstart players — the Americans Ben Shelton and Chris Eubanks — used their wide grins and whopping forehands to envelop the sport in a giant bear hug. Shelton, about two years away from leading the University of Florida to an N.C.A.A. championship, reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. He then reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open before falling to Djokovic. Eubanks, another former collegian, upset Cameron Norrie and Tsitsipas to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.There was no shortage of compelling story lines among the women. Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka spent the season battling for tour supremacy.Sabalenka, only a year removed from serving woes so severe that she resorted to serving underhand during matches, won her first major at the Australian Open, a day she called the “best of my life.” She grabbed the No. 1 ranking after reaching the U.S. Open final.“It was amazing to see Sabalenka, who was basically laughed off that same court a year earlier, confront those demons and take responsibility,” Lindsay Davenport, three-time major winner and former No. 1, said by telephone last month.Swiatek took her third French Open and won six titles. But she faltered at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open before regrouping by the WTA Finals, snatching the year-end No. 1 from Sabalenka by beating her and Pegula to take the title. Pegula, for her part, was one of just two players, along with No. 4 Elena Rybakina, to notch multiple wins over Swiatek this season.Marketa Vondrousova, who endured long stretches away from the game because of two wrist surgeries, became the first unseeded women’s Wimbledon winner when she beat Ons Jabeur in the final.Coco Gauff, 19, beat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to win the U.S. Open.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesBut it was Gauff and her wise-beyond-her-years attitude who transcended the sport in a way that only Williams has done. When Gauff, 19, beat Sabalenka in three sets to win the U.S. Open, the nontennis world, including the former first lady Michelle Obama, went wild. In her acceptance speech, Gauff, who had struggled early in the season, addressed her doubters.“Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” Gauff said. “To those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it.”It was the kind of bold statement that left even former major winners stunned. One of them was Davenport, who admitted to having tears run down her face while she did match commentary on television.“To me, the story of the year was Coco,” Davenport said. “Players come along once in a generation. When you have all the expectations on you at 12 and 15 years old and you are able to handle everything and then elevate your game to win, then you really are truly something special.” More

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      Novak Djokovic Enters ATP Finals as Top Seed

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      He had his breakout year in 2008 and now, at age 36, is still ranked No. 1.For Novak Djokovic, his 2008 season, just a few years after he turned pro, was great by any measure. It was his breakout year.He not only won his first of six ATP Finals, but he began 2008 taking the Australian Open, the first of his 10 titles there and what would become 24 major championships overall.In the semifinals he upset the top seed, Roger Federer, and beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. Djokovic also reached the semifinals at the French Open, where he fell to Rafael Nadal, and the United States Open, where he lost to Federer, also in the semifinals. Djokovic was just 21 at the time.By season’s end, Djokovic had won two other tournaments, including Masters 1000s in Indian Wells and Rome. That year solidified Djokovic as a bona fide member of what was to become known as the Big Three, alongside Federer and Nadal.“He played like a beast,” Nikolay Davydenko, who lost to Djokovic, 6-1, 7-5, in the 2008 final in Shanghai, said by email last month. “He’s a good runner, had good control and the best concentration on the tour. I had no chance.”Now, 15 years later, Djokovic, 36, is still leading the sport and enters the Finals as the top seed. This year has once again been one of his best. For the fourth time in his career he won three of the four majors and heads into the ATP Finals with a 51-5 record. Last Sunday, he captured his seventh Paris Masters championship and 40th career Masters 1000 title with a straight-sets win over Grigor Dimitrov.Djokovic beat the American Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in September. He won three of the four majors in 2023 for the fourth time in his career.Amir Hamja/The New York TimesThe ATP Finals begin Sunday at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, where Djokovic will try to win the event for a record seventh time. His chief competition is the second seed, Carlos Alcaraz, who spoiled Djokovic’s chance to become the third man to attain the Grand Slam when Alcaraz beat him in the final at Wimbledon in July.But Alcaraz has not won a tournament since the summer and was forced to pull out of an ATP event in Basel, Switzerland, last month because of foot and lower-back problems. He was then upset in his opening match at the Paris Masters by the qualifier Roman Safiullin.The six other singles players in the round-robin competition are Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune. Djokovic is the defending champion, having beaten Casper Ruud in the final in 2022.“I obviously had a fantastic year so far,” Djokovic said just before the start of the Paris Masters last month. “I couldn’t ask for a better season. One match away from winning all four Slams is something I would sign [up] right away at the beginning of the season if someone told me that would be the case.”Djokovic in his Wimbledon final match against Carlos Alcaraz in July. Alcaraz won, spoiling Djokovic’s chance to become the third man to attain the Grand Slam.Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesDjokovic enters the ATP Finals as the all-time leader in weeks ranked No. 1 with 398. He could reach a milestone 400 weeks the day after the event ends. He has ended the year at No. 1 seven times, one more than Pete Sampras, who did it from 1993-98. All he has to do is win one round-robin match at the Finals to become this year’s No. 1, ahead of Alcaraz.In three of the six years that Djokovic has won the ATP Finals he ended the year top ranked. The only time his year-end No. 1 ranking came down to the championship match at the ATP Finals was in 2016, when he lost to Andy Murray, who took the year-end No. 1.These days, Djokovic stays motivated by the majors and by retaining his ranking. Stan Wawrinka, who has played Djokovic almost 30 times, knows the vagaries of competing against Djokovic at the year-end championships.“For me, it was something special to play Novak in the world tour finals,” Wawrinka said from the Paris Masters. “Playing him indoors, when he’s really focused and motivated, was always a big challenge. His game is amazing on all surfaces, but I would say indoors, that’s where he’s at his best.” More

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      To Beat the Best at the ATP Finals, Players May Have to Mix Things Up

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      Analysts say it is a good strategy against strong defensive players, which can put them in an uncomfortable position.The ATP Finals, scheduled to run from Sunday through Nov. 19, is more than the most prestigious men’s tournament outside of the Grand Slams, it is also an existential conundrum.The exclusive singles draw features the eight best players in the world, leaving no easy wins and raising the question of whether a player must change his game over the course of the week to best the best of the best.The answer is a highly qualified “yes,” with a giant “but” attached. Paul Annacone, the Tennis Channel analyst who coached Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, said changes should be minor, especially since the early matches are round-robin, meaning a player can lose one match and still survive.“I’m a big believer in figuring out your own identity and trusting what got you to the year-end championships,” he said. “Then you just have to do it just a little better than the guy on the other side of the net that day.”Charging the net, which can shorten rallies and help players take control of the action, is one tactic that the players can use against the game’s best defenders, like Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev, or against power sluggers like Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev, but it’s precisely those players’ skills that make coming up to the net after hitting a groundstroke such a risky move.Still, Jimmy Arias, who is also a Tennis Channel analyst, said it’s one way to survive the week.“It’s so hard to hit through base liners like Alexander Zverev and Medvedev, especially on a slower court,” he said, “so if you don’t come to the net against Medvedev, you’re kind of an idiot. If he hits a ridiculous passing shot from the stands, just clap and say, ‘Let me see you do that again.’”Daniil Medvedev charging the net to return a shot during a tournament in Vienna last month. Medvedev has gained a reputation as one of the top defenders playing today.Eva Manhart/APA/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe danger comes, Arias says, if you simply try to force your way to the net against an opponent who is dictating the points, though he adds that, given the quality of the opponents in Turin, Italy, that may become the only option.Patrick McEnroe, an ESPN analyst, agreed, saying that “the ability to finish points, especially at the net, helps exponentially” against such elite defensive players. Medvedev, who is known for stubbornly staying extremely far behind the baseline, gives himself time to reach almost any deep shot. The best plan is to come to the net or hit short-angle balls against him, McEnroe said, but noted that Medvedev succeeds because many players (Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz excepted) cannot execute that tactic well enough to beat him.McEnroe added that the court in Turin, which is indoors, was low-bouncing (forcing opponents to lift attempted passing shots) and relatively slow, though indoor courts felt quicker because there were no elements like wind.“That favors the aggressive player, but not to the extent that it did back in the day, so you need more versatility now,” he said. “That’s why Federer and Djokovic have dominated there.” (Federer won six times; Djokovic is seeking his seventh title.)He emphasized that changing strategies can be more nuanced than simply charging in. He suggested using the forecourt more often and hitting drop shots, low slices and short angle balls.“It puts the other player in uncomfortable positions and allows you to then take the initiative on the next shot,” he said, adding that this is something they now stress at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, the school launched by his brother, where he is co-director.Carlos Alcaraz playing a drop shot against an opponent in Ohio in August. According to the ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe, Alcaraz has been playing these kinds of nuanced shots “at least since he was 13.”Matthew Stockman/Getty Images“This is the biggest thing that has changed with Carlos Alcaraz, who has been playing those shots at least since he was 13,” McEnroe said. “He has the huge firepower and athleticism that these other players do, but now you’re seeing the need to move better and use that part of the court strategically. You’re seeing shots you never thought about, and players are using them consistently.”Arias said that breaking down an opponent by making him change his positioning so he felt uncomfortable — something Federer would do with a short, low slice and that Alcaraz does with the drop shot — was essential.