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    Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe Set for All-American Quarterfinal

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    Here’s what to know about the singles match between Shelton and Tiafoe, two of the three American men remaining in the U.S. Open.The men’s semifinals at the U.S. Open are guaranteed to include at least one American.That’s because 10th-seeded Frances Tiafoe and unseeded Ben Shelton will play for one of the final four spots when they meet in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Their match features two of the three American men remaining in the tournament. The other is ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz, who will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia in another quarterfinal on Tuesday. It is the first time since 2005 that three American men have advanced this far in singles at the Open.Tiafoe and Shelton have not played each other as professionals. Tiafoe reached the semifinals at last year’s Open. And while Shelton will be playing in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time, he reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in January, losing to his fellow American Tommy Paul.Here’s what to know about the match.How did they get here?Tiafoe has dropped only one set in four matches. He had straight-sets wins against Learner Tien of the United States and Sebastian Ofner of Austria. In the third round, he faced Adrian Mannarino, a 22nd-seeded Frenchman, who took the first set. But Tiafoe won in four sets even as Mannarino gave him trouble, pushing a tiebreaker in the fourth set.Tiafoe cruised in the fourth round in another straight-sets victory, this time against Rinky Hijikata of Australia.Shelton has played more matches than Tiafoe at the U.S. Open. In addition to men’s singles, Shelton played, and lost, in the first round of the men’s doubles draw. He also won his quarterfinals match on Monday with his partner, Taylor Townsend.Shelton’s serve has reached 149 miles per hour twice at this U.S. Open.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesShelton defeated Pedro Cachin of Argentina in the first round in four sets, then caught a break in the second round when his opponent, Dominic Thiem of Austria, retired in the second set with what appeared to be a stomach-related issue.He then beat Aslan Karatsev of Russia in four sets and upset Paul, also in four sets.Beware of Shelton’s serve.One of Shelton’s best tools is his powerful serve. In his fourth-round match, he fired a 149-miles-per-hour ace against Paul. The serve has been the fastest at this tournament so far.“He’s throwing his whole arm in that thing,” Tiafoe said on Sunday.But Tiafoe can serve well, too. In his third-round match against Hijikata, Tiafoe had 15 aces, including two back to back in the second set that were clocked at 129 and 134 m.p.h.Still, Tiafoe acknowledged on Sunday that Shelton was more than a big serve. Shelton hits solid volleys, isn’t afraid to come to the net and plays with a lot of energy, Tiafoe said.“He’s going to throw the kitchen sink at me,” Tiafoe said.Keep an eye on Tiafoe’s drop shot.Among Tiafoe’s tools is a sneaky drop shot that he likes to use at the right moment. While his drop shot can be tough for his opponents to return, Tiafoe says he tries not to use it too often.“Because then they’re looking for it,” he said.Part of what makes playing Tiafoe difficult is that he can be unpredictable, mixing his drop shots with slices and play at the net. In his fourth-round match, Tiafoe fired an ace at 135 m.p.h. He followed it with a drop shot.Whether it’s with a two-handed backhand or a drop shot, Tiafoe wants to keep his opponent on his toes.Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times“It’s more fun when you’re out there just using your head and using different stuff and keeping your opponent on their toes,” he said.Aware of that, Shelton on Sunday described Tiafoe as “a nightmare to deal with.”“He’s just one of those guys where it’s must-see TV,” Shelton said of Tiafoe. “You want to watch him play all the time. He kind of has that Carlos Alcaraz effect, especially here in New York. This is his place where he really wants to show up.”Tiafoe has been here before.A quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open will be a first for Shelton, who said that reaching the final eight of the tournament had been a dream of his since he was a child.Tiafoe reached the semifinals last year, losing to Alcaraz. After coming so close to the final last year, he will be eager to have another shot.“I want to be playing my best tennis here,” Tiafoe said after his third-round match. “That’s ultimately what matters.”Taylor Fritz or Novak Djokovic await.The winner of Tuesday’s match will face Fritz or Djokovic, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, in the semifinals on Friday. Djokovic is heavily favored to win in the quarterfinals, but Fritz reached the final eight without dropping a set.Djokovic has won three of his four matches in straight sets, but he ran into trouble in the third round against his fellow countryman Laslo Djere, who took the first two sets before losing in five. More

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      Why Are So Many Players Getting Sick at the U.S. Open?

