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      John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg: A Rivalry That Ended Too Soon

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      The two played each other just 14 times but created one of the greatest and still-talked-about rivalries in the history of tennis.Over the last 17 years, Roger Federer has played Rafael Nadal 40 times, including nine times in Grand Slam finals. He has played Novak Djokovic 50 times since 2006, twice in five-set Wimbledon championship matches, both won by Djokovic. And Nadal and Djokovic have played a staggering 58 times, including nine times at the French Open.By comparison, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe played 14 matches from 1978 to 1981. And yet they produced one of the greatest and still-talked-about rivalries in the history of the sport.Forty years ago, as the setting sun cast shadows across Louis Armstrong Stadium, more than 18,000 spectators saw a bizarre ending to a too-short era that involved two of the game’s all-time best. First, they watched in awe as McEnroe, a native New Yorker, won his third consecutive United States Open by beating Borg 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in 2 hours 40 minutes. But what happened next caused bewilderment, followed by concern, at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens.As McEnroe was hugging his parents, Kay and John Sr., and holding the champion’s trophy aloft, Borg was nowhere to be found. He had skipped the post-match ceremony and obligatory news conference. He had left the stadium with Lennart Bergelin, his longtime coach and confidant, hastily grabbed a shower and hopped in a waiting station wagon, never again to be seen competing at the U.S. Open, or any other major.McEnroe with Borg during the Laver Cup in 2019. McEnroe was the captain of Team World and Bjorg the captain of Team Europe.Julian Finney/Getty ImagesBorg, barely 25 at the time, was a six-time French Open champion and had also won five consecutive Wimbledon titles from 1976 to 1980 before McEnroe beat him in the 1981 final. Through much of the U.S. Open final he remained close with McEnroe, even leading 4-2 after they had split the first two sets. But when McEnroe broke back and evened the third set, Borg seemed to vanish mentally. He lost the fourth set meekly, shook hands and disappeared.“To me, it was bittersweet,” McEnroe said during a phone interview in August from his home in Malibu, Calif. “The way it ended, with a whimper, with him walking out of the court before the ceremony to never play again. So even though it was a tremendous moment for me, winning Wimbledon and the Open back-to-back and taking over the No. 1 ranking, looking back I wish we could have kept playing.“For years, I would see him and say: ‘When are you coming back? This is ridiculous, let’s go,’” McEnroe, who has long been a tennis commentator for ESPN, added. “It just felt like there was a void and it took me a couple of years to accept that. I think it was too bad for the sport as well.”Borg’s manager, Per Hjertquist, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.What many did not know at the time was that Borg had received two death threats during the Open, both called in to the switchboard at the Tennis Center, though no one has ever said why. One was before his semifinal win over Jimmy Connors. The other was at 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, in the middle of the first set against McEnroe. Borg was not told about that threat until Bergelin alerted him after the match.Many of the fans that day were pulling for Borg, the suave Swede who wore a red, white and blue headband stretched across his forehead to control his shoulder-length mane of dirty-blond hair. Borg was playing in his 10th U.S. Open and fourth final without a championship. He had lost to Jimmy Connors in 1976 and 1978 and to McEnroe in 1980, just two months after beating McEnroe in a five-set Wimbledon final that featured a 34-point fourth-set tiebreaker, and an 8-6 fifth set.Their stark differences were part of the Borg-McEnroe allure. While Borg preferred to quietly stalk the baseline, swinging his two-handed backhand as if it were a pendulum, the left-handed McEnroe was all about disruption, in his game and in his behavior.“We were the perfect yin and yang,” McEnroe said. “You had someone who was naturally aggressive against someone who was a counterpuncher. Everything about us was totally different, the way we looked and the way we played.”Even their fellow competitors saw the value in the matchup.“Bjorn had a certain aloofness to him,” said Rick Meyer, who grew up playing with McEnroe and lost to him in the third round of the 1980 U.S. Open. “He never played doubles, never practiced on site, was basically perfect for the quiet atmosphere of Wimbledon. John, on the other hand, was all about the electricity of New York where people behaved as if it was a boxing match. In the end, that hurt Bjorn.”During the late ’70s and early ’80s, tennis in the United States was exploding. Everyone wanted to play and viewership, in person and on television, was at never-before-seen levels. The day before the 1981 U.S. Open men’s final, 18-year-old Tracy Austin won her second women’s title with a 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1) win over Martina Navratilova. Navratilova, who had beaten Chris Evert in the semifinals, sobbed, not because she lost but because the New York crowd had finally embraced her six years after she had defected from Czechoslovakia.In March 1981, World Tennis magazine ran a cover photo of Borg and McEnroe, standing back-to-back, revolutionary-style guns pointed up, with the headline “McEnroe-Borg: Will Their Duels Become Legend?”In the months and years after the 1981 U.S. Open, Borg made a few attempts to return to the pro tour. He never played another major, but he captained Team Europe to victory in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Laver Cup competitions (versus Team World, captained by McEnroe). His son, Leo, has followed in his footsteps and reached the third round of the French Open junior tournament in May and the second round at Junior Wimbledon in July. Borg also started a successful fashion line.“There are a lot of reasons that Borg may have stopped playing, whether it was because he lost the No. 1 ranking, or had been doing it a long time and was a little burned out or that he was the first athlete to make enough money to be able to walk away,” McEnroe said. “But I just wanted to know if he was OK, living a happy life, feeling content and not second-guessing himself and wishing 30 years later that he had done things differently. That’s one of those things that we may never know the answer to.” More