“It’s not just needed for this tournament, but to beat the best you need that all year, but it’s something that’s slightly lacking in the game today,” he said.While Zverev and Medvedev tend to camp at the baseline and let it rip, the analysts cite Rublev, whom Annacone called “so dominant from the back of the court,” as the most one-dimensional of the top players. Arias said Rublev and Sinner “play straight ahead, hitting it hard without opening the court much.”But Annacone and McEnroe said Sinner was improving in this regard because of his coach Darren Cahill. “He’s getting better at playing with subtlety and nuance,” McEnroe said, adding that Holger Rune also “has the potential to play that sort of game.”All three analysts say that when Stefanos Tsitsipas is in top form, he is versatile and one of the better volleyers.Annacone said that a player like Sinner or Rublev could win most matches during the year with their firepower, but that “each of these top players, aside from Novak, can be vulnerable on any given day against other elite players.”Djokovic, as always, remains the exception, even among the exceptional. He has lost just five times this year and is 33-1 on hard courts; since 2012 he is an astounding 108-15 indoors. (Alcaraz would have slotted in there with Djokovic, but he has scuffled a bit since Wimbledon.)So Annacone acknowledged that while players can’t overhaul their identity for this tournament, when they reach the semifinals and possibly face Alcaraz and Djokovic, “you need to be creative and think outside the box,” adding that changing tactics midmatch was easier now that coaching is allowed between points.“You have to be confident enough to do things a little differently, to adjust and adapt on your feet,” he said. “Try it, sometimes you’ll miss, but that’s life.” More

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      The Power and Speed of Jannik Sinner

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      Sinner, 22, has dominating talent and has already beaten many of tennis’s top players.It wasn’t long after Darren Cahill began helping to coach Jannik Sinner last year that he started pulling out videos for his young charge to watch.Cahill knew the extraordinary speed that Sinner already possessed off both wings. He was aware of Sinner’s ability to maneuver around the court at speed and of his work ethic. But Cahill felt that Sinner could benefit by studying the ground strokes, particularly the backhand, of a former Cahill pupil, the eight-time major champion Andre Agassi.“Jannik’s lanky and tall, so he’s got a big wingspan and can generate a ton of power,” Cahill said by phone of Sinner, who is about 6-foot-2. “Andre was revolutionary in the way that he hit the ball back in the day, especially on the backhand. There’s so much to learn from a lot of the older-generation players. Because of the equipment and technology that they had, they really simplified a lot of things, especially the great players.”Sinner, 22, has been one of the most talked-about players since he won the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2019. He was also named the ATP’s Newcomer of the Year that season.“He’s got some of the hardest ground strokes I’ve probably ever had to deal with,” said Alex de Minaur, who lost to Sinner in the final in Toronto in August.“A couple of years ago, in a lot of matches, he was breaking down physically,” said Darren Cahill, left. “He was a late developer, so he just needed to make sure that his body could deal with the rigors of playing at this level week in and week out.”Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesBut is Sinner a genuine threat to do damage, or even win, the ATP Finals, which begin on Sunday? Goran Ivanisevic, Novak Djokovic’s longtime coach, has thought so.“Jannik Sinner, that’s the future,” Ivanisevic said on the ATP Uncovered show in 2020. “For sure, top-five player, maybe No. 1. I can’t say that far, but the kid is 18, hits the ball amazingly quick. He is the deal.”Cahill, along with Sinner’s head coach, Simone Vagnozzi, whom Sinner has also worked with since last year, has helped Sinner grasp the concept of not just hitting the ball hard, but of also using dips, spins and off-pace shots to open up the court and force his opponents to run until their legs give out.The lessons, via video and on court, have paid off. Sinner, an Italian, is ranked No. 4 in the world, up from No. 15 a year ago. He has won four tournaments this year, including his first Masters 1000 at the Canadian Open in August, as well as two of his past four events, in Beijing and in Vienna.Sinner withdrew from the Paris Masters last week after finishing his second-round match at 2:37 a.m. and then being scheduled to play his next match against de Minaur less than 15 hours later. He complained that tournament organizers were not allowing him enough time to recover, leaving his body vulnerable before the upcoming ATP Finals and Davis Cup Final, where he will compete for Italy.After making his ATP Finals debut in 2021 as an alternate, Sinner has qualified on his own this year. He goes in as the fourth seed behind Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev and ahead of Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune. The tournament is at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, about 300 miles from Sinner’s Northern Italy hometown.Sinner has a winning record against Alcaraz, including victories at the Miami Open and China Open this year. After losing his first six matches against Medvedev, including in the finals in Rotterdam and Miami this year, Sinner has beaten him twice in the last month. In a three-set Vienna final, Sinner saved two set points in the first-set tiebreaker, one with an ace up the middle and flummoxed Medvedev with frequent forays to the net.The only players in the Finals that Sinner has not beaten are the world No. 1 and six-time ATP Finals champion Djokovic, and Rune. Sinner fell to Djokovic in the Wimbledon semifinals this year and in the quarterfinals last year. In the 2022 match, Sinner led by two sets to love before falling in five sets. Against Rune, Sinner lost in Monte Carlo this year and retired because of injury in a match in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2022.After suffering through some injuries over the past few years, Sinner has dedicated himself to strengthening his body through off-court work with his fitness coach, Umberto Ferrara, and his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi.The only players in the Finals that Sinner has not beaten are the world No. 1 and six-time ATP Finals champion Djokovic and Holger Rune. Wu Hao/EPA, via Shutterstock“This year, we made a lot of tough decisions to not play a couple of tournaments because it is very important for me to get a lot of gym work and strength and mobility to get better,” Sinner said. “I feel it on the court that the more the match goes on the more comfortable I feel.”Cahill also sees the value in putting the training first and the tennis second.