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      Ons Jabeur has won two rounds despite having flu symptoms, but Dominic Thiem was forced to retire from his second-round match with an illness.Early in the second set of her second-round match on Thursday night, a ball bounced just past Ons Jabeur’s reach, and she lost the point, throwing her arms up in exasperation.On any normal day, Jabeur, the No. 5 seed, would probably have reached the ball in time to return it down the line, but she has been playing while sick.Jabeur, who reached the U.S. Open final last year, is among several players who have had to contend with an illness of some sort at this year’s tournament.Dominic Thiem of Austria retired in the second set of his second-round match, doubled over at the net with what appeared to be a stomach-related issue. Emil Ruusuvuori withdrew from the tournament before his first-round match, citing an unspecified illness. Tennys Sandgren, who failed to advance out of the qualifiers, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he became ill after returning home from the tournament.“I got the us open bug,” he said in a separate post, adding, “in a way still feels like I’m in the tournament but at home.”It’s not just players. The ESPN commentator John McEnroe said on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus after feeling unwell.It is unclear whether all of the players have the same illness, or whether their cases are connected, but something has been going around the U.S. Open.Hubert Hurkacz with U.S. Open medical staff during a timeout in his second-round match on Thursday.Peter Foley/EPA, via ShutterstockHubert Hurkacz seemed to struggle during his second-round match on Thursday, when he was upset by Jack Draper of Britain. During the match, medical staff came out to treat Hurkacz for what did not appear to be a physical injury. Around the tennis grounds, sniffles and coughs can be heard, and some players have been toting tissues in their bags.The string of illnesses comes as a late-summer wave of coronavirus infections has been reported across the United States, with indications of a rise in cases in the Northeast and in the West.Illnesses are possible at any tournament, where players are often in close quarters and share facilities. But with players no longer required to test for Covid-19, it is difficult to determine the cause of the illnesses among them.Health protocols at the U.S. Open have become less stringent since 2020, when spectators were not allowed to attend the tournament and when players took to the empty courts in face masks.When fans were allowed to return in 2021, they were required to show proof of vaccination against the coronavirus. That requirement has since been dropped, and those attending the U.S. Open this year do not need to show proof of vaccination, provide a negative coronavirus test or wear masks.“I’m taking a lot of medicine,” Ons Jabeur said on Thursday after winning her second-round match despite being sick.Frank Franklin Ii/Associated PressAfter willing her way — just barely — to a first-round win, Jabeur said she had the flu. In her second-round match, she appeared to struggle again, coughing on court several times, including during her interview after beating the unseeded Czech player Linda Noskova in three sets.Jabeur said later in a news conference on Thursday that she had been sick for about a week.“I’m taking a lot of medicine,” she said, adding that she “basically took every medication” the U.S. Open doctors have.Jabeur said her stomach had been “fine,” but she noted that she knew other players had been struggling with stomach issues. She seemed to waver on whether she had the flu or something else.“I think I got a flu or something,” she said on Thursday night.It was unclear whether Jabeur, who plays her third-round match on Saturday against the No. 31 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic, had taken a coronavirus test to rule out the possibility of an infection.“I’m a zombie because I have a flu,” she said. More

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      Tennis Injuries Present Top Players with Serious Challenges

