Tsitsipas, Stefanos

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      In Tennis, the ‘Nepo Babies’ Are Everywhere

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      The names of a lot of the young pros on the tennis tour have a familiar ring to them. It’s about more than good genes.MELBOURNE, Australia — Stefanos Tsitsipas often sees something that is becoming increasingly familiar in his sport when he looks over at his team’s courtside box — a parent who is a former pro.Tsitsipas, the Greek tennis star who is scheduled to play Karen Khachanov in an Australian Open semifinal Friday, is the son of Julia Salnikova Apostoli, a top Russian player in the 1980s who was once the world’s top junior. His father, Apostolos, is also a seasoned player, though not a former top touring pro, who trained as a coach and a line judge and now coaches his son.Tsitsipas has long credited his tennis-playing parents for his professional success. It’s a growing refrain at tennis tournaments that has been particularly loud over the last two weeks at the Australian Open, where so many courts have featured the offspring of a prior generation’s pros. Sports are designed to be the ultimate meritocracy, and while every game features athletes who descended from others, tennis may be the ultimate “nepotism baby” sport.On-court success doesn’t require a parent who played elite tennis, but it sure can help.Ben Shelton, the 20-year-old surprise of the tournament and the son of the former pro Bryan Shelton, did not get serious about tennis until he was 11 years old. He played a lot of football when he was younger, but once he decided tennis was his calling, his father was on the court hitting balls with him every day.“He wanted me to be sure that it was what I really wanted to do because he didn’t want us to waste time on something if I wasn’t going to be fully committed,” Shelton, who lost a quarterfinal match Wednesday to his fellow American Tommy Paul, said during an interview this week. “Once he saw that I was fully committed and playing tennis and trying to compete at the highest level, he went all in.”Christian Ruud, who had a career-high singles ranking of No. 39 in 1995, coaches his son Casper.Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA, via ShutterstockSebastian Korda, the 22-year-old son of the 1998 Australian Open winner Petr Korda, also made the quarterfinals. It was his first time making it that far in a Grand Slam tournament, but most likely not the last. Korda’s mother, Regina Rajchrtova, was a pretty good player, too, rising to 26th in the world rankings in 1991.Petr Korda no longer coaches his son. But one of his tennis contemporaries, Christian Ruud, is still working in the box during every match for his prized pupil, his son, Casper, a two-time major finalist last year. They travel the world with golf clubs, hitting the links between tournaments.Yes, there is a fiery father-son doubles tournament waiting to be organized, and some other competitions, too.Tracy Austin’s 24-year-old son, Brandon Holt, made the second round in Melbourne, just as he did at the 2022 U.S. Open. Elizabeth Mandlik, the 21-year-old daughter of the four-time Grand Slam singles winner Hana Mandlikova, lost in qualifying after making the second round at the U.S. Open.The 2023 Australian OpenThe year’s first Grand Slam event runs from Jan. 16 to Jan. 29 in Melbourne.No Spotlight, No Problem: In tennis, there is a long history of success and exposure crushing champions or sucking the joy out of them. In this Australian Open, players under the radar have gone far.Behind the Scenes: A coterie of billionaires, deep-pocketed companies and star players has engaged for months in a high-stakes battle to lead what they view as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to disrupt the sport.Endless Games: As matches stretch into the early-morning hours, players have grown concerned for their health and performance.Lest anyone forget, Judy Murray, the mother of Andy and Jamie, who have five Grand Slam titles between them in singles and doubles, gave the pro tour a shot in the mid-1970s as well. So did Taylor Fritz’s mother, Kathy May. His father, Guy Fritz, played professionally as well.Undoubtedly there is a generation of young players relieved that the children of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf opted for other pursuits. Their son Jaden is a pitcher for the University of Southern California.Tracy Austin, second row far right, watched her son Brandon Holt at the 2022 U.S. Open.Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York TimesWeaned on the game since early childhood and tutored on everything from constructing a winning point to adjusting to life on the tour long before they ever get there, these players who do get the tennis bug grow up with myriad advantages that span nature and nurture. Veterans of the game, however, say the biggest edge does not fit the caricature of the high-achieving parent pushing a child to excel.Good DNA is a good start. Also, pursuing tennis can be incredibly expensive. Chances are, someone who had professional success has either money to finance a junior career or connections to a network of coaches and leaders of the sport to get the necessary support, especially when players are young and habits are forming.Before he died last year, Nick Bollettieri, who coached two generations of top players, including Agassi, said an aspiring professional had to learn the proper way to grip a racket by 10 at the latest. It’s a little awkward, more like cupping a handful of coins than grasping a frying pan or a baseball bat.