“A couple of years ago, in a lot of matches, he was breaking down physically,” said Cahill, who is also an ESPN commentator. “He was a late developer, so he just needed to make sure that his body could deal with the rigors of playing at this level week in and week out.”Sinner has, admittedly, struggled mentally with closing out matches, his nerves often getting in the way. At last year’s United States Open, he held a match point while serving at 5-4 to the eventual champion, Alcaraz, in the quarterfinals, but lost the five-hour, 15-minute match 6-3 in the fifth set. The match ended at 2:50 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history. Then, at this year’s French Open, Sinner held two match points in the fourth set against Daniel Altmaier, who saved one of them by hitting a net-cord winner. Sinner lost the second-round match in five sets.Sinner does not travel with a full-time psychologist like many players. Instead, he works with Formula Medicine, an Italian mental-training program sometimes used by Formula 1 drivers.“It’s not like I call them and we talk,” said Sinner, who admitted to being overly competitive in everything from tennis drills to playing cards to go-kart racing. “They give me some exercises to do on the computer. It’s fun to work with them, but you also have to show it on the court. It’s all part of the process.”Cahill sees his role as part technician, tactician and mental guru, often overseeing the work of Vagnozzi, Ferrara and Naldi and helping the team see when Sinner needs to work harder and when he needs time off. Cahill also recognizes the challenge for Sinner at the ATP Finals, especially given that he is the only singles player competing in his home country.“I always encourage my players to have a good look around, to take in the atmosphere, to enjoy it, put a smile on your face and to take the fans for a ride,” Cahill said. “Because, ultimately, that’s all we’re there for. If you think about winning and losing too much, it can be like an anchor around your ankle.”As a child, Sinner played soccer and was a top-level junior skier in Italy. He won a national championship in giant slalom when he was 8 years old. But by 13, he had quit skiing to devote himself exclusively to tennis.“In skiing, it was more that if you make one mistake you cannot win the race, while in tennis you can make some mistakes and still win the match,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest lesson that I have learned from skiing. Obviously, they are two different sports, but maybe the coordination, the balance and the sliding helped me a little bit to play tennis.”Cahill is keenly aware of the pressure that Sinner is facing as he enters the ATP Finals. They have been working on simulating stressful situations and critical points, including using deep-breathing exercises and encouraging Sinner to look across the net and take note of the stress level of his opponent.Two things that Cahill would like to give Sinner, but knows he can’t, are John Isner’s powerful serve and John McEnroe’s meticulous volley. He can, however, give him advice.“Jannik has earned his place in the ATP Finals, and everybody’s there to see him,” Cahill said. “Every single player is an incredible tennis player. So go out and put on a great show and don’t think about the end result. Just be brave and play your type of tennis.” More

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      WTA Finals Finds a Last-Second Home in Mexico

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      Mexico landed the event this year at the last second, the third year in a row the tournament has been in limbo. That creates havoc with players’ schedules.It was early September, and Iga Swiatek had no idea where her season would end.For the third year in a row, the WTA Finals were in limbo through the start of the United States Open.“For sure, it’s pretty unfortunate and annoying we don’t have any decision yet,” Swiatek said in late August, shortly before the WTA announced that Cancún, Mexico, would host this year’s championship for the world’s top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams. “We, as players, are not involved in all of the discussions.”Professional tennis players are highly structured athletes who plan their schedules months, sometimes years, in advance. Because the WTA Tour competes in nearly 30 countries across six continents with barely an off-season, the women spend much of their lives on the road, crisscrossing time zones and navigating their complicated travel. Knowing when and where they are going to compete is essential to their well-being and injury prevention.In 2019, the WTA began what it thought was to be a 10-year deal for the Finals to be held in Shenzhen, China. When Covid hit the country was shut down. Then, when Steve Simon, the chief executive of the WTA, said the tour would not return to China until it could establish the safety and whereabouts of the former player Peng Shuai, who had disappeared after accusing a high-ranking government official of sexual abuse, the situation became precarious. Peng eventually resurfaced and retracted her claims of abuse.Now the deal is officially dead. The big question is, will it move to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and, if so, when?Current and former players have mixed feelings about moving the Finals to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Tamir Kalifa for The New York TimesThe WTA board supported a move for this year, but it was scuttled before the announcement was made. Simon then traveled to Riyadh during the tour’s China swing earlier this month to work out details. But then war broke out in the Middle East, delaying an announcement.While the ATP Tour is playing its Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, starting at the end of November, there has been dissension among the women. Many current players, including Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur, are willing to go.