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      Getting hurt is part of the game, but sometimes it can take years for top players to return to form.It didn’t take long for Alexander Zverev to realize his situation was dire.After hours of scintillating shot-making, Zverev and Rafael Nadal were set to begin a second tiebreaker in their semifinal match at last year’s French Open.But suddenly, Zverev ran wide for a forehand, rolled his right ankle on its side and let out a bellow. He stumbled to the ground, red clay caked to the back of his black sleeveless top, and cupped his ankle in his hands.“I knew immediately that I was done because my ankle was basically three times the size it normally is,” said Zverev by phone of the injury that took him from tennis for the rest of 2022 and dropped his ATP ranking from No. 2 to outside the top 20. “It wasn’t a nice feeling.”Zverev is hardly the first player to be forced into an extended layoff because of a serious injury.His opponent that day, Nadal, hasn’t played a tour match since he hurt the psoas muscle between his lower abdomen and upper right leg during the Australian Open in January. After repeated attempts to rehab the injury over the last four months, Nadal — who has also suffered from chronic foot pain, a cracked rib and a torn abdominal muscle in the last 18 months — withdrew from the French Open on May 18. He is the 14-time Roland Garros champion and has played the tournament every year since 2005. He also indicated that he does not plan to play Wimbledon and that 2024 will likely be his last year on the professional tour.Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in January, where he injured his psoas muscle. He recently announced that he will not compete in the French Open. Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesEmma Raducanu, who won the 2021 United States Open, has been frequently injured ever since, and recently underwent surgery on both of her wrists and one ankle. Andy Murray, a Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, announced before the 2019 Australian Open that he would retire after the tournament, only to come back, first playing doubles, then returning to singles following a successful hip resurfacing surgery.Bianca Andreescu, who beat Serena Williams to win the 2019 U.S. Open, has suffered injuries to her adductor, ankle, foot, back, and right shoulder, causing her to question whether she should stop competing. And Stan Wawrinka, a three-time major champion, contemplated retirement following multiple surgeries on his knee and ankle. Once ranked world No. 3, Wawrinka is now fighting to stay in the top 100.Injuries, surgery and rehab are dreaded words in any athlete’s vocabulary. For professional tennis players, who are not protected by a team sport’s comprehensive rehabilitation coverage but are instead treated as independent contractors, working their way back onto the ATP and WTA Tours can be grueling physically, mentally and even financially.“I had never experienced an injury from the time I started, and I played with high intensity every day,” said Dominic Thiem by phone. Thiem, who beat Zverev to win the 2020 U.S. Open, suffered a debilitating wrist injury in June 2021 and was sidelined for months. Once ranked No. 3, Thiem lost seven straight matches when he first returned to the ATP Tour, and his ranking plummeted to No. 352, forcing him to play lower-level Challenger tournaments.“With an injury, the whole system comes to a stop,” said Thiem, who is now ranked just inside the top 100. “You can’t do your job, and you no longer have a clear plan. After I returned, it was like never before. You have to lower your expectations, but that’s very tough because for all those years you set for yourself a certain standard, not only from the tournaments you play, but also how you feel the ball. Basically, everything changes.”The process of returning from a layoff can be just as difficult as the injury itself. Readjusting to the rigors of constant travel and the pressure of playing matches at all hours of the day and night, along with worrying about the possibility of reinjury, can impact a player’s recovery.Andreescu knows that. Plagued by back troubles through much of 2022, she had finally begun to rebound at the Miami Open in March. But during her fourth-round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Andreescu tumbled to the court, clutching her left leg and screaming in agony.“I’ve never felt pain like that,” Andreescu said by phone as she prepared to return to the tour three weeks later in Madrid. “The next morning I knew what happened, but I was just hoping that I was waking up from a bad dream. Then I felt the pain, and I knew this was real.”Andreescu has rehabbed her body many times before, but she is also convinced that the mind-body connection is just as important.Bianca Andreescu at the 2023 Miami Open. Andreescu has suffered multiple injuries since beating Serena Williams to win the 2019 U.S. Open.Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports, via Reuters“I believe that everything starts in the head and that we create our own stress and, in a way, our own injuries,” she said. “There can be freak accidents, but if you can get your mind right, then it’s easier to come back from those injuries.”The WTA takes injury prevention and rehabilitation seriously. The tour has programming and staff devoted specifically to athletes’ physical and psychological well-being. According to Carole Doherty, the WTA’s senior vice president, sport science and medicine, all its players receive comprehensive medical care, with services that include cardiology, checkups with dermatologists, bone-density exams, and nutrition and hydration advice.When a WTA player is out injured, or pregnant, for at least eight consecutive weeks, she can apply for a Special Ranking, which means that upon her return she will be ranked where she left off and can enter eight tournaments over a 52-week span with that ranking. The ATP has a similar protocol called Protected Ranking.Becky Ahlgren Bedics, the WTA’s vice president of mental health and performance, is keenly aware of the psychological toll an injury can take.“Injuries take you out of training and competition and force you to regroup and prioritize your life differently,” said Bedics, who encourages players who are off the tour to delete WTA rankings from their phones, so they won’t see where they stand as compared with their peers. “It’s tough for an athlete whose only thought is, ‘How can I get back, and what happens if I don’t?’”Bedics and her mental health team encourage players to manage their expectations upon their return to play.“There are so many stressors in this game, including financial ones,” Bedics added. “Our athletes are typically very young and not going to be doing this for 50 years. Sometimes they are supporting their families. So, what we help them do is listen to ‘what is,’ not ‘what ifs.’ We want them to look forward, but also to look backward to see how far they’ve come.”Daria Saville tore her ACL while competing in Tokyo last September. “Every time I get injured, I think about my life and wonder what it will be like without tennis,” she said.Kiyoshi Ota/Getty ImagesDaria Saville understands the play-for-pay nature of tennis. She has suffered from repeated Achilles’ tendon and plantar fasciitis issues since 2016. She had surgery after the 2021 Australian Open, which kept her from playing for nearly a year. Then, while competing in Tokyo last September, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, requiring more surgery.“Every time I get injured, I think about my life and wonder what it will be like without tennis,” said Saville, who also had ACL surgery in 2013. “On tour, life is not so hard. Everything is done for you, so you don’t have to overthink. The worst thing that happens is you play bad and lose a match.”Fortunately, for Saville, the financial burdens have been lessened by the support she receives from her national federation, Tennis Australia, which pays for her physiotherapist and strength and conditioning coaches. She also gets pep talks from her coach, the former tour player Nicole Pratt.When Thiem thinks back on his wrist injury, he connects the dots to when he won the U.S. Open. Having achieved that goal, Thiem said, he suddenly lost his passion and motivation to play, prompting him to practice with a decreased level of intensity, ultimately leading to the injury. Trying to come back has been difficult.“I can’t forget,” Thiem said, “that all the time when I didn’t play, the other players were playing, they were practicing and improving and moving ahead of me. That makes it even harder to come back.” More

