Indian Wells proves tennis is very much alive

INDIAN WELLS — Google the cover of the May 1994 Sports Illustrated with the headline “Is Tennis Dying?” and you get the response, no good matches.

Which is a kick (if not a kick serve) and certainly incorrect. How about Federer-Nadal at Wimbledon? Or any match involving Serena Williams, especially that U.S. Open final against sister Venus.

Indeed, the Google reference was to items that in content were similar or connected to that cover, which showed a tennis ball shaped like a question mark, which some 30 years later is available from Amazon for 4.50. 

Tennis never has been more alive, in part because of the great players. In part, because the promoters, the U.S. Open in the late summer, the BNP Paribas Open now underway as always at Indian Wells just down the road from Palm Springs, understand both the sport and the sporting public.

Tennis no longer is just a game, it’s a part, a moveable feast — literally with the restaurants on the grounds. 

You wonder how many people in the record crowds here have picked up a racquet--probably a great many, he says answering his own question — but unquestionably they have picked up the vibe.

Tennis is constructed on personality, names and fame. All sports are, of course, but tennis — and golf — lack a home team. Thus it better not lack individual stars, new kids on the block as it were, as the recent greats put on years as they pick up trophies.

Indian Wells Tennis Garden — yes, a pretentious label but we’re hardly in the borough of subtlety — was built on a hunk of desert, Larry Ellison’s gift to the pastime as much as to himself.

It was 80 degrees Sunday at Indian Wells, perfect for America’s top-ranked women’s player. Jessica Pegula defeated Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 and the almost-birthday girl, she turns 19 on Monday, CoCo Gauff, won over Linda Noskova, 6-4, 6-3

No surprises there, but an apparent surprise in the men’s when qualifier Cristian Garin of Chile shocked third-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 7-6 (2) at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday for his first win over a top-five player in nearly two years.

Garin, ranked No. 97, had 39 winners while Ruud, ranked No. 4, managed just 15 winners against 29 unforced errors in a match that lasted 1 hour, 59 minutes.

“Casper is one of the players that I really admire,” Garin said. “I’m so happy to be playing like that, being aggressive, going to the net. That’s the way that I like to play and the only way that I have to beat these kinds of players.”

Just the other day Ruud, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, said he watches golf on television and regrets he is unable to enter a pro-am like the Pebble Beach AT&T because he is preoccupied with tennis. At least until now.

Serena packs the place and keeps on going

in ,

Those commercials on ESPN, the ones that advise how sports bring enjoyment to our lives? They couldn't be more perfectly timed.

Yes, this has to do with Serena Williams.

She will be 41 in a few days. She’s a mother of one.

And on Friday she will be playing Ajla Tomljanović of Australia in the third round of a U.S. Open tennis tournament where some wondered if she could get past the first.

None of Serena’s opponents reminded us of Martina Navratilova or Chris Evert, but who cared? In the second round Wednesday, Williams upended the No. 2 seed, a tearful Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, 7-6 (4). 2-6, 6-2.

Of the 27,000 crammed into Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, roughly 26,535 were screaming and hooting for Serena.

True, that’s unfair to Kontaveit, who despite having played the women’s tour for a decade (she’s 26) nobody but the tennis mavens know.

In a sport built as much on longevity as success, and where familiarity brings respect and endorsements, Williams has lasted. And triumphed over tough times, as well as those across the net.

Along with record ratings, that’s good enough for me. The pre-event hype has been overdone, if anything in Manhattan can be overdone. If you can make it there, go the lyrics, you’ll make it anywhere.

Serena Williams made it anywhere and everywhere. She followed older sister Venus, now 44 — and with whom she is teamed in doubles — from the mean streets of Compton, Calif., to make history.

The word retirement is not allowed in Serena’s presence. She’s not retiring from what will be her last Open and perhaps forever. She’s “evolving,” but however you want it labeled, she’s leaving.

Tennis will miss her. And judging from the promos, ESPN will miss her.  

The network built its campaign around Serena — and in the media, it wasn’t alone. One day, the New York Times’ digital section had three Williams stories, posted one after another.

Serena herself has remained as subdued and humble as is possible for a generational athlete. “It’s me, the same Serena,” she told the fans after her second-round win.

Not that we expected anyone else. At least until she retires, or, evolves.

“There’s still a little battle left in me,” she said. That battle is the essence of Serena Williams. When failing in other matches. Mary Jo Fernandez, a former player now commenting for ESPN, said Williams had the ability to serve herself out of trouble.