“Unfortunately, a lot of places don’t pay women a lot of money and, like a lot of women’s sports, we don’t have the luxury to say no to some things,” Pegula, a member of the WTA Players’ Council, said during the U.S. Open.“I think if the money was right and the arrangement was something that we could get behind, where we could go and create change, then I would be OK playing there,” she added.Maria Sakkari said she thought players needed to be more open-minded. “If the WTA can help women there move forward, then it’s a win for both of us,” she said by phone two weeks ago.Some former players don’t agree.“Why would the leading sport for women go to a country with such a poor track record for women’s rights?” Pam Shriver, a 10-time WTA Finals doubles winner with Martina Navratilova, said by phone. “They’re compromising a payout with core values.”Navratilova wants to see progress before play.“I’m all for opening up a dialogue,” Navratilova, also an eight-time WTA Finals singles champion, said by phone. “But I need to see a commitment to women. I want to know their goals and their education plans. You can’t just go in good faith. If they’re just going for money, it’s a big mistake. The WTA will lose credibility for looking the other way and ignoring Saudi’s human rights violations.”Sabalenka and Jabeur are scheduled to join Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in an exhibition in Saudi Arabia called the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup in December. They will play at Kingdom Arena, which has a seating capacity of about 40,000.The cost of the tournament, including $9 million in total prize money, is to be divided among the WTA, the promoters and the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancún is.Daniel Berehulak for The New York TimesBy comparison, the WTA Finals will be played in a 4,300-seat temporary stadium in Quintana Roo. The venue, on the grounds of the Paradisus Cancún hotel, will also feature two on-site practice courts for the players. Operational costs are estimated to be $6 million, which includes building the stadium. The cost, including $9 million in total prize money, is to be divided among the WTA, the promoters and the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancún is.“Staging the WTA Finals in Cancún was one we could meet and tick off lots of boxes,” said Fabrice Chouquet, a director of the tournament. “The culture, the fans, giving players from around the world the opportunity to be in Mexico, where we have great weather and good conditions to host the event and vibrant hospitality because that’s also the signature of Mexico.”Two years ago, the Finals were held in nearby Guadalajara and won by Garbiñe Muguruza. Last year, after much delay in announcing the venue, the event was moved to the 14,000-seat Dickies arena in Fort Worth, which experienced a dearth of attendance until the final weekend. Caroline Garcia won the title.For more than 20 years from 1979-2000, the year-end championships were played at Madison Square Garden in New York and routinely attracted more than 15,000 fans.This year, total prize money for singles and doubles will be $9 million. If the champion goes undefeated in round-robin play, she will pocket $3 million.This year’s singles competitors include the Australian Open champion Sabalenka, the French Open winner Swiatek, the U.S. Open champ Coco Gauff, the Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova, Elena Rybakina, Pegula, Jabeur and Sakkari. Karolina Muchova was the eighth qualifier, but she was forced to withdraw last week because of a wrist injury, allowing room for Sakkari.Sabalenka, Swiatek and Sakkari are playing for the third straight year, while Pegula, Gauff and Jabeur are second-year competitors. Rybakina and Vondrousova are making their Finals debut this year.One other issue facing the WTA Finals this year is its proximity to the Billie Jean King Cup, the international team competition for women, which begins in Seville, Spain, just two days after the end of the Finals in Cancún. Pegula, Gauff and Swiatek have declined to play in the King Cup. It is the second year that the two signature events have conflicted.“We’ve had our date for a long time,” said King in a video conference this month. “I think we all need to figure out a better calendar for the players and everybody knowing what’s going to happen because you can’t start making these decisions on the Finals in September. It’s only fair.”Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic has a busy end of the season.Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesThe issue is requiring masterful juggling, not to mention mental gymnastics, for Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. After reaching the final in Zhengzhou, China, two weeks ago, Krejcikova flew 1,000 miles to Zhuhai, China, where she was the top seed in last week’s WTA Elite Trophy, a year-end competition for 12 top singles players and six doubles teams who just missed the cut for the WTA Finals.But Krejcikova and her partner, Katerina Siniakova, also qualified for doubles at the WTA Finals, which begins on Sunday. That requires a 9,000-mile trip from Zhuhai to Cancún.Then, as soon as the WTA Finals end, Krejcikova will fly yet another nearly 5,000 miles from Cancún to Seville for the Billie Jean King Cup. But she will at least have company as her Czech teammates Siniakova and Vondrousova are also playing in Cancún and Seville.Regardless of scheduling difficulties, travel headaches and the politics involved in choosing tournament sites, players who qualify for the WTA Finals relish the opportunity to compete.“I always felt that it was a celebration, a reward for a great season,” said Sakkari, who reached the semifinals last year with wins over Sabalenka, Pegula and Jabeur. “It’s huge. There are just seven other players there, and you’re playing against the best of the best. That’s very unique.” More