“After that it’s too late,” he said.The players themselves and people who have spent their lives around tennis say the advantages go far beyond technical tips or pointers on strategy. Rather, having an innate feel for what a child needs at a given moment, not on the court but off it, can serve as a differentiator along the way.Mary Carillo, the former player who is now a tennis commentator, said the process usually begins with the child’s instinct to try to please their parents by emulating them. Then the parent tries to help the child enjoy the sport and get better at it by offering the requisite footwork and stroke technique. The children of pros begin to understand the rigor of the pursuit, that being like mom or dad is going to take a lot of hard work.Holt, Austin’s son, said during an interview in September that he learned by watching his mother go about her daily business, long after her career ended, how competitive she was and the importance of trying hard all the time. Whether his mother was playing cards, tennis or something else, she always wanted to win. That rubbed off.“If we were doing homework or chores and trying to take short cuts, that wasn’t acceptable,” he said. “You could not ever give less than your best. If you tried your hardest and got a bad grade on a test that was OK.”Martin Blackman, the general manager of player development at the United States Tennis Association, has witnessed the development of several second-generation players, including Shelton and Korda. He said those parents understand that becoming a great player is a journey during which progress is not necessarily measured by matches won or trophies collected.“It’s always about getting better, as a person first and then as a tennis-playing athlete,” Blackman said. “They know how hard it is so they don’t come down hard on their player-child after a poor result. They preserve their relationship with the individual. That combination gives players a tremendous amount of security and self-belief.”Mandlik said recently that whenever things aren’t going well, she goes back to a phrase her mother first said to her years ago — “tough times don’t last; tough people do.”As a child, Mandlik wanted to become a professional skier, but her mother refused to move from Florida to a cold-weather locale. So she decided to commit to tennis instead.She said her mother has never criticized her for a loss, something she has seen plenty of other parents do.“My mom understands how it feels to lose, so if you lose she’s not going to rip you,” said Elizabeth Mandlik, daughter of the four-time major singles champion Hana Mandlikova.Martin Keep/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“My mom understands how it feels to lose, so if you lose she’s not going to rip you,” said Mandlik, whose twin brother, Mark, plays for the University of Oklahoma and has considered turning pro. “Now if you didn’t listen to your coach, then she can rip you.”Mandlik’s mother got her started in tennis but gave up coaching responsibilities long ago. Mandlikova sometimes watches her daughter practice, but rarely comes onto the court, leaving the coaching responsibilities to others, a move many former players make as their children rise through the ranks.Bryan Shelton, who coaches at the University of Florida, has handed his son over to Dean Goldfine, the former coach of Andy Roddick. Petr Korda has hired his good friend Radek Stepanek, a player he used to coach, to guide his son.Apostolos Tsitsipas is still the main voice in his son’s ear, in practice, and during matches, when he sits courtside, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees or his arms crossed on his chest, his face tight with concern, terror, frustration, inspiration — often all at once.He shouts words of encouragement in Greek, claps his hands every so often and raises a fist in celebration only when his son produces a little bit of magic. He sucks down bottle after bottle of water, but rarely leaves his seat for a bathroom break.Late last year his son brought in another voice, Mark Philippoussis, the retired, big-hitting Australian with Greek roots. In recent weeks, Stefanos Tsitsipas has begun playing with a combination of aggression, power and swagger that had disappeared from his game for long spells during the past year.“He makes for a good guy to have next to my father that can advise him, that can help him, can help me,” Tsitsipas said of Philippoussis after his quarterfinal win over Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday night.Parents, after all, can do only so much. More

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

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

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      Nick Kyrgios to Appear in Court on Assault Allegation in Australia

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      The accusation landed on the eve of perhaps the most important match of Kyrgios’s controversy-filled career, a quarterfinal showdown with Cristian Garín.WIMBLEDON, England — The spotlight on the Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios, whose confrontations with opponents and Wimbledon officials have made his matches can’t-miss theater for the past week, grew hotter Tuesday when news emerged that the police have begun legal proceedings against him after a former girlfriend accused him of assaulting her in December.The accusations landed on the eve of one of his most important matches, a quarterfinal showdown with Cristian Garín of Chile that he is favored to win, and less than 24 hours after he survived a five-set challenge from the American Brandon Nakashima on Monday.That match was largely uneventful by Kyrgios standards, mostly lacking the battles with umpires, the racket smashing and even the spitting in the direction of fans that often occur when Kyrgios signs up for a tournament.After the 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-2 win Monday, Kyrgios spoke of how good he felt, how he had reached a kind of equilibrium in his life after years of turmoil and how he has been able to enjoy moments on the tennis court in a way he rarely has in the past.