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      Comebacks for Wawrinka and Thiem Will Have to Be Continued

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      Once ranked as high as No. 3, the rusty tennis stars used a low-level Challenger event to get back to action after injuries. It was harder than it seemed.Tennis’s minor leagues are still a major challenge. The latest evidence arrived on Tuesday in Marbella, Spain, where Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem, two of the game’s biggest achievers, launched a dual comeback at a low-level Challenger Tour event.Neither had played in far too long, and neither won a set against players ranked outside the top 100, with Wawrinka losing, 6-2, 6-4, to Elias Ymer of Sweden, and Thiem following them to the main stadium and losing, 6-3, 6-4, to Pedro Cachin of Argentina.“These guys, even on the challenger tour, their level is extremely high, and as you well know the difference between being 150 or being 50 in the world, there’s not a huge difference in tennis level,” said Daniel Vallverdu, Wawrinka’s coach. “Most of it is mental and luck.”It was indeed a reality check for Wawrinka and Thiem, who once were ranked as high as No. 3 and are among the precious few to have made a splash in an era otherwise dominated by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.Thiem, 28, won the 2020 U.S. Open, becoming the first player outside the Big Three to win a Grand Slam singles title in four years. Wawrinka, who turned 37 on Monday, has won three Grand Slam singles titles, joining Andy Murray as the only man outside the Big Three to have won multiple major singles titles in the last 20 years.But Thiem and Wawrinka are both far from their peaks, and Tuesday’s quick exits were a reminder of how far each has to go. Wawrinka had not played a match for nearly a year; Thiem for nearly nine months.It showed.“Rusty would be the word,” said Mark Petchey, the former ATP player who has coached Murray. “Challengers are a rough place.”It is rare to see a star like Wawrinka or Thiem at this level, but hardly unprecedented. Andre Agassi dropped down and played two Challenger events at the end of the 1997 season when his ranking had fallen to No. 141. He used the experience as a building block to reconstruct his career, eventually returning to No. 1. His longevity was a model for this generation of enduring champions.In his autobiography, “Open,” Agassi wrote that a tour official had likened his Challenger appearances to Bruce Springsteen playing a corner bar.“What’s wrong with Springsteen playing a corner bar?” Agassi wrote.Nothing at all, as long as the corner bar is packed with fans thrilled by their good fortune. Tuesday’s vibe in Marbella was far from electric, with the stands in the main Manolo Santana Stadium less than half full for both Wawrinka’s and Thiem’s matches. On average, only about 4,000 viewers were watching the livestream made available by the tour, but those numbers underplay the significance of Wawrinka and Thiem returning to action.At different phases of their careers, with nine years between them, they are in similarly gray areas when it comes to their futures.Wawrinka, suffering from long-term pain in his left foot, finally decided that he could take no more and underwent two surgeries, the first in March 2021 and then a second, more significant procedure in June that involved work on his Achilles’ tendon. Thiem, who takes particularly aggressive cuts at his groundstrokes, injured his right wrist during a grass-court tournament on the Spanish island of Mallorca in June but did not resort to surgery, opting instead for immobilization with a splint and extensive rehabilitation.Dominic Thiem in his first match in nine months in Marbella, Spain.Antonio Paz/EPA, via ShutterstockHe has repeatedly delayed his comeback, finally choosing to return on the red clay that remains his favorite surface. But one of Thiem’s strengths has been his ability to thrive in extended rallies, and on Tuesday his baseline game kept breaking down. He lost the first five games to the 228th-ranked Cachin before recovering and making it a match, but the frustration was audible down the stretch as he lectured himself, gesticulated between points and remained unable to break Cachin’s serve down the stretch.Wawrinka was sluggish at the start as well, misfiring with his signature one-handed backhand. He briefly found his range early in the second set, going up two service breaks against the 131st-ranked Ymer. But Ymer, far quicker around the clay, reeled Wawrinka in by sweeping the last five games.“Obviously looking at it from the outside it looks different, but for me and for Stan this match is a huge step in the right direction,” Vallverdu said by telephone. “The goal in the last six to eight weeks was to get back on court and to be able to do that without thinking about the body or any injuries. The fact he’s able to play a professional tennis match again is a huge step considering where he was about three months ago where from our perspective we didn’t even know if he would be able to play again.”Wawrinka has said he did not want to end his career with an injury, similar to what Federer, his friend and Swiss compatriot, has said as he tries to work his way back at age 40 from his latest knee surgery and long layoff. For now, the only major winner in this golden era who has bid farewell, however informally, is Juan Martin del Potro. Even Andy Murray, with an artificial hip joint, plays on and has rehired Ivan Lendl as his coach to help him get the most out of his remaining years.“I think for someone like Stan, the fact that the other guys are still around is definitely a factor,” Vallverdu said. “I think if one or two of them quit, it will have a bit of a domino effect.” Wawrinka only resumed practicing on a court at the end of February, and, with the pandemic hiatus on tour in 2020, he has played few matches over the last three seasons. His next stop will be the Monte Carlo Masters, where he has a wild card and where the field, featuring most of the top 10, will be significantly stronger than in Marbella. Thiem plans to be there, too, after playing in next week’s tournament in Marrakesh, Morocco.But evaluating their comebacks will take quite a bit longer. They need competition. They need the confidence that their bodies and shots will hold up on the points that matter most. More