When Fernandez asked after the Kontaveit match, “Are you surprising yourself with your level of play?” Serena responded, “I’m just Serena, you know.
“

We do know. As Tiger Woods, Williams was capable of coming up with the right shot when it was needed. 

This Open, baseball is nearing the playoffs and college football is starting. Serena has been needed fo jack up interest and fill seats.

Some optimists, after the first two rounds, also picked her to win.

For certain, she can’t lose. Nor can tennis.

Thoughts on Serena and the changes in sport

in , ,

The changes in life are magnified in sport, where someone new inevitably moves in while the one we knew and recognized — if not idolized — departs.

Maybe, as in the case of Serena Williams, making us consider our own impermanence as much as hers.

Wasn’t it only yesterday that Serena was the kid straight out of Compton, the younger of two wildly talented sisters? Now, with a kid of her own and well aware her best days as a tennis player are in the past, she has made a decision that may be any sporting heroine’s most difficult.

To say goodbye to the game that has been so much a part of her existence.

At least she made it herself. As opposed to Jed Lowrie. His career as a major league ballplayer may not have been as spectacular as Serena’s in tennis, but it was long, 11 years, and solid, particularly in various seasons with the Oakland Athletics.

Apropos of nothing but pertinent to so much, on Thursday the A’s designated Lowrie for assignment, in effect telling him he no longer could do what was required — less than a week since Serena, in an article for Vogue, told us the same thing about herself.

At 40 and after months recovering from a hamstring injury, Williams sensed she never would get another Grand Slam, much less any other victory. She spoke of a light at the end of the tunnel. What could be called the greatest career in women’s tennis will come to a halt at the upcoming U.S. Open.

Lowrie’s career surely already is at the end, although someone might pick him up as an emergency backup. Lowrie was hitting .180 in 50 games this season.

“It’s just the nature of the game,” said Lowrie, a consummate professional. “I kind of figured it was coming. So yeah, it wasn’t based on some conversations I’ve had. So yeah, it wasn’t a surprise.”

Is anything a surprise anymore?

The last couple of months seem to have been particularly depressing with the deaths of two icons, Bill Russell and Vin Scully, and now the retirement of another, Serena Williams. So much so quickly.

We are the victims and the beneficiaries of the modern world, of television and the internet. We saw Russell make history, heard Scully describe it. These people were not merely champions or announcers, they became family.

As the years pass, all we can do is appreciate the chance to realize what we had — and to hope there might be another Serena (or Bill Russell or Vin Scully) in the future.

Someday, there won’t be another Serena

in ,

Another great one is all but finished. If this isn’t the end of Serena Williams’ career, you can see it from here.

That brings us to the observation by Red Smith about the memories and possibilities that endear us to sport. “I told myself not to worry,” Smith wrote in his last column ever. “Someday, there would be another Joe DiMaggio.”

There would not, but there would be a Willie Mays and a Hank Aaron and a Roberto Clemente. Different from the great DiMaggio, but also the same, superb athletes who made their mark.

That we identify with the present, especially when our games and our stars are almost inescapable on television, is normal. But sport has a past and certainly a future.

There won’t be another Serena, whose serve and fire made her appealing and occasionally appalling, uninhibited and — in the biggest matches — unrelenting.

In many minds and hearts, she’s irreplaceable.

The uniform is our link in team sports. Laundry, if you will. Giants fans abhorred Reggie Smith when he was with the Dodgers. Their opinions changed when he joined the Giants. 

In tennis and golf, your guys and ladies are always yours — even when they step away, intentionally or not.

Depending on how you define the word, by years or by notable individuals, this has been a spectacular era for tennis. Pete Sampras, Andy Murray and the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, and Novak Djokovic in the men’s game, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport and then Venus and Serena Williams for the women.

Now almost without warning, except for the presence of Djokovic, the era has closed. Some are long gone. Others are falling victim to time and injury.

Serena withdrew from the coming U.S. Open because of a sore hamstring. After Nadal withdrew because of a bad foot. After Federer withdrew because of knee surgery.

Federer just turned 40, Serena will be 40 in September. There is another generation moving in, while the previous one moves on — sport emulating life itself.

We’ve heard it, and we’ve lived it: Youth will be served, although none of those young women possesses the explosive serve of Serena Williams.

She