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      U.S. Open Tightens Protocols, Fans Must Provide Proof of Covid Vaccination

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      Under pressure from the New York City mayor’s office, the U.S.T.A. reversed its rules for fans attending the tournament, which will have full capacity.Under pressure from Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city leaders, the United States Tennis Association reversed its lax coronavirus protocols for the upcoming U.S. Open tournament, which opens to thousands of fans on Monday.Originally, the tournament did not require any proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test for fans to enter, and there were no mask mandates, either. But the mayor’s office stepped in over the past two days and demanded stricter protocols.On Friday evening, the tournament announced on its Twitter account that proof of at least one vaccine shot would now be required for entrance to the grounds for all fans age 12 and older. No masks are required.The mayor’s office was adamant that fans entering Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest venue on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, be vaccinated. But the U.S.T.A. took it a step further and made it a requirement for all fans entering the grounds of the tournament.“Today, the U.S.T.A. was informed that the New York City mayor’s office will be mandating proof of Covid-19 vaccination for entrance to Arthur Ashe Stadium,” the statement said. “Given the continuing evolution of the Delta variant and in keeping with our intention to put the health and safety of our fans first, the U.S.T.A. will extend the mayor’s requirement to all U.S. Open ticket holders 12 years old and older.”De Blasio was not the only city official concerned about the potential for a large coronavirus outbreak. After the tournament announced on Wednesday that no vaccines or masks would be required, Mark Levine, a City Council member from Manhattan and chair of the health committee, said he was “alarmed” that the U.S. Open could become a super spreader event, especially with so many visitors from around the world and the country visiting the tournament in Queens, and also going into Manhattan during their visits.Reached after the tournament reversed course on Friday, Levine was pleased by the reversal.“I feel enormous relief,” he said, “and it’s just in the nick of time with crowds due to arrive on Monday.”Levine pointed out that because ticket holders were only required to get one shot, they had time before the tournament started, if they were motivated to get it.“No fan is excluded unless they want to be,” he said. “This is not a draconian measure.”Tournament organizers said they would add “extra measures” to expedite the process of checking vaccination records at entry points to the grounds.The U.S.T.A. said it had developed its original protocols for fans within guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the city’s Department of Health and the mayor’s office. But since then, it said, the mayor has introduced the Key to NYC Pass, requiring patrons and employees of indoor dining, entertainment and recreation to prove that they have received at least one dose of the vaccine.The mayor was particularly concerned about fans filling up Arthur Ashe Stadium with the roof closed. The U.S.T.A. claims that the ventilation inside the stadium is sufficient for it to be considered an outdoor venue — like one of New York’s two baseball stadiums — even when the roof is closed.The mayor insisted that the U.S.T.A either mandate proof of one dose of a Covid vaccine, or keep the roof open at all times, which could have caused scheduling headaches in the event of rain.Players are not required to be vaccinated, but they are tested upon arrival at the tournament and every four days after that. If they test positive, they must withdraw from the tournament.Ticket holders who do not wish to provide proof of vaccination may seek a refund.“I feel like that should be always a personal decision, whether you want to get vaccinated or not,” said Novak Djokovic, who enters the tournament looking to become the first player, man or woman, to win a Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988. “So, I’m supportive of that. Whether someone wants to get a vaccine or not, that’s completely up to them. I hope that it stays that way.” More

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      U.S. Open: Draw Reveals Novak Djokovic’s Path to a Grand Slam