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      Dominic Thiem Will Miss the Chance to Defend His U.S. Open Title

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      Out with a wrist injury, Thiem is one of many players on both the men’s and women’s tours who are struggling with injuries ahead of the season’s final Grand Slam.The spectators will be back for the 2021 U.S. Open but the reigning men’s singles champion will not make the journey to the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.Dominic Thiem announced on Wednesday that he would not play again this season because of a lingering right wrist injury that began troubling him in June at the Mallorca Open and also forced him out of Wimbledon.“The past six weeks I’ve been following the medical advice, wearing the wrist splint, doing exercise to stay in shape before starting to train back on court,” Thiem said in a social media post on Wednesday. “My recovery was going really well, but then last week I hit a ball during training and started to feel some pain again. I went straight to see the doctors. After some tests, they said that my wrist needs more time, so we’ve all agreed on being conservative.”Even without that setback, Thiem’s chance of returning for best-of-five-set matches in New York was a long shot. He has an intense, full-throttle style and takes huge cuts at the ball that produce exceptional spin.Returning to his previous level will be a major challenge. Wrist injuries can bedevil tennis players, keeping great talents like Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori off tour for extended periods.Thiem’s withdrawal from this year’s U.S. Open is the latest blow to the men’s tournament. The five-time champion Roger Federer withdrew this week shortly after his 40th birthday, announcing that he would undergo a fourth knee surgery. Participation by the four-time champion Rafael Nadal is in doubt because of a recurrence of the left foot condition that first troubled him in his teens.Novak Djokovic, the world No. 1 and the only of the so-called Big Three to take part in the Olympics, failed to win a medal in Tokyo and withdrew before the bronze medal mixed doubles match, citing a shoulder injury.Some leading women are also in danger of missing the U.S. Open. Serena Williams has not played on tour since retiring in the first round of Wimbledon last month because of a right hamstring injury. She has yet to confirm whether she will play in New York. No. 13 Simona Halep, a former No. 1, withdrew from the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday because of a torn right adductor muscle. No. 14 Jennifer Brady, an Australian Open finalist this year, retired from her match on Wednesday against Jelena Ostapenko because of a left knee injury.Djokovic will presumably do all he can to make it to New York as he chases the first Grand Slam in men’s singles since Rod Laver did it in 1969. Djokovic has already secured the first three legs of the Grand Slam, winning the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. But the physical and emotional load of playing in the Olympics far from New York or Djokovic’s home base of Monte Carlo, Monaco, could certainly make his U.S. Open challenge more daunting.A new generation is rising, led by Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev. All three have won significant titles, and Zverev just won the Olympic gold medal in singles, defeating Djokovic in the semifinals. But for now, they have been unable to beat Djokovic or any of the Big Three to win a Grand Slam title.Thiem’s best results have traditionally come on clay, and he reached the French Open final in 2018 and 2019. But he has established himself as a multisurface threat, and last year in New York, he managed to prevail in a nervy, five-set U.S. Open final against Zverev in which both combatants often looked overwhelmed by the prospect of winning their first Grand Slam singles title.Thiem managed it by becoming the first player to rally to win from two sets down in a U.S. Open final since Pancho Gonzales in 1949.“We both had it on our rackets,” Thiem said of his friend Zverev.At 27, Thiem became the first currently active player in his 20s to win a men’s Grand Slam singles title, putting an end to the winning streak of the Big Three even if Thiem did not have to face any of them along the way.But instead of getting wings from that breakthrough victory, Thiem has gone in a more earthbound direction, struggling not only with his wrist injury but his motivation during the coronavirus pandemic, which has made travel on tour a psychological burden for many tennis players.Since the 2020 U.S. Open, Thiem has failed to win another tour title and has been unable to advance past the quarterfinals in any of the three major tournaments he has played.He will get no chance to improve on that in New York and for the second straight year, the reigning men’s singles champion will not defend his title. Nadal chose not to make the trip in 2020, and at this stage it also appears unlikely that he will make the trip in 2021. More