“That’s probably the first time in my career where I wasn’t playing well, regardless of playing Centre Court Wimbledon, fully packed crowd, I was able to just say, ‘Wow, look how far I’ve come,’ to myself,” he said. “I was bouncing the ball before I served. I really just smiled to myself. I was like, ‘We’re here, we’re competing at Wimbledon, putting in a good performance mentally.’”Hours later, news broke in Australia that Kyrgios had been charged with one count of common assault related to an incident with an ex-girlfriend, Chiara Passari, according to The Canberra Times and a statement from the police. Kyrgios is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 2.“While Mr. Kyrgios is committed to addressing any and all allegations once clear, taking the matter seriously does not warrant any misreading of the process Mr. Kyrgios is required to follow,” Pierre Johannessen, a lawyer for Kyrgios, said in a statement Tuesday evening.Kyrgios did not register for a practice court on Tuesday, unlike the other players who have qualified for quarterfinals, including his opponent, Garín.On Instagram, where Kyrgios is active and has posted statements during previous controversies, he posted a picture of himself speaking with a young girl at a tennis tournament and added the caption, “This is why I play ❤️ to all my youngsters out there, believe in yourself.”The charge against Kyrgios — he is accused of grabbing Passari during a dispute — carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.The charge creates an awkward situation for Wimbledon, but also the ATP, which organizes the men’s professional tour.A spokesperson for the All England Club said Tuesday: “We have been made aware of legal proceedings involving Nick Kyrgios in Australia, and as they are ongoing, we are not in a position to offer a comment. We are in touch with Nick’s team and he remains scheduled to play his quarterfinal match tomorrow.”The ATP in the past has waited for the legal process to unfold before penalizing a player for behavior off the court.But it came under pressure to take action after allegations surfaced that Alexander Zverev had attacked a former girlfriend twice in hotel rooms during tournaments, even though the woman had not filed charges with the police and said she would not do so. Zverev has denied the allegations.The ATP, which did not comment on the Kyrgios charge because, a spokesman said, the legal process is not resolved, announced last year that it was conducting an independent investigation of Zverev. The organization has not announced anything related to it other than to say it was continuing. Zverev continued to compete on the tour until he injured an ankle in a semifinal match at the French Open last month against Rafael Nadal.Tournament officials at Wimbledon have fined Kyrgios $14,000 for two infractions this year: $10,000 after spitting in the direction of a fan after his first-round win and $4,000 fine for using an obscenity in his third-round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.He has also violated Wimbledon rules against having colored clothing by walking onto the court wearing — though not playing in — red sneakers and baseball caps that have been black or red.“More attention for me,” he said Monday when asked about a potential penalty for the dress code violation. “What’s that saying? Any publicity is good publicity, right?” More

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      How Wimbledon Became the Nick Kyrgios Show

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      Kyrgios, the big, talented Australian, has taken over Wimbledon with his antics and psychological warfare. It’s working.WIMBLEDON, England — Going up against the tennis talents of Nick Kyrgios, the powerful Australian with hands as soft as a masseuse’s, is plenty difficult in its own right.That is just the start, though. Kyrgios, practitioner of psychological warfare, can be even more formidable.The sport’s outspoken, charismatic bad boy, whose antics have stolen the Wimbledon spotlight, casts a spell on the vast crowds that pack stadiums to watch his matches, even on Centre Court at Wimbledon, that supposed temple of decorum.The mid-rally, between-the-legs trick shots, the twisting and curling winners and the antisocial theatrics force opponents to take on Kyrgios and thousands of spectators looking for another episode of the most unpredictable and compelling show in tennis.“Come on, Nick!” they yell as though he were a pal playing a game of darts at the pub.His regular battles with officials erupt without warning and can reappear throughout the match. He knows how much he is loved and loathed, and when a Grand Slam tournament becomes a soap opera starring him, as this one has, his game is right where he wants it to be.