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      The only men besides Djokovic who have won Grand Slam singles titles are Marin Cilic and Andy Murray, but the women’s draw is brimming with major singles champions.Novak Djokovic has chased down all manner of records on his way to becoming one of the greatest tennis players ever. But he has never been on a tennis treasure hunt quite like this.Win the U.S. Open, which begins Monday in New York, and he will break his tie with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and take sole ownership of the record for men’s Grand Slam singles titles with 21. Win the U.S. Open, and he will also complete the Grand Slam by winning all four major tournaments in the same calendar year. No man has done it in singles since Rod Laver in 1969, including Djokovic’s career-long litmus tests of Federer and Nadal. No player has done it in singles since Steffi Graf swept the four majors in 1988, rarely losing a set along the way, and then topping it off by winning the Olympic gold medal in Seoul.That was called the Golden Slam, and Djokovic missed his chance at shining as brightly as Graf when he lost to Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament this month. Djokovic left Tokyo without a medal, citing a shoulder problem as he withdrew from the bronze medal mixed doubles match. He has not competed since leaving Japan but arrived early in New York from Europe to recover from the jet lag and prepare himself to pursue what could be the highlight of his career.After the U.S. Open draw on Thursday, the top-seeded Djokovic now has a clearer idea of what awaits him, but hardly full clarity. He will face a qualifier in round one (the qualifying tournament is not yet complete) and would then face Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany or Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the second round. Djokovic is 6-0 against Struff and defeated him in the second round of the Olympics in straight sets. Djokovic has yet to face Griekspoor, who is ranked 110th.After that, Djokovic’s path becomes more a matter of conjecture. His third-round opponent could be Kei Nishikori, David Goffin or Mackenzie McDonald, the former U.C.L.A. star who is having a solid season. Djokovic’s fourth-round opponent could be Alex de Minaur or Aslan Karatsev, the Russian who made a surprise run to the Australian Open semifinals in January before losing to Djokovic, and then upset Djokovic in his home city of Belgrade on clay in the semifinals of the Serbia Open in April.But Karatsev has struggled to win a singles match lately and top form will presumably be required to derail Djokovic in New York. He is a man on a mission and has proved through the years that he can handle the pressure that goes with daunting assignments. He has defeated Nadal twice on clay at his stronghold of Roland Garros, and toppled Federer three times on grass at his stronghold of Wimbledon.Neither Federer nor Nadal will be in his way in New York. Both are out for the season (or beyond) with injuries. So is Dominic Thiem, the reigning U.S. Open men’s singles champion, who has been slow to recover from a wrist problem. Other than Djokovic, the only men in the U.S. Open draw who have won Grand Slam singles titles are Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion who has dropped to 36th in the rankings, and Andy Murray, who is No. 114 and still chasing his past form after hip resurfacing surgery.Even with Serena Williams’s and Venus Williams’s withdrawals from the tournament, the women’s draw is brimming with major singles champions. There are 13 in all, including the No. 1-seeded Ashleigh Barty and No. 3 Naomi Osaka, a two-time U.S. Open champion who is in the same eighth of the draw as the past U.S. Open champions Sloane Stephens and Angelique Kerber. Stephens, now unseeded, will face Madison Keys in the first round in a rematch of their all-American 2017 U.S. Open final. The winner is likely to face Coco Gauff, 17, if Gauff can get past her tough first-round opponent, the 51st-ranked Magda Linette.History argues against Djokovic having a cakewalk to the Grand Slam. The most recent player to come close — Serena Williams — was shocked in the semifinals of the 2015 U.S. Open by Roberta Vinci, an underpowered but resourceful Italian who was able to embrace that bright-spotlight moment with far more free-swinging panache than Williams.“Serena was two matches away from the Grand Slam, and you never would have thought she would lose to Vinci, but that’s the greatness of the challenge,” said Brad Gilbert, a former top-five player who is now a coach and ESPN analyst.Strange twists can occur with so much on the line, and Djokovic certainly can speak to strange twists in New York. He eliminated himself in the fourth round last year by inadvertently striking a lineswoman in the throat with a ball he hit after losing his serve in the opening set against Pablo Carreño Busta. Djokovic was defaulted and then lost to Nadal in last year’s French Open final. But Djokovic has not been beaten in Grand Slam play since then, and the biggest threats in New York are likely to be the leaders of the new generation: Zverev and Matteo Berrettini, who are in Djokovic’s half of the draw; and Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who are in the other half.All four have reached Grand Slam singles finals in the last 12 months. None has yet broken through. Medvedev lost in straight sets to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in February. Tsitsipas lost in five sets to Djokovic in the French Open final in June, and Berrettini lost to Djokovic in four sets in the Wimbledon final in July. They are all gifted, taller than the 6-foot-2 Djokovic, and hungry. They all have big-match experience against him, so if Djokovic does not bring his best down the stretch at Flushing Meadows, it is hard to see him winning.But though Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Zverev have each beaten Djokovic multiple times, none has yet beaten him in a best-of-five-set match. At age 34, Djokovic remains the best long-form player and most reliable closer in tennis. He is just seven matches away from standing alone in the men’s major count and joining a very exclusive club with a Grand Slam.That double quest would make headlines in any year, but without Nadal, Federer and the Williams sisters in this U.S. Open, it deserves our attention right from the start. More