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      Wimbledon Loses Another Star as Dominic Thiem Withdraws

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      The world No. 5 and defending U.S. Open champion is out with a wrist injury and joined Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and David Goffin in missing the men’s singles tournament.The Wimbledon men’s singles tournament took another hit on Thursday when the No. 5-ranked Dominic Thiem withdrew from the tournament because of a right wrist injury.Rafael Nadal, the Spanish star and two-time Wimbledon champion, withdrew last week. The top-30 players Milos Raonic, David Goffin and Stan Wawrinka also have dropped out of the tournament.The injury was the latest setback for Thiem in a trying season for him.Thiem, a 27-year-old Austrian who rips his groundstrokes with particular gusto, won his first Grand Slam tournament title at last year’s U.S. Open, prevailing in a nervy five-set match with Alexander Zverev. Thiem then reached the final of the season-ending ATP Finals in London, losing to Daniil Medvedev.He looked poised to challenge Novak Djokovic and Nadal for supremacy in 2021. Instead, he has a 9-9 singles record and has spoken about struggling mentally after last year’s breakthrough in New York.“During the preparation for this season, I fell into a hole,” he said in April in an interview with the Austrian publication Der Standard. “I spent 15 years chasing the big goal without looking to the left or the right.”Thiem, like many players, has said that ongoing pandemic restrictions, which often limit players’ movements and require frequent testing for the coronavirus, have also been difficult.Though clay has long been his best surface, he did not reach a final in his four clay-court events this year, losing in the first round of the French Open after failing to hold a two-set lead over Pablo Andujar.“I still hope I can bounce back stronger than before,” Thiem said after that defeat. “But right now I don’t know when that moment is coming.”It won’t be on grass, long his weakest surface. In his opening round in Majorca on Tuesday, Thiem retired after feeling acute pain in his right wrist when leading Adrian Mannarino 5-2.After a magnetic resonance imaging scan in Majorca was inconclusive, he flew to Barcelona for further tests and to consult with Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, the Spanish doctor who has long treated Nadal. Ruiz-Cotorro helped Nadal recover from a left wrist injury in 2016 that forced him to retire from the French Open and miss Wimbledon.Wrist problems have become increasingly common in professional tennis because of the power and extreme grips being employed on groundstrokes. Juan Martin del Potro and Kei Nishikori, leading men’s players, have both missed extensive periods of competition on tour after wrist surgery.In an announcement on Thursday, Thiem’s management team said Thiem had been diagnosed with “a detachment of the posterior sheath of the ulnar side of the right wrist” and would wear a wrist splint for five weeks before beginning rehabilitation. The ulnar side of the wrist is nearest the pinkie finger. The sheath is the soft tissue that surrounds a tendon.It is unclear when Thiem will return to the court and unclear whether he will be able to defend his title at this year’s U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 30.“I’m going to do everything the doctors say in order to recover as quickly as possible,” Thiem said in a statement. “They’ve informed me that I might be out for several weeks, but I will do my best to be back on court soon.” More

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      2021 French Open: What to Watch on Sunday Morning