“I sit here now in the quarterfinals Wimbledon again, and I just know there’s so many people that are so upset,” he said after outlasting Brandon Nakashima of the United States on Monday in five sets, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2. “It’s a good feeling.”Kyrgios has fought his own psychological battles through the extreme highs and lows of his erratic career. A few years ago, his agent had to drag him from a pub at 4 a.m. because he had a match against Rafael Nadal later that day. He knows as well as anyone that tennis is as much a mental fight as a physical one, maybe more so. He rattles his opponent’s concentration, doing whatever he can to force the guy across the net to start thinking about the drama rather than his game.Kyrgios appeared to injure his right arm or shoulder during a forehand return on Monday.Tolga Akmen/EPA, via ShutterstockHere are the facts of Kyrgios’s fourth-round match against Nakashima, a rising, levelheaded, 20-year-old American, which occurred two days after Kyrgios’s upset of Stefanos Tsitsipas that was a circus of screaming matches with officials that so unnerved Tsitsipas, the fourth-seeded Greek star, that he began trying to hit Kyrgios with his shots — and usually missed.Midway through the first set against Nakashima, Kyrgios appeared to injure his right upper arm and shoulder while trying to muscle a forehand return of Nakashima’s serve. By the latter stages of the set, Kyrgios, whose cannon-like serve is among his most potent weapons, was grabbing and massaging the area around his right triceps muscle on changeovers and between points.He winced after some serves and forehands and repeatedly rotated his arm, as though trying to stretch out the joint and the muscles around it.Unable to swing freely and unable to unleash that nearly 140 m.p.h. serve as he did in his first three matches, Kyrgios stopped chasing and reaching for balls. In the tenth game, Nakashima, playing with his trademark efficiency, jumped on the diminished Kyrgios’s serve repeatedly to take the first set, 6-4. The young American looked like he was on cruise control.The umpire and a tournament official asked Kyrgios if he was OK and if he needed medical attention. He waved them both off, but as the second set began, there was more shoulder rubbing, more wincing, more arm rotation. Kyrgios’s forehand became a wristy whip instead of the windmill that sends opponents running backward.Kyrgios took a medical timeout that may have been more of a mind game against his opponent.Paul Childs/ReutersSometimes there is nothing so difficult as playing against an injured opponent. Players tell themselves to change nothing, to play as if everything were normal. But the mind can instinctually relax, suggesting to not hit that next forehand so close to the line or so hard because maybe it’s not necessary against a weakened opponent.On Monday afternoon, Nakashima could not ignore Kyrgios’s winces and shoulder grabs or his so-much-slower-than-usual walks from one side of the court to the other for the next point.The more Kyrgios rubbed that shoulder, the more tentative Nakashima became. He missed seven of eight first serves in the third game of the second set, then missed a forehand on break point, and suddenly Kyrgios had the momentum.And then the numbers on the board tracking the speed of Kyrgios’s serve began to climb, from the 110s into the 120s in miles per hour and upward from there. And the blasted forehands started to reappear. Serving at a tight moment late in the set, Kyrgios hit 137 and 132 on the radar gun. Minutes later, he was all even.Nakashima settled back down early in the third set. On serve, midway through, Kyrgios called for the physiotherapist and a medical timeout. As Kyrgios received a massage, Nakashima got up from his chair and performed shadow drills facing the stands instead of Kyrgios.Back on the court, Kyrgios served once more well above 120 m.p.h. He stretched his advantage in a tiebreaker with a 129 m.p.h. ace, then won it rifling a forehand return.“He was still serving fine after the medical timeout, still ripping the ball, so I don’t think it was that big of an injury,” said Nakashima, who had no answers for Kyrgios’s serve or forehand in the third-set tiebreaker.That shoulder drama — Kyrgios later described it as one of his “niggles” that he had treated with some painkillers — ended there.Another set, another mind game. Kyrgios, serving at 3-5, could have won the game and made Nakashima serve out the set so Kyrgios could serve first in the deciding act.Kyrgios has been the most entertaining player on and off the court at Wimbledon.Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesNot so much. How about three serves in the 75-m.p.h. range, one underhanded, and a forehand on set point so obviously aimed off the court? (It hit its target.) Was Kyrgios now quitting?“Complete rope-a-dope tactic,” Kyrgios said. “I just threw away that service game. I knew he was in a rhythm. He was starting to get on top of me. I kind of just wanted to throw him off a little bit.” It worked, judging by the aces, and the running volley he perfectly shaved off the grass in his first service game.There were challenges on calls he thought were wrong, and a few on shots of his that were clearly out. Nakashima serving at deuce at 1-1 made for a convenient time for Kyrgios to start jawing with the chair umpire. Then he stabbed a backhand for break point and pulled off a back-spinning squash shot to induce the error for a service break.And it was largely curtains from there. A 134 m.p.h. serve got Kyrgios to match point at 5-2. A surprise serve-and-volley on second serve on match point sealed it.Cristian Garin of Chile, ranked 43rd in the world, is up next in the quarterfinals. The show goes on, and maybe on and on. More

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      Nick Kyrgios, a Dream and a Nightmare for Wimbledon, Is Winning