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      Elena Rybakina, a Wimbledon Winner, Makes Her WTA Finals Debut

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      She’s seeded fourth and is bringing her staggering serve to the event in Cancun, Mexico.Elena Rybakina was mad. She expressed it in the manner most comfortable to her.“Thank you for changing the rules last moment,” Rybakina wrote in an Instagram story last month, alongside a clapping emoji. “Great decisions as always @wta.” She ended with a circus tent and clown-face emojis.Rybakina, who will be making her debut in the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, on Sunday, had arrived in Tokyo for a tournament expecting, as the No. 3 seed, to receive a bye. That meant one less match to play and a few days of extra rest.But, because of a rather technical WTA rule, Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia, who had just reached the semifinals at a tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico, and had a long distance to travel before the start in Tokyo, were given what’s known as “performance byes.” That meant that Rybakina no longer had a free pass into the second round.Rybakina celebrating after winning a match against Aryna Sabalenka at the China Open earlier this month. Rybakina beat both Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, the world’s top two players, this season.Wu Hao/EPA, via ShutterstockSo, after the draw was already made, Rybakina withdrew from the tournament. She said, at the time, it was because of a lingering illness that had plagued her since the summer. (Rybakina declined to be interviewed for this article.)It was not the first time that Rybakina found herself drawn into controversy. After her semifinal win over Victoria Azarenka at the Australian Open in January, she defended her longtime coach, Stefano Vukov, when he was criticized for yelling at her midmatch.“He is a passionate coach with a lot of knowledge about tennis,” Rybakina — who lost the Australian final to Aryna Sabalenka in three sets — wrote in an Instagram post, responding to the commentary. “Those who know me well, will know that I would never accept a coach that didn’t respect me and all our hard work.”Then, during a tournament in Montreal in August, Rybakina went on the offensive after a persistent rain delay forced her to begin her quarterfinal match after 11 p.m. Her match against Daria Kasatkina (which she eventually won) didn’t end until almost 3 a.m. She then lost her ensuing semifinal and complained of niggling injuries.This type of grumbling is unusual for Rybakina, 24, who typically goes about her business on court with little indication of what she is thinking or feeling.“Elena is so professional and very focused, and she really controls her emotions,” said her agent, Nicholas Tzekos. “You have to spend quantity time with her to get to the quality. But when she does smile, it’s as if she’s giving a giant hug to the whole audience.”Rybakina’s game is buoyed by her six-foot frame and a staggering serve that has routinely been clocked in the mid-120 m.p.h. range, as well as a forehand that she can redirect into the furthest corners of the court.Rybakina has won two tournaments this year, at Rome and Indian Wells, winning enough ranking points to earn a spot at the WTA Finals this week.Pedro Pardo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“Her serve is amazing,” said Billie Jean King, who will welcome Rybakina to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Seville, Spain, days after the WTA Finals. “Her forehand gets a little dodgy sometimes, but she’s always going to be a threat because she loves to play and she believes in herself.”Rybakina had her big breakthrough at Wimbledon last year, defeating Ons Jabeur for the title. The Moscow-born Rybakina had been representing Russia, but chose instead to start playing for Kazakhstan in 2018; she won Wimbledon while competing for the Central Asian nation.That year, the tournament had banned Russian and Belarusian players because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The WTA then opted not to award ranking points for Wimbledon, meaning that Rybakina, despite being one of the best players that season, failed to qualify for the 2022 WTA Finals in Fort Worth.This year, Rybakina, ranked No. 4 and seeded 4th at the Finals, has won two tournaments, the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where she beat the world’s top two players, Iga Swiatek and Sabalenka, in succession, and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. With three wins over Swiatek and one over Sabalenka, she is one of just two WTA players since 2000 to have four wins over world No. 1s in the same season.The other was Serena Williams. More

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      Coco Gauff Won the U.S. Open and Became a Symbol

