A truly American slam (so far) 🗽
Will it be a party in the USA come sunday?
US Open has been a strange cat for the last dozen years or so. Long gone are the days of Serena’s 3 in a row, and Federer’s 41-match streak. We haven’t known what to expect from the last major of the season, mainly because it’s the last one of the year. Players arrive in New York with the stress and fatigue of having played 2 Grand Slams in the past 3 months. Take this: US Open is the only major where Federer and Nadal never faced each other (we were one match away 6 times). Add Olympics to this year’s schedule — and you have undertrained stars (e.g. no crazy Djokovic-Alcaraz Cincinnati final this year) and early exits.
Alcaraz and Djokovic may have lost in the first week but women’s top seeds Swiatek (1) and Sabalenka (2) are going strong. Swiatek has her toughest test yet in the quarterfinals against Jessica Pegula (5). If Pegula wins, we will have 4 American singles semifinalists. That hasn’t happened since 2017 when it was an all-American women’s semifinals line-up (Stephens, Keys, Venus, Vandeweghe). The one before that was in 2003. Americans are feeling Arthur Ashe this year.
Super rich kids
When that photo of the US Olympic tennis team with Lebron James surfaced, the funniest reaction was this one: “Crying at Lebron being the third richest in this photo”.
Jessica Pegula, no. 5 in the world, and Emma Navarro, who will crack the top 10 after reaching US Open semi finals, both come from wealthy families. OK; billionaires.
I never met a billionaire’s child in my lifetime, but both of them have the opposite personality of what I would expect. They are calm on court, and they both have grinded their way up to the top by playing a lot of tennis - instead of depending on a big number of wild cards (Navarro’s father owns two big tournaments - Cincinnati & Charleston). Pegula played an outrageous total of 108 matches last season (doubles included) — madness. Navarro played her way up the ITF circuit in the past two seasons with a 95-42 match record.
When asked about their privilege, they are quick to acknowledge it. They also add some context, as Navarro did last night: “I did have access to resources as a kid but I don’t want that to take away from the fact that I worked really hard to be where I’m at. I put a ton of hours in and I started training twice a day and getting in the gym from the time I was 8-9 years old. It’s been a ton of hard work and dedication. Of course, having access to courts, coaches and other kids to hit with definitely helped me.”
It’s silly to assume money can buy you success, especially at this level. 2 billionaires in the top 8? What are the odds of that happening?
Yet, it’s important to point out that it’s not just coaches and courts that cost money; the equipment, travel and other personnel are big expense items. Raising tennis pros is mighty expensive. Can you imagine how much pros would spend just for their strings (without an equipment sponsor)?
I was at Istanbul Challenger (TED Open) yesterday watching Martin Landaluce, an 18-year-old who won the US Open juniors 2 years ago. He is Spain’s next hope after Alcaraz, with whom he trains from time to time. He trains at Rafa Nadal Academy, and his academy coach was there with him at the match. He sported a Redbull patch on his bandana (now I thought Redbull had a “top 50” rule for sponsorships?) The kid has an outstanding forehand and a calm head; but without the aforementioned elements, how different would it be for him? Landaluce’s opponent was 19-year-old world no. 748 Maxim Zhukov. Zhukov lost 6-4 in the deciding set. The Russian did not have a lot of holes in his game, but he had an actual hole on top of his left shoe. Can you put a price on the peace of mind of changing those shoes at will?
It’s financially very taxing to get into the top 250 (the Grand Slam qualifications zone). But after that, it must be “hard work times infinity”. Navarro and Pegula both put that hard work in. Navarro’s rich game and calm demeanor are delightful to watch. Let’s see how much of it she’ll be able to showcase against top favorite, Aryna Sabalenka.
Another win for the girls?
When Taylor Fritz beat Alexander Zverev at the 4th round of Wimbledon, his girlfriend Morgan Riddle put up a celebratory Instagram story that instantly went viral on tennis twitter. She was dancing as the caption read: “when ur man wins 4 the girls”. I don’t remember a more direct reference from the tennis world at the multiple domestic violence allegations made against Alexander Zverev. The first allegation was never brought in front of a judicial system; and in the second, the two parties ended up settling in court - as recent as three months ago.
At the post-match handshake, Zverev seemed to have a few words to say to Fritz (before Riddle’s stories were even up). When asked at his press conference what that was about, Zverev said he was upset with people in Fritz’s box who were not maybe from the tennis world. Riddle deleted the story before its 24 hour life was over, saying that they were not about anything that’s happened off the tennis court & there’s no bad blood between anyone.
I respect people who hate drama and want to stick to tennis; but when they were slated off to face each other again at the quarterfinals of the US Open, I was excited about the prospect of any passive-aggressive reaction from… anyone really. Remember the shirt Andy Murray’s wife wore after she was criticized by the British press for her language while watching her husband play? Now, that was entertainment.
None of that happened last night, as Fritz beat Zverev for the 2nd time in a row, a match where Zverev said his backhand was probably the worst he hit it since he turned pro. Riddle’s celebration was restrained in comparison and the post-match handshake much warmer.
Another type of popcorn tennis awaits us on Friday when Taylor Fritz will face long-time friend and NYC-favorite Frances Tiafoe in the semifinal. An American man is guaranteed to be in the US Open final. After 18 years, they will finally have that.
READY… PLAY.
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Wishing everybody a great US Open. You can find me on Twitter here.
— Gökalp