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      Opening round matches feature Naomi Osaka and Dominic Thiem, who are both pursuing their first French Open title.How to watch: 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time on the Tennis Channel and noon to 3 p.m. on Peacock; streaming on the Tennis Channel+ and Peacock apps.In 2020, the French Open was played in October, rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, back in the usual spring slot and with friendlier weather, the red clay welcomes a full field. The first round of play is spread across three days of competition, with plenty of excellent matches to watch.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are estimates and may fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.COURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER | 5 a.m. SundayNaomi Osaka vs. Patricia Maria TigNaomi Osaka, the second seed, has won the previous two Grand Slam events that she has played, the United States Open in 2020 and the Australian Open in February. In between, she passed on the fall edition of the French Open, watching from home as Iga Swiatek swept through the field to win her first Grand Slam. Osaka’s powerful baseline play has never fared well on clay. She has never reached the final of a clay court tournament, and has never made it past the third round at Roland Garros.Patricia Maria Tig, ranked No. 63, has never made it to the second week of a Grand Slam event, but her only WTA Tour title came on clay at the Istanbul Open in 2020. A back injury forced Tig to the sidelines in 2018, but she has worked her way back up the rankings. For Tig to cause a first-round upset, she will have to exploit Osaka’s discomfort on clay and keep her from settling into a rhythm that allows Osaka to rely on her blazing forehand.Dominic Thiem listens to his coach Nicolas Massu. He has reached the French Open final twice.Adam Pretty/Getty ImagesCOURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER | 7 a.m. SundayDominic Thiem vs. Pablo AndujarDominic Thiem, the fourth seed, has reached the final of the French Open twice before, losing on both occasions to Rafael Nadal. Recently, however, Thiem has demonstrated unusually poor form. When asked about the potential for a deep run, he said, “I think the way I’m coming into that tournament, the way I also played the past weeks, the only thing I can focus on is the first round, I shouldn’t focus at all on who is in my quarter or even who is in my half.”Pablo Andujar may be the perfect opponent for the occasion. Andujar, ranked No. 68, is a clay court specialist, with all nine of his ATP finals, including four titles, coming on the surface. Last week, he beat Roger Federer in the second round of the Geneva Open before reaching the semifinals where he lost to the eventual champion, Casper Ruud.The five-set format of the Grand Slam tournaments significantly favors Thiem. Even if he is struggling, Thiem will have a lot of time to adjust to Andujar’s grinding style of play. Longer points will allow him to establish a steadier rhythm.COURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER | 10 A.m. SundayVictoria Azarenka vs. Svetlana KuznetsovaSome matchups seem to be pulled from previous eras. When longtime tennis fans see them in the early rounds of a Grand Slam, they feel joy that only a matchup heavy with history can offer.Victoria Azarenka and Svetlana Kuznetsova are both two-time Grand Slam champions who debuted on the WTA tour in the early 2000s. They have faced each other 10 times over the past 14 years, and each is deeply familiar with the arsenal of shots that they will need to overcome.However, neither has played extensively on clay before the French Open. Azarenka withdrew from the Madrid Open in the second round, citing fitness issues, while Kuznetsova has not played a single clay court event this year. This match may come down to who can most quickly adapt their powerful baseline shots to the crushed red brick of Roland Garros.Fabio Fognini of Italy plays with an intensity that can go either way.Laurent Gillieron/EPA, via ShutterstockCourt Suzanne-Lenglen | 5 A.m. SundayFabio Fognini vs. Gregoire BarrereFabio Fognini, the 27th seed, is a volatile player. At last year’s French Open, Fognini lost in the first round but has reached the round of 16 in three of his last six Grand Slam events. Often, his matches can be decided by his intensity; a double-edged sword that can produce wild unforced errors or powerful forehand winners.Gregoire Barrere received a wild-card entry into the French Open, a perk that pleases each of the national federations that host a Grand Slam event. Barrere, ranked No. 122, has never been past the second round of a major tournament, understandable for a player who has often had to push through qualifying rounds.While Fognini will be heavily favored, a home crowd rooting against the Italian may unsettle him. At the least, it should be an entertaining match with plenty of spectator spirit. Fan capacity will be at 35 percent over the first 10 days of the tournament, and will increase to 65 percent for the quarterfinals and beyond.Here are a few more matches to keep an eye on.Márton Fucsovics vs. Gilles Simon; Court Simonne-Mathieu, 7 a.m. SundayAryna Sabalenka vs. Ana Konjuh; Court Suzanne Lenglen, 10 a.m. SundayCorentin Moutet vs. Laslo Dere; Court Simonne-Mathieu, 10 a.m. SundayAmanda Anisimova vs. Veronika Kudermetova; Court 9, 1 p.m. Sunday More