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      The Australian’s matches and news conferences have become irresistible theater — some call them a circus — that is a blessing and a curse for a sport battling for attention.WIMBLEDON, England — All white is the dress code at Wimbledon, the oldest and most traditional of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. So when Nick Kyrgios wears a black hat for his on-court interview, he is sending a message.And that’s what he did Saturday night on the No. 1 Court, after his emotional, fireworks-filled, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, the No. 4 seed.As Wimbledon enters its second week, the women’s tournament is wide open and there is potential for a men’s final of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, which looks more inevitable each day. And then there is Kyrgios, a dangerous and disruptive force who has so much pure talent, but is so temperamental and combustible that the sport can neither control him nor ignore him.He plays when he feels like it, then disappears for months, only to return to wreak havoc and provide headline-grabbing theater.“Everywhere I go I’m seeing full stadiums,” he said after his battle with Tsitsipas. “The media loves to write that I am bad for the sport but clearly not.”Kyrgios is an immensely talented Australian who has an ambivalent relationship with the rigors and requirements of professional tennis. He relishes his role as the game’s great outlaw, unafraid to jaw with, spit toward or berate judges and umpires.He badgers the young workers on the court for not keeping the changeover chairs stocked with fresh towels and bananas. He smashes rackets. One ricocheted off the ground and very nearly crashed into the face of a ball boy at a tournament in California this year. His boorish displays regularly garner tens of thousands of dollars in fines.Then he will return to the court and fire one of the most dangerous serves in the game. He puts on the sort of magical shotmaking clinics — shots between the legs, curling forehands, underhanded aces — that other players can only dream about.He is the ticking time bomb who packs stadiums and has hordes of young fans. He is at once the sport’s worst nightmare and its meal ticket: hard to watch but also hard to ignore.When he loses, it’s always someone else’s fault. When he wins, it’s because he has overcome all manner of forces against him: tournament directors, the news media, the tennis establishment, fans who have hurled racial slurs at him.“Unscripted. Unfiltered. Unmissable,” is how the @Wimbledon Twitter feed put it Saturday night as Kyrgios, in all of his brilliance and brattiness, overpowered and outfinessed Tsitsipas over three compelling hours.All evening, Kyrgios went after the chair umpire as well as the tournament referees and supervisors for not defaulting Tsitsipas after he angrily sent a ball into the crowd, coming dangerously close to directly hitting a fan on the fly. Kyrgios claimed the umpire surely would have sent him off had he done the same thing. (He may not be wrong on that one.)The nearly endless complaints and interruptions rattled Tsitsipas. He struggled to maintain his composure, complaining to the chair umpire that only one person on the court was interested in playing tennis, while the other was turning the match into a circus. Then he took matters into his own hands, and started trying to peg Kyrgios with his shots. The crowd of more than 10,000 grew louder with each confrontation.It became only more intense after Kyrgios finished off Tsitsipas in the tiebreaker with three unreturnable shots — a half-volley into the open court; a ripped, backhand winner; and a drop shot from the baseline that died on the turf just beyond Tsitsipas’s reach.The drama was cresting as the Tsitsipas and Kyrgios news conferences descended into a name-calling, insult-filled back and forth about decorum and who had more friends in the locker room.Tsitsipas, certain that Kyrgios had intentionally made a mess of the match — and probably steamed that Kyrgios had beaten him twice in a month’s time — said his fellow players needed to come together and set down rules that would rein in Kyrgios.“It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does,” Tsitsipas said of Kyrgios. “He bullies the opponents. He was probably a bully at school himself. I don’t like bullies. I don’t like people that put other people down. He has some good traits in his character, as well. But when he — he also has a very evil side to him, which if it’s exposed, it can really do a lot of harm and bad to the people around him.”Tsitsipas said he regretted swatting the ball into the crowd, but was less remorseful about another that he smacked across the net and into the scoreboard, earning a point penalty.“I was aiming for the body of my opponent, but I missed by a lot, by a lot,” he said. Then, he added, “When I feel like other people disrespect me and don’t respect what I’m doing from the other side of the court, it’s absolute normal from my side to act and do something about it.”“It’s constant bullying, that’s what he does,” Tsitsipas, above, said of Kyrgios.Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesKyrgios was watching all of this on a television nearby. Minutes later, he sat down behind the microphone, wearing that black cap and a T-shirt featuring Dennis Rodman, the onetime N.B.A. rebel, and a big grin. Once more, Tsitsipas had created a situation where Kyrgios could get the better of him, even allowing him the rare chance to take the high road and claim to be a kind of innocent.“He was the one hitting balls at me,” he said of Tsitsipas. “He was the one that hit a spectator. He was the one that smacked it out of the stadium.”He called Tsitsipas “soft” for letting Kyrgios’s conversations with tournament officials get to him.“We’re not cut from the same cloth,” he said of Tsitsipas. “I go up against guys who are true competitors. If he’s affected by that today, then that’s what’s holding him back, because someone can just do that and that’s going to throw him off his game like that. I just think it’s soft.”On Sunday, Wimbledon fined Tsitsipas $10,000 and Kyrgios $4,000 for their behavior.Tsitsipas’s mother is a former pro and his father is a tennis coach who reared his sons on the tennis court from an early age. Kyrgios is of Greek and Malay descent, and his father painted houses for a living.“I’m good in the locker room,” Kyrgios, now rolling, went on. “I’ve got many friends, just to let you know. I’m actually one of the most liked. I’m set. He’s not liked.”Then, one last dagger.Kyrgios said that he did not take the court to make a friend, to compliment his opponents on their play, and that he had no idea what he had done to make Tsitsipas so upset that he barely shook his hand at the end of the match.Every time he has lost, Kyrgios said, even when he has been thrown out of matches, he has looked his opponent in the eye and told him he was the better man.“He wasn’t man enough to do that today,” he said.The victory put Kyrgios into the round of 16, where he will play the American Brandon Nakashima on Centre Court on Monday. He is two wins from a possible semifinal showdown with Nadal, assuming the 22-time Grand Slam event champion can keep winning as well. It would be the ultimate hero-villain confrontation, a perfect setting for all manner of potential Kyrgios explosions and boorishness, but also, as that Twitter feed put it, unmissable theater.Nadal is known to be one of the game’s true gentlemen, a keeper of the unspoken codes between players. He has marveled at Kyrgios’s talent and questioned the baggage he brings to the court and the ordeals he often creates with umpires, especially when his chances of winning begin to slip away.On Saturday night, after winning his own match and hearing about the Kyrgios-Tsitsipas fracas, Nadal turned philosophical when asked when a player crossed the line, and whether Kyrgios goes too far. It is, he said, a matter of conscience.“I think everyone has to go to bed with being calm with the things that you have done,” Nadal said. “And if you can’t sleep with calm and being satisfied with yourself, it’s because you did things that probably were not ethical.”How does Kyrgios sleep? Only he knows. More

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      Roger Federer’s Absence Leaves a Void at Wimbledon

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      Federer said he hoped to return to the tournament he has won eight times before. His absence from the field this year left a void over Wimbledon’s early rounds.WIMBLEDON, England — There he was, a surprise, perhaps the biggest of this Wimbledon fortnight: Roger Federer in the flesh Sunday on Centre Court.As always, he looked handsome and freshly pressed. But instead of his tennis whites, Federer wore a trim, dark suit to to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Centre Court.Flanked by a slew of past Wimbledon champions, Federer was on hand only briefly, but no player received a louder greeting. Not Bjorn Borg. Not Venus Williams. Not Rod Laver or Billie Jean King, not Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.For the first time since 1998, when he announced himself to the tennis world by winning the junior event, Federer is not playing Wimbledon. At age 40, he’s still rehabbing after surgery on his right knee and is unsure of his playing future.“I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of matches on this court,” Federer said, speaking into a microphone, his voice ringing across the court. He added, “It feels awkward to be here today in a different type of role.”He continued for a short while, bathing in the warm adoration, taking in the old stadium and its memories. “This court has given me my biggest wins, my biggest losses,” he said.“I hope I can come back one more time.”The fans sitting around me at Centre Court went nuts.And then Federer was gone.Wimbledon 2022 has been a strange journey. Instead of the usual electric energy coursing through each day, signaling the peak of the tennis season and the start of the English summer, the feel has been slightly off — like a master violinist struggling for just the right note.During the opening four days, attendance dropped to levels not seen in over a decade. The barring of Russians and Belarusians robbed the tournament of several marquee names, including the world’s top-ranked male, Daniil Medvedev. Their exclusion caused protests by the men’s and women’s tours, which decided not to officially recognize the results with ranking points, essentially turning the entire affair into the most lavish tennis exhibition ever held.Those are some mighty blows.But there’s something else that feels off about this Wimbledon.Instead of charging into the tournament’s second week as the men’s favorite and the fans’ hoped-for winner at a tournament where he is worshiped like a god, Federer floated in for the centennial celebration and then was scheduled to jet back home to Switzerland.The tournament goes on. But a Wimbledon without Federer is like a Wimbledon where there are strawberries but no cream.How do you explain the power of absence? Maybe through the shock of looking at the men’s draw and not seeing the most familiar name. Or through a fan’s shout, such as the one that came out loud and true, expressing palpable longing during a prime-time match last week.“Is that Roger Federer?” someone yelled, the voice ringing across Court No. 1 during a tense late-night match between two guys, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios, who could offer only a glimpse of the grace Federer brought to every match at Wimbledon.The yell was aimed at Tsitsipas, of Greece, whose one-handed backhand and flowing strokes call to mind the eight-time champion.Close is not the real thing. Tsitsipas is no Federer.There are no guarantees that Federer will ever play here again, though we now know that he hopes to. “I think maybe there’s a little magic left,” said Tony Godsick, Federer’s longtime agent, as we walked the grounds last week.“I’m not sure that magic means having to hold up a trophy,” Godsick added. “Magic means going out on your own terms, being healthy, and enjoying it.” He looked out at one of the grass courts. “There will be places where he’ll be able to do better just because of the nature of the surface,” he said. “But if it doesn’t happen, he gave everything.”The deep, even ethereal connection Federer has with this vine-covered Taj Mahal of tennis is about more than longevity.Part of it is style. Wimbledon is white linen, polished gold, light cotton fineries, ascots and the Duke and Duchess of Kent in the royal box. Everything about the refined Federer fits this palace, from his old-school game to the gliding way he walks.Part of it is substance: the fine art of victory. Federer was the champion in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2017.Part of it is losing, but weathering the storm in the right way.For a while, the Swiss player seemed like he might never be conquered on the low-cut grass. Then came Nadal. When Nadal finally beat Federer in the final in 2008, their match was regarded as one of the greatest ever played. Who can forget Federer’s comeback, his saved match points and Nadal’s unquenchable desire? The match ended in the dwindling sunlight, 9-7 in the fifth set, with Federer shedding tears of agony.Federer’s Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic in 2019 was perhaps the last great match of Federer’s career.Nic Bothma/EPA, via ShutterstockHe suddenly seemed vulnerable, human, within reach. Showing weakness at a tournament he had owned for five straight summers, and handling it with grace, made Federer more popular than ever.To the fervently loyal fans of Nadal and Djokovic, he was the perfect foil, the one to root most lustily against, the one player they most wanted to defeat and send off with head bowed.In the last great match we saw him play at Wimbledon, possibly the last great match of his career, the marathon championship final of 2019, Federer held two match points while serving against Djokovic. The Serb won both, tracking down the last of them by skimming across the baseline and, as he so often does, producing a winning passing shot. About an hour later, he won the match, 13-12, in a fifth-set tiebreaker.Watching Djokovic play on Centre Court last week, it was impossible not to think of that classic. There he was again, the defending champion, dashing across the same baseline with the same staunch resolve as when he snatched victory from his longtime rival. Djokovic may well win this year’s tournament, which would give him seven Wimbledon titles overall. But other than among his loyal fans — and yes, there are many — watching him plow through opponents with metronomic efficiency and tight-lipped swagger does not quite stir the soul.He is a marvel, all right. So is a microwave oven.Then I watched Jannik Sinner of Italy, 20, who is little known outside tennis but regarded as a potential future force within it. Sinner may not win Wimbledon this year, but there’s a good chance he will one day.On Sunday, against another precocious talent, 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner hit his forehands with a consistent mix of heavy speed and daring curve. He added aces, drop shots and deep returns. The crowd on Centre Court swayed and swooned with his every move.It felt reminiscent of the energy surrounding a certain Swiss player at the start of his great Wimbledon career. It was a reminder of the way greatness gives way to greatness, one generation to the next — and a reminder that Federer was not on hand to help keep youth at bay. Not this year, at least. Maybe next. More

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      What the Italian Open Is Foretelling About the French Open

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      Though at opposite poles of their careers, the top singles players, Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic, both cruised to titles in Rome and are looking strong heading into Paris.ROME — We will soon find out how much of what happened Sunday at the Italian Open was foreshadowing.The main draw for the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament played on clay courts, begins in a week. But Iga Swiatek’s and Novak Djokovic’s decisive victories in Rome certainly solidified two key themes heading into Paris.Swiatek continues to look irresistible, and Djokovic now looks fully revitalized.Both are ranked No. 1 in singles and playing like it. Neither dropped a set on the way to their Italian Open titles, and both polished off their runs convincingly against top-10 players in Sunday’s finals. Swiatek defeated Ons Jabeur, 6-2, 6-2, to stop Jabeur’s 11-match winning streak and extend her own to 28. Djokovic followed her lead, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-0, 7-6 (5).Swiatek and Djokovic are at opposite poles of their careers.Swiatek, 20, is just now harnessing the full force of her hard-charging power game, grasping that she can be not only a serial champion but also an intimidator as she crowds the opposition with her heavy-topspin forehand and acrobatic, tight-to-the-baseline defense.Djokovic, who will turn 35 on the opening day of Roland Garros, established himself years ago as one of the game’s greatest players. He is the oldest man to win the Italian Open in singles in the Open era: slightly older than his longtime rival Rafael Nadal was when he beat Djokovic to win the title at 34 last year.Djokovic has endured long enough that he was not the only Djokovic playing for a title on Sunday. While he was prevailing in Rome, his 7-year-old son, Stefan, was winning the title at his debut tournament at a club in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.“I just received that news: a sunshine double today,” Djokovic said with one of his biggest smiles of the week.I mentioned to Djokovic that it has been said that the only thing more mentally challenging than being a tennis player is being a tennis parent.“Not a single day have I told him you have to do this; it’s really purely his own desire to step on the court,” Djokovic said. “He’s really in love with the sport. Last night, when I spoke to him, he was up till late. He was showing me forehand and backhands, how he’s going to move tomorrow, kind of shadowing, playing shadow tennis without a racket. It was so funny to see that. I used to do that when I was a kid. I could see the joy in him, the pure emotion and love for the game.”Djokovic, like his career-long reference points Nadal and Roger Federer, has underscored his passion with long-running excellence and by persistently ignoring the hints that his peak years might be behind him.For Djokovic, this has been a season and a challenge like no other: His decision to remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus led to a standoff with Australian authorities that ended with his deportation on the eve of this year’s Australian Open, and it kept him out of the Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami Gardens, Fla., in March.But with the health protocols now relaxed in Europe, Djokovic returned to regular action on clay last month. Though he struggled in his initial matches with his timing and his endurance, he has slowly but convincingly resumed hitting his targets, and he has gathered momentum just in time for Roland Garros.“I always try to use these kinds of situations and adversity in my favor to fuel me for the next challenge,” he said of Australia. “As much as I’ve felt pressure in my life and my career, that was something really on a whole different level. But I feel it’s already behind me. I feel great on the court. Mentally as well, I’m fresh. I’m sharp.”Against Tsitsipas, the hirsute Greek star who pushed Djokovic to five sets before losing last year’s French Open final, Djokovic controlled most of the baseline rallies with as much patience as panache. When Tsitsipas failed to serve out the second set, Djokovic proved the more reliable force in the tiebreaker, perfectly content, it seemed, to wait for Tsitsipas to crack.“To some extent, it’s a relief because after everything that happened at the beginning of the year, it was important for me to win a big title,” Djokovic said.Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in Rome, considered Djokovic a favorite at Roland Garros.Andreas Solaro/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesIt might have been even more reassuring if his title had come against a full-strength field. But Carlos Alcaraz, the 19-year-old from Spain who has been the revelation of the season, chose to rest and skip the Italian Open after beating Nadal and Djokovic to win the title in Madrid. Nadal, the greatest clay-court player in history, lost in the quarterfinals, limping and wincing in the final set of his defeat against Denis Shapovalov of Canada as he struggled anew with the chronic pain in his left foot that threatened his career in his teens and imperils it again now at age 35.Nadal has won the French Open a mind-boggling 13 times; Djokovic a more terrestrial two. But as counterintuitive as it is to count Nadal out in Paris, it seems right to bump him down the list of favorites this year, all the more because he might not even compete.“Right now, Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic,” said Tsitsipas, who lost to both men this month. “They both play great, great tennis. I would put them as favorites.”It is tempting to lean toward Djokovic considering that Alcaraz has so little experience in the best-of-five-set format and no experience in managing the stress that can come with being placed on a Grand Slam shortlist. But he held up astoundingly well in Madrid despite all the pressure from Djokovic’s groundstrokes and timely first serves down the stretch.Alcaraz is undoubtedly special. The question is just how special, which seems a fine line of inquiry for Swiatek, as well. She was on a roll even before Ashleigh Barty retired suddenly in March while holding the No. 1 ranking. But Swiatek has filled the role with true swagger, solving all manner of riddles by lopsided margins.Since her winning streak began in February, she has lost just five sets and came genuinely close to losing a set only once in Rome, prevailing over the 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu in a first-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals before closing her out, 6-0.Jabeur, a tactic-shuffling Tunisian, won the title in Madrid on clay this month in Swiatek’s absence. But Sunday represented a big step up as Swiatek not only hunted down most of Jabeur’s trademark drop shots but also dealt firmly with most of Jabeur’s full-force bolts into the corners.There was not much genuine danger, but when it surfaced Swiatek was prepared. Up, 4-2, in the second set but down, 0-40, on her serve, Swiatek saved three break points with winners, and then saved a fourth with a backhand drop volley to cap a full-court exchange.She was soon sobbing on the clay behind the baseline after securing her fifth straight title. Clearly, winning is more taxing than Swiatek is making it look, but after wiping away the tears, she was back to grinning in the Roman sunshine and holding up yet another trophy to go with those won in Doha, Qatar; Indian Wells; Miami Gardens, and Stuttgart, Germany.“Today, I’m going to celebrate with a lot of tiramisù, no regrets,” she said, suddenly much more relatable than when she was pounding the opposition into clay dust.It will come as no surprise if another sweet finish awaits in Paris. More