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      She won the U.S. Open and seized the spotlight as a symbol of her generation.Hours after winning her first United States Open tennis championship, in September, Coco Gauff took her Tiffany trophy for a nighttime swirl around the tournament grounds.Dressed in the summer’s hot color — pink — she lip-synced to the No. 1 single from Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice:“I’m bad like the Barbie/I’m a doll, but I still want to party.”At 19, Gauff met the cultural moment and made it her own.“That’s what great content creators do. They capture the essence of moments,” said Kirby Porter, the founder of New Game Labs, a marketing firm that helps start-ups work with athletes. “First, she embodied that in winning. And then that video? I literally downloaded it, and I was like, ‘Yes, Mood!’ That’s exactly how I feel.”Born into a new generation of athlete creators, Gauff became the M.C. for Gen Z with her unscripted authenticity at this U.S. Open. She not only raised her own profile, but lifted women’s tennis in need of a new celebrity after the retirement of Serena Williams.“To me, it’s been in a lull for a couple of years now, without having any personality,” said Zina Garrison, who at Wimbledon in 1990 became the first Black woman to play a major final since Althea Gibson.“It’s like the Women’s Tennis Association didn’t have an identity, and she’s bringing back the identity,” Garrison said of Gauff.Gauff returning a shot during the 2023 China Open in Beijing this month.Yanshan Zhang/Getty ImagesA relentless defender on the court and a self-assured voice off it, Gauff, who was not available to comment, proved that she is primed to make a long-term impact well beyond sports. Inspired by her grandmother Yvonne Lee Odom, who integrated her Florida high school in 1961, Gauff has used her platform to promote social justice, including Black Lives Matter, gender equity and climate change activism.Now ranked No. 3 in the world, Gauff enters this week’s year-end WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, with a more immediate question: Has she recovered from a shoulder injury from a tournament in Beijing this month?After winning 16 straight matches this summer and fall, Gauff lost in the semifinals of the China Open to No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek. Gauff then withdrew from another tournament in China.Her agent, Alessandro Barel Di Sant Albano of Team8, said in an interview that Gauff had a “minor muscle injury” and that she would be ready for Cancun. “She’s going with the mind-set of, ‘I am going to win this tournament,’ ” he said.Team8 has also been busy fielding calls for her.“There’s been at least 100 brands that have reached out,” Barel Di Sant Albano said, adding that Gauff already had seven partnerships, including New Balance, which created her signature shoe.“We’ve always taken the approach of ‘fewer, bigger, better’ and the idea that it doesn’t come and go away overnight,” he said. “If you focus on what happens on the court, it will become much more off the court down the line.”Gauff taking pictures with fans at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., in March.Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressGauff turned pro in 2018 at age 14. She had her breakthrough the following year at Wimbledon, upsetting Venus Williams in the first round and running to the fourth round in a stunning debut. She also won her first W.T.A. tournament in 2019.Gauff marked that four-year anniversary by posting a video on X, formerly Twitter, of her celebrating the moment with the quote: “I want to hug her.”For Gen Z, the social media scrapbook has the receipts. See: Gauff as a bubbly 8-year-old dancing in the stands at the 2012 U.S. Open to “Call Me Maybe.” Nearly 750,000 people followed her Instagram account in the last three months, a rate of growth that ranks first among female tennis players, according to MVP Index, a valuation and data measurement company that focuses on sponsorships in sports and entertainment.On TikTok, ESPN’s replay of Gauff protesting what she said were her opponent’s delay tactics to the chair umpire in her opening match at the Open went viral, drawing 2.7 million likes.In 2022, viewership on ESPN reached record levels during Serena Williams’s farewell in a third-round loss. How would the Open fill that void?According to ESPN, Gauff’s three-set championship victory against Aryna Sabalenka was ESPN’s most-seen women’s tennis final. It peaked at 3.5 million viewers, according to MVP Index.That far surpassed the peak of the men’s final — 2.7 million — when Novak Djokovic trounced Daniil Medvedev. In a summer of surging interest in women’s sports, including in soccer’s World Cup and the W.N.B.A., Gauff’s championship averaged 2.8 million viewers compared with 2.3 million for the men, MVP Index calculated.She tried to FaceTime her brother Codey after she won. During the trophy presentation, Gauff thanked her parents, poking fun at her father for crying, acknowledged Venus and Serena Williams for inspiring her and thanked the trailblazer Billie Jean King, whom the Open was celebrating for making equal prize money possible for women 50 years ago. Gauff won $3 million.But when Gauff delivered her most memorable message, “the whole tone of her voice changed,” said Garrison, who was doing radio commentary. She went from lighthearted to “I have something to say,” Garrison recalled.That’s when Gauff addressed her critics who thought she would not fulfill her potential. They thought they were throwing water on her fire, but were actually throwing gasoline: “I’m really burning so bright right now,” she said.“We could not have scripted the 2023 U.S. Open any better,” said Stacey Allaster, the tournament director, who credited Gauff for understanding her platform. “And then she leans in and she inspires hundreds and thousands of girls to believe in themselves. Let’s just drop the mic.”Joe Favorito, a sports marketing consultant and a former executive with the W.T.A. and U.S. Tennis Association, wondered why he hadn’t seen more of Gauff in advertisements since the Open.“You have to take advantage of things while the spotlight is on you,” he said. “Those are legacy opportunities.”But Garrison disagreed. “I don’t think you have to push it with Coco,” she said. “She’s not going anywhere. Coco’s here to stay.” More

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      The Present and Future of French Men’s Tennis