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      Serena Williams and Her Fellow Tennis Greats Are Limping Toward the Exits

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      Graceful final chapters in tennis can be difficult to achieve, as Serena Williams and Roger Federer are learning firsthand.Serena Williams’s announcement of her withdrawal from the U.S. Open included 78 words and a heart emoji.It was cool and clinical, referring to her medical team’s advice to rest a torn hamstring to avoid further injury and a nod to New York, “one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play,” even if it has also been the site of her most disturbing meltdowns.Williams became the third aging tennis giant in 10 days to withdraw from the U.S. Open, the year’s final Grand Slam, following Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s revelations about their own injury struggles. It was also the latest reminder of how messy and cruel the end of even the most storied tennis careers usually are, especially for those who stay even slightly past their sell-by dates.Nadal, 35, may have some good miles left in his bones, despite their occasional fragility, but Federer turned 40 this month, and Williams turns 40 in September.“Forty in tennis is like 65 in another job,” said John McEnroe, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and ESPN commentator.There are many reasons that tennis does not lend itself to perfect endings. The modern game imposes immense physical demands and a relentless schedule. Its ranking system rewards consistent, elite play and punishes those whose aging bodies only allow them to dabble with lower seeds and more difficult early-round matches. The knockout format prevents anyone, regardless of past performance, from being guaranteed a grand setting for a final match, which can easily occur on a random Tuesday in a half-empty stadium.The result is a stark choice for even the best tennis players: Go out on top while most likely leaving some championships on the table, or meander through a frustrating descent into being OK at best, which can be less than fun in a sport that shines its brightest lights on the top two or four players and lumps nearly everyone else into something of an also-ran category.A star on a team sport can flicker then fade amid the protection of teammates. There’s an unforgiving loneliness to stardom in tennis.The tennis equivalent of Derek Jeter’s gift-collecting farewell tour as the Yankees’ shortstop — an unproductive .256 batting average over 145 games coupled with not good but not embarrassing defense — is a lot of early-round losses to journeymen.Martina Navratilova was still winning doubles titles at 49, but few top singles players have followed her lead, and those who have opted to relinquish chances at future glory are rare.Steffi Graf won the 1999 French Open for her 22nd Grand Slam title, and made the Wimbledon final a month later in July. That August, she suffered a pulled hamstring and decided to retire. She said she had lost the motivation to do what was necessary to continue to play at the top of the sport. She was just 30.Paul Annacone, who coached Pete Sampras, the winner of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, said Sampras spent months following his victory at the 2002 U.S. Open figuring out whether he wanted to keep playing. He practiced, he stayed in shape, and he pondered what he still wanted from the game.Pete Sampras after winning the men’s singles final at the U.S. Open in 2002.Amy Sancetta/Associated PressThen, one day in the spring of 2003, Sampras called Annacone and told him he had figured it out. He said he was done, that he had nothing left to prove to himself. Sampras was just 32, and Annacone is certain he had more big titles left in his racket.“I don’t know how you can win and never play another match, but Pete had such clarity,” Annacone said.Compared with so many final chapters in tennis, the Sampras exit has a certain grace.Andy Murray, once a member of the game’s so-called Big Four with Federer, Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, is continuing his attempt to come back from hip replacement surgery but remains outside the top 100.“It’s tough to watch Andy Murray right now,” said McEnroe, who spoke of the increased pressure he once felt as an aging player with a diminished amount of sand left at the top of the hourglass.At the moment, Federer’s final act may be at Wimbledon, losing a set 6-0 on Centre Court with his injured knee to Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the quarterfinal.Nadal won his 13th French Open and 20th Grand Slam singles title last October, but he fell in four sets in June to Djokovic at Roland Garros in the 2021 French Open semifinals, where he has been nearly unbeatable. He skipped Wimbledon and the Olympics, and he was last seen losing to Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the second round of the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. His comeback will hinge on solving a congenital foot problem.Williams injured her hamstring early in her opening match at Wimbledon and limped off the court.​​In an interview on Wednesday, Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams’s coach, said that the entire team knew as soon as she suffered the injury at Wimbledon that it would be a challenge for Williams to be ready for the U.S. Open, given the severity of the damage. She spent weeks resting and receiving treatments to try to nurse her leg back into shape while trying to maintain her fitness and form.“We tried everything. She did everything she could,” Mouratoglou said.He said that if the tournament was being played in three or four weeks she might be able to compete, but the risk of long-term damage if she played now was too great. The U.S. Open starts on Aug. 30 in New York.“She still wants to play and still loves to play, still wants to win Grand Slams,” Mouratoglou said of Williams. But to do that she needs to be able to train and practice at the highest level, and lately that has been a challenge. An Achilles tendon injury at last year’s U.S. Open hampered her preparations for the Australian Open in February.Williams during her semifinal match against Naomi Osaka at this year’s Australian Open. Williams lost to Osaka in straight sets.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesHe said there had been no discussion about retirement and would likely speak about what comes next for his star player in a few weeks. “I don’t have any certainty for the future at this point,” he said.The storybook ending that a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title would provide seems increasingly unlikely, given the depth of the sport and the demands of the competition over two weeks, said Pam Shriver, the former top player and Grand Slam doubles champion. Williams has reached four Grand Slam finals since returning from maternity leave following the birth of her daughter and has not won a set in any of those matches.“I don’t have enough evidence to tell me that she is going to be able to win seven matches and be the last one standing,” Shriver said Tuesday afternoon.Eighteen hours later, Williams joined Federer and Nadal on the U.S. Open sideline. More