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      2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Saturday Night

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowFans in Virus LockdownAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Saturday NightIga Swiatek, Dominic Thiem, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic are in the Australian Open’s round of 16.Iga Swiatek in her third-round win.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 13, 2021, 7:30 a.m. ETHow to watch: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern on the Tennis Channel and 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN2 in the United States; streaming on the ESPN+ and ESPN3 apps.When four reigning Grand Slam champions appear in an order of play, you expect at least one of them to be a clear favorite to advance. In the Australian Open’s round of 16 on Saturday, that is not the case. Naomi Osaka, Dominic Thiem, Iga Swiatek and especially Novak Djokovic all face significant challenges.Djokovic struggled with an injured side muscle during his third-round victory over Taylor Fritz and will need to recover quickly if he is to challenge the in-form Milos Raonic. But for the others, the threat of elimination is less about their own issues and more about their opponents’ potential to play at a high level.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are at best estimates and are certain to fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Rod Laver Arena | 7 p.m. SaturdayNaomi Osaka vs. Garbiñe MuguruzaOsaka’s control of her third-round match against the creative and entertaining Ons Jabeur was exemplary. Although Osaka struggled to win points on her second serve, her first serve was enough to earn eight aces during a two-set win.Naomi Osaka attracted a new fan in her third-round win.Credit…Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesGarbiñe Muguruza, a finalist at last year’s Australian Open, has dropped only 10 games on her path to the round of 16. Muguruza grabbed the initiative early in each match, using her powerful groundstrokes to dictate points and set up relatively easy winners.This matchup between two hardcourt specialists could have easily been a Grand Slam final, and speaks to the quality of tennis being played on the WTA tour. Tonight’s match should be an excellent wrap up to the first week of action.Margaret Court Arena | 9 p.m. FridayFelix Auger-Aliassime vs. Aslan KaratsevAslan Karatsev, a qualifier, is playing in the main draw at a major for the first time and has not lost a set, even as he upset the eighth seed, Diego Schwartzman. Karatsev’s powerful, well-placed serves have been a distinct advantage, forcing his opponents onto the back foot on the fast courts at Melbourne Park.Karatsev was a promising young player in 2017, before a knee injury sidelined him. He did not play an ATP-level event for three years. After his performance in Australia, Karatsev is guaranteed to be ranked in the top 100, and we will get to see more of the Russian without his needing to struggle through qualifying rounds.In the third round, Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 20th seed, was finally able to defeat his fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Auger-Aliassime reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Open before losing to Thiem and is now aiming to advance to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.Rod laver Arena | 11 p.m. SaturdayDominic Thiem vs. Grigor DimitrovThiem, the third seed, came from two sets down against Nick Kyrgios in the third round on Friday night. Thiem won the United States Open in September and reached the final of the ATP Finals, capping his best season on tour.Dominic Thiem in his win over Nick Kyrgios.Credit…Hamish Blair/Associated PressGrigor Dimitrov, the 18th seed and the 2017 ATP Finals winner, has never reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament. He has had a relatively easy run to the round of 16, beating the 2014 U.S. Open champion, Marin Cilic, in three sets and playing only seven games in the third round before his opponent, Pablo Carreño Busta, retired with an illness.Dimitrov has won the majority of his matches against Thiem, but the two last faced each other at the 2019 Paris Masters. Though Thiem is in better form now, Dimitrov is well rested and could wear Thiem down with aggressive baseline play.Rod Laver Arena | 3 a.m. SundayIga Swiatek vs. Simona HalepSwiatek, the 15th seed, won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open in October. The 19-year-old will again meet Simona Halep, the second seed, in the round of 16. In Paris, Swiatek dismantled Halep, losing only three games as she used a variety of powerful rally balls and cleverly disguised drop shots to unsettle her opponent. It was a reversal of their meeting at the French Open in 2019, when Swiatek won just one game.Simona Halep in a socially distanced postmatch meeting at the net with Veronika Kudermetova.Credit…William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesHalep, a two-time major champion, was a semifinalist at last year’s Australian Open. Her aggressive baseline play is favored on hardcourts, but not by much. Swiatek’s mental toughness and consistency can allow her to stay in points much longer, even when on the back foot. Here are a few more matches to keep an eye on.Hsieh Su-wei vs. Marketa Vondrousova — 7 p.m.Aryna Sabalenka vs. Serena Williams — 9 p.m.Alexander Zverev vs. Dusan Lajovic — 2:30 a.m.Novak Djokovic vs. Milos Raonic — 5 a.m.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More