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      Men’s tennis in France isn’t what it used to be. But the veteran Adrian Mannarino is still winning, and the teenager Arthur Fils is quickly finding his form.Adrian Mannarino couldn’t stifle his chuckle.He had just been asked what it meant to him to be the top-ranked men’s tennis player from France.“Well,” Mannarino said in a video interview from a tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan, in early October, “this is not a good sign for French tennis.”Mannarino, at 35, is in his 20th year on the ATP Tour. He has never been ranked in the world’s top 20 and has never advanced beyond the round of 16 at a Grand Slam tournament. He did win the championship in Astana, though, his fourth career title and second of the year.The victory propelled Mannarino’s world ranking to No. 24, just two off from his career-high from March 2018. But, as he heads into the Paris Masters for the 13th time, Mannarino is keenly aware of the void of top talent in France.“We all knew that whenever Gaël [Monfils], Richard [Gasquet], Gilles [Simon] and Jo [Wilfried Tsonga] would get old, there would be a time when French tennis would be in trouble,” said Mannarino, of four French players who have all been ranked within the top 10 but are now in their late thirties and have either retired or dropped down significantly in the rankings. (Though Monfils did win his 12th career title in Stockholm last week.)“We’re still waiting for the young players to get to the top. There’s a lot of talent, but it’s taking a little bit of time to get to the top level,” he said.There are now 13 Frenchmen in the top 100, but only four — Arthur Fils, Luca van Assche, Ugo Humbert and Hugo Gaston — are 25 or younger. Fils has shown the most promise.At just 19, Fils, a finalist at the French Open junior championship in 2021, began the season ranked outside the top 250 and playing on the lower-level challenger circuit. He is now ranked No. 38.In February, Fils broke through in his home country, reaching back-to-back semifinals in Montpellier and Marseille, where he beat Stan Wawrinka. He won his first ATP title in Lyon, France, in May, and reached the semifinals in Hamburg, Germany, beating Casper Ruud before falling to the eventual champion, Alexander Zverev. Fils upset Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the final in Antwerp, Belgium, last week before he went down to Alexander Bublik in the championship match.Arthur Fils, also a French player, after a successful shot in a match that he ultimately lost to Matteo Arnaldi of Italy at the U.S. Open in August.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesFils also made his Davis Cup debut for France alongside Mannarino in September and then was chosen by Bjorn Borg, captain of Team Europe, to be one of the team’s six representatives at the Laver Cup. He lost his lone singles match there to Ben Shelton.Fils said he has modeled his game after his countryman Tsonga, a big hitter who was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the 2008 Australian Open and reached five other major semifinals.“Tsonga was one of my idols when I was younger,” Fils said. “He had a big serve, some great forehands and was in amazing physical condition. I’m trying to do the same and play a lot with my forehand and try to serve a lot of aces.”Mannarino’s style of play is nearly the opposite. It is best described as durable and reliable, though he benefits from a left-handed hook serve that draws opponents off court.“I’m not really powerful, so I’m trying to be a little smarter,” said Mannarino. “I’m moving pretty well and adapting to my opponent’s game most of the time. I’m like a counterpuncher; I use the power of my opponent and just try to be as consistent as I can. And if my opponent can miss some shots, I’m always happy.”Though only two years younger than Gasquet and Monfils, both of whom have seen their rankings drop out of the top 50, Mannarino is playing some of the best tennis of his life. Last year, he reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open before losing to the eventual winner, Rafael Nadal. This year, he beat Shelton and Hubert Hurkacz at the Miami Open to reach the round of 16 and has wins over Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz. And yet only once, in 2020, has he reached the third round at the Paris Masters.“I’ve never had great results at Bercy, but I feel like I’m really enjoying my time when I’m playing there,” Mannarino said, referring to the site of the tournament. As a child, he would sit in the top level of the stadium with friends from his local tennis club and cheer on the French players. “It’s always good to have the French crowd supporting you, especially the Parisians, because it’s pretty noisy and a good atmosphere.”Mannarino after winning a point against Daniil Medvedev of Russia in their second-round match at Wimbledon in July.Adam Vaughan/EPA, via ShutterstockFrance has a rich and vast tennis history. Suzanne Lenglen won Wimbledon six times from 1919 to 1925. Yvon Petra won Wimbledon in 1946, and Yannick Noah became the first Frenchman in 37 years to win at Roland Garros in 1983.Mary Pierce won the Australian Open in 1995 and the French Open in 2000. Amélie Mauresmo, a former world No. 1, captured both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. And Marion Bartoli took the Wimbledon title in 2013.But there are no more revered French players than the Four Musketeers — Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and René Lacoste — who led their nation to the Davis Cup six straight years, from 1927 to 1932.More recently, though, Mannarino and Fils met during a practice session at France’s national tennis center when Fils was just 15.“His fitness coach came to me after and said, ‘Oh, Arthur didn’t like it; it was going too fast for him and he could barely keep up,’” Mannarino said. “And then, a few years later he’s almost beating me. He’s improved so fast, and his tennis is really mature for his age.”Mannarino knows his time left on tour is limited by his age. But, so far, he does not see himself as old.“I don’t feel old because I don’t feel like my tennis level is dropping yet, even my physical condition,” he said. “I just feel like a kid in my head, and I’m trying to enjoy my life on the tour. As long as my legs can still run, I’m going to keep trying my best.” More