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      Heading Into the U.S. Open, Novak Djokovic Knows His Role

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      Heading into the United States Open, an opportunity to win all four majors in the same calendar year has not altered his outlook on life and tennis.Novak Djokovic has spent a lot of time thinking about his tombstone. He has even imagined people visiting his gravesite and reading the words.“Ninety-nine percent of the people on this planet, if you ask them what is the most important thing in your life, would say it’s family, love, health, happiness,” Djokovic said during a late-evening video call from Montenegro this month during his family’s vacation. “So I would say those four things and I would add that I want to be the best father and husband that I could possibly be.“And I would also like to be remembered as a person that was a giver and the person that cared about others and left a mark on the world and that inspired others and that lived life to the fullest. That is, for me, the definition of how I would like to look back at my life on the last days of my life.”So, he was asked, he would not want his epitaph to say, “Here lies the winner of the Grand Slam?”“No, no, no,” he said quickly and emphatically. “Somebody coming to visit me there and looking at the tombstone, I wouldn’t want it written like he has been the best, most successful tennis player in history. Of course, that is a very, very important part of my life and something that I’m devoted to. But if I have to put it on a scale and compare what is more important, it’s a no-brainer for me.”Djokovic on his way to defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open final in June.Pete Kiehart for The New York TimesHeading into the United States Open, which begins on Monday, Djokovic is seven match wins away from achieving the most elusive and coveted goal in tennis: the Grand Slam, winning all four majors in the same calendar year. Already he has captured the singles titles at the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon. A victory at the U.S. Open would equal the feat of just five players — Don Budge in 1938, Maureen Connolly in 1953, Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969, Margaret Court in 1970, and Steffi Graf in 1988. Graf also won an Olympic gold medal that year, earning her a Golden Slam, something that eluded Djokovic when he lost in the semifinals in Tokyo last month.With his win at Wimbledon last month, Djokovic, 34, tied Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 major championships. A win at the U.S. Open would break the tie. Djokovic leads both in head-to-head meetings. He is 27-23 against Federer and 30-28 against Nadal.Djokovic also has been the ATP’s top-ranked player for a record 336 weeks, and he is on track to break Pete Sampras’ record by ending the season ranked No. 1 seven times. He has won 36 ATP Masters 1000 titles and has captured the ATP Finals five times.With the 40-year-old Federer out of the U.S. Open after knee surgery, and with Nadal, 35, also pulling out with a foot ailment, Djokovic’s chances for more records seem increasingly likely. Dominic Thiem, the defending Open champion, has also pulled out with a wrist injury.For all of the head-scratching moves Djokovic has made — such as holding a much-maligned exhibition tour in Belgrade in the middle of the pandemic, hitting a line judge in the throat with an anger-filled swipe during last year’s U.S. Open, upsetting the tennis establishment by trying to start the breakaway Professional Tennis Players Association and even denying his countrywoman Nina Stojanovic a possible bronze medal when he pulled out of the mixed doubles playoff at the Olympics — there is much to like about the guy.He is unfailingly polite, remembers people’s names, says please and thank you a lot, and almost always compliments an opponent’s play whether he wins or loses.Through his foundation, he and his wife, Jelena, have supported about 47,500 children in Serbia. This spring, he put up well over $1 million to host two ATP tournaments and one WTA tournament in Belgrade after other events in the world were canceled because of the pandemic and then ensured their success by being the headliner in both.Djokovic announced that he was playing in the Olympics in a video birthday message to a 6-year-old Japanese boy. He also noticed, during his Wimbledon final against Matteo Berrettini, a young girl sitting courtside and holding up a sign with encouraging words. After his victory, he trotted over and handed the girl his winning racket. In Tokyo, he stayed in the Olympic Village, something most other top players declined to do, and spent time giving fellow athletes tips for success.One of the people Djokovic has encouraged is the 20-year-old Serbian player Olga Danilovic. At the Australian Open in January, Danilovic made her way through qualifying and was locked in a first-round battle with Petra Martic. Suddenly she looked up and saw Djokovic watching her match. The support, she said, helped her upset Martic, the No. 16 seed.“People judge a book by its cover and in this case it’s really wrong,” said Danilovic, who cherishes a racket Djokovic gave her. “For me, he is one of the greatest persons in the world. He gives support when you need it and you can always see his fighting spirit.”As a child, Djokovic shunned math and science in favor of more creative subjects like geography and linguistics. (He speaks six languages.) But throughout his career, he has sought a competitive advantage by dabbling in everything from sports psychology and mysticism to quantum physics and electricity. He has been known to travel with an R.V. that he parks outside tennis stadiums and uses to decompress.“Novak is an exceedingly bright man,” said the performance psychologist Jim Loehr, who worked with Djokovic from 2012 to 2014. Djokovic has said his book “The Only Way to Win” is his favorite. “He loves abstract things and his brain likes to dig in for more detailed meanings. He has an inexhaustible curiosity about how the mind and body work together and never wants to leave a single stone unturned in his drive to succeed.”Djokovic arguing with a referee at the Italian Open in 2020.Pool photo by Clive BrunskillDjokovic has struggled to gain the adoration that has followed Federer and Nadal. He is known for smashing rackets and for screaming and cursing in the direction of his player box. In 2007, he angered Nadal by publicly imitating the Spaniard’s idiosyncrasies in a televised interview at the U.S. Open. The next year he was booed as he left the court after he criticized Andy Roddick for accusing him of taking excessive medical timeouts during matches.“I understand him when he’s yelling on the court,” said the Hall of Famer Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champion and one of Djokovic’s two coaches, alongside Marian Vajda. “We are from the Balkans so we are a little more emotional than the others.”Djokovic knows that it will be hard to win over the New York crowd, especially after the stadium was empty last year when he was disqualified for hitting the line judge.“One thing I’ve found is that people are not really comfortable with the constant change of me as a player and as a person,” Djokovic said. “But I’m actually proud of that because what is life if it’s not an evolution. We’re all trying to understand ourselves on a deeper level. As a professional tennis player, I’m left out there alone by myself on the court and I have to deal with all of my demons. So if I break a racket and I shout and I curse, don’t think that’s something that I intend to do prior to the match and that I’m proud of. Absolutely not. I’m actually ashamed of that. But I’m not afraid to say: ‘Look, I’m flawed. I made a mistake and I’ll probably make that mistake again.’“Some people would say, ‘You have so many years on the court, you’re wiser, you’re smarter, you’re more experienced, you should know how to behave and send the right message to the kids,’” he added. “And that’s correct. I 100 percent agree with that. But it’s not possible for me to always be like that and I can’t always put myself down for it.”To be Djokovic is to be the hard-to-decipher middle piece in a 1,000-piece puzzle. He is not the easy-to-locate corner or even a colorful edge. He craves love and adoration but makes them as difficult to secure as winning the Grand Slam. And maybe, as he goes for the most important title of his career, they are what he needs most.“I’m not good at convincing people to like me,” Djokovic said with a laugh. “Some people might argue I am trying very hard to be loved. I’m not. I’m just a human being that goes through various intensity levels of different emotions when I’m on the court. It’s all about the game face when I’m playing and about finding a way to win. But if you ask me whether I like to be in a hostile environment to play, I’ll tell you no, I don’t. I would like to be supported all times.”Perhaps winning the U.S. Open, and the Grand Slam, will alter people’s perceptions of Djokovic. If not, he will have to live with that.“I’m not going to try to convince people to like me,” he said just before saying good night. “I’m just going to always be my authentic self.” More

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      After a Year Without Fans, U.S. Open Will Welcome a Full House

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      No proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test will be required for fans to enter the grounds, and no masks will be required when they are outdoors.The U.S. Open welcomed almost 750,000 fans onto its grounds in 2019 during its two-week run, and comparable numbers are expected to attend this year.But two years ago, there was no coronavirus pandemic. Last year, the tournament was held without fans, and this year the United States Tennis Association will allow them back into what could be one of the most heavily attended mass gatherings in New York since the pandemic began in 2020.With the tournament set to begin in earnest on Monday, the U.S.T.A. issued protocols for fans and players on Tuesday, and the policies are far more relaxed than they were last year.No proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test will be required for fans to enter the grounds, and no masks will be required when they are outdoors. It is “recommended” that unvaccinated fans wear masks outdoors, according to guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Much of the event is held outdoors, and the two roofed stadiums — Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong — will be considered outdoors, too, even if the roofs are closed. That is because the stadiums’ ventilation systems are considered adequate, U.S.T.A. officials say.Brian Hainline, a physician and a member of the U.S.T.A.’s medical advisory board who is also the chief medical officer of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, said the protocols for fans and players had been developed with the approval and consultation of New York City health officials.“Sometimes we’re going above and beyond what New York City is recommending,” Dr. Hainline said, “but what we are never doing is less than what New York City public health authorities are recommending.”Players will be granted more freedom of movement than they were given last year, when many complained about isolation because they had been sequestered in a hotel in Long Island. All players will be tested upon arrival and then tested every four days after that. If they test positive, they will have to withdraw from the tournament, regardless of what stage the event is in, according to Stacey Allaster, the tournament director.The player would also have to go into isolation for 10 days at his or her hotel or accommodation.The main draw begins on Monday, but the qualifying rounds started Tuesday, without fans. Traditionally, the qualifying event attracts many local tennis enthusiasts, who can attend for free. That is not the case this year, because with so many players on site at once, extra space was needed on the grounds to accommodate them without crushing everyone into the same locker rooms.But once the main event begins, it will almost be business as usual, with maskless fans roaming the grounds and sitting next to one another, much as it has been with New York City’s two baseball teams, the Mets and the Yankees.Dr. Hainline said that some of the strategy behind the relatively relaxed protocols had been derived from monitoring the situations at the two baseball stadiums, which opened to full capacities in June.Fans without proof of vaccinations will be required to wear masks while eating or shopping indoors and must take food outside to eat.Dr. Hainline added that even though masks would not be required for unvaccinated fans outdoors, he encouraged those who have not been vaccinated to wear them while at the tournament. But he also knows that not all will and that not all transmission of the virus can be avoided at a huge event like the U.S. Open.“The goal is not to prevent a single infection,” he said. “The goal is to prevent an outbreak and an uptick, and New York City has remained very steady. And we will continue to monitor and will continue to follow the advice of our health authorities.”Players who are not vaccinated are encouraged to wear masks everywhere when not practicing or competing. If they come into close contact with someone who has the coronavirus, they will be required to go into quarantine. Vaccinated players may not have to go into quarantine after such contact, depending on recommendations from tournament physicians. That means an unvaccinated player who hasn’t tested positive, but who has been in close contact with someone who has, may have to withdraw from the tournament.The U.S.T.A. said it was still gathering data on how many players had been vaccinated, but Dr. Hainline indicated that number was well below the 85 percent rate he said that N.C.A.A. student-athletes in all sports had achieved. Last week, Stefanos Tsitsipas, the third-ranked player on the men’s tour, said he had not been vaccinated and did not see a reason for people his age (he is 23) to be.Dr. Hainline, clearly trying to be diplomatic, dismissed Tsitsipas’s reasoning and pointed out that the Delta variant that is spreading across the globe is affecting younger people more than earlier forms of the virus did.“I appreciate what he is saying,” Dr. Hainline said of Tsitsipas, “but it is not based on the most informed information we have. It’s not based on the evidence that we have.”This year, players will be put up in two hotels in Midtown Manhattan, as opposed to a more isolated hotel on Long Island, where most were lodged last year. Allaster said tournament organizers had heard “loud and clear” from the players that the isolation — not only during last year’s event, but throughout 2020 — was difficult to bear. So the protocols allow for some flexibility away from the event grounds. Players can book tables at restaurants, attend theater events and mingle with the public at large. Allaster said New York’s vaccination rates and the advice of public health officials had given the U.S.T.A. confidence that the tournament protocols would be sufficient. But visitors from all over the world, not just New York, regularly attend the U.S. Open.“Each of us, every day, is living with the virus,” she said. “It is therefore our collective responsibilities on how we do it, with the protocols put in place.” More

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      Serena Williams Pulls Out of the U.S. Open

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      The 23-time Grand Slam champion has not played on tour since an injured right hamstring forced her out of her first-round match at Wimbledon.Serena Williams withdrew from the U.S. Open on Wednesday, pulling out of the major tournament and extending her latest break from the game that she once dominated.“After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” Williams wrote on Instagram. “New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play — I’ll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone on from afar. Thank you for your continued support and love. I’ll see you soon.”Williams, who is ranked 22nd on the WTA Tour at age 39, has not played on tour since retiring in the first set of her first-round match at Wimbledon on June 29 because of an injured right hamstring. Williams was in tears as she shook the hand of her opponent, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and she stumbled as she exited Centre Court, receiving assistance to reach the clubhouse.She skipped last week’s Western and Southern Open in the Cincinnati suburbs to allow herself more time to recover, and said in a statement that she planned “to be back on the court very soon.”But she could not recover in time to play at the U.S. Open, where she has won six singles titles, including her first Grand Slam singles title in 1999 as a teenager. The tournament begins Aug. 30 in New York.She last missed the U.S. Open in 2017 during her break from the sport because of the birth of her daughter, Olympia. She returned to the tour in March 2018 and until now had participated in every Grand Slam tournament since her comeback.She lost the 2018 U.S. Open final to Naomi Osaka of Japan and the 2019 U.S. Open final to Bianca Andreescu of Canada. Last year, when the tournament was held without spectators because of the pandemic, she fell in the semifinals to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in three sets.Williams’s announcement leaves the U.S. Open without three of the sport’s biggest stars. Roger Federer, 40, and Rafael Nadal, 35, have withdrawn and ended their 2021 seasons because of injuries. This is the first time since 1997 — nearly a quarter century ago — that the U.S. Open will be played without at least one of the three.Williams, like Federer and Nadal, is one of the greatest champions in tennis history. She has often overpowered the opposition with her intimidating serve and returns. But her chances of winning a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title appear increasingly slim. She will turn 40 next month, and her ranking has slipped out of the top 20.Her only tournament title in the last four and a half years came in a lower-tier event in Auckland, New Zealand, in January 2020.Her future in the game remains unclear. She returned to the tour after childbirth with the goal of winning more major singles titles and surpassing Margaret Court’s longstanding record of 24. Williams last won a Grand Slam title in January 2017 at the Australian Open, defeating her sister, Venus Williams. More

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      Rafael Nadal Pulls Out of U.S. Open and Will Miss Rest of 2021

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      The four-time U.S. Open champion said he was withdrawing because of a chronic problem with his left foot.Rafael Nadal announced on Friday that he was withdrawing from this year’s U.S. Open and would miss the rest of the 2021 season because of the chronic left-foot condition that has troubled him intermittently since his teens.“I have been suffering too much with my foot for the last year now,” Nadal said in a video posted on social media.Nadal, 35 and a four-time U.S. Open champion, most recently won the singles title in New York in 2019. He defeated Daniil Medvedev in a five-set classic and then unusually broke down in tears courtside in his chair as he watched a commemorative video honoring his career.But Nadal chose not to defend his title last year when the U.S. Open was played without spectators and with significant health restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.This year, after losing in the semifinals of the French Open to Novak Djokovic, Nadal did not play at Wimbledon or the Olympics as he tried to resolve his foot problem. He returned to action in Washington this month, but his movement was clearly still affected by the injury as he defeated Jack Sock in his opening match and then lost to Lloyd Harris in the next round. Nadal traveled to Toronto but withdrew from the Masters 1000 event there and returned home to Spain to weigh his options.“I needed to talk with my family, with my team and with my doctors especially to understand what is going on,” the fourth-ranked Nadal said on Friday. “But the foot is not the proper way today and during the last year I was not able to practice and prepare myself the way I need to to be competitive at the standard I want to be. So we had to take that decision, but I am confident that I will recover myself 100 percent and I will be able to fight again for the most important things.”Nadal’s left-foot condition first hampered him on tour during the 2004 season when he was 17 years old, forcing him to miss much of the clay court season. That delayed his debut at the French Open to 2005, when he won the first of his record 13 singles titles at Roland Garros.But Nadal’s foot began troubling him again in October 2005 at the Madrid Open. He has explained that doctors determined it was a congenital problem: a deformation of a small bone in his foot. He was also told that he might not play professional tennis again. But at 19, Nadal found a way to reduce the stress on the bone with custom-made insoles and returned to action in 2006, winning five titles including the French Open.“The injury is nothing new,” Nadal said on Friday. “It’s the same injury I am having since 2005. In that moment, the doctors were very negative about my future career, but honestly I was able to have a career that I never dreamed about, so I am confident I will recover again and if the foot is better I am content my tennis and mentality will be there again soon. You can be sure I am going to fight every single day to make that happen.”Nadal’s withdrawal means that for the second straight year, he and Federer will miss the U.S. Open. Federer, 40, announced last week that he would miss the rest of the 2021 season and would need a fourth knee surgery. Dominic Thiem, who won the U.S. Open last year, has a right wrist injury and is also out for the remainder of the season.The longtime rivals Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have each won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, sharing the men’s record. But Djokovic will chase his 21st alone in New York if he is able to recover from the shoulder injury that caused him to withdraw from the bronze medal mixed doubles match at the Olympics in Tokyo.Djokovic will also be trying to complete the first Grand Slam in men’s singles since Rod Laver managed it in 1969. Djokovic has won the first three legs of the Grand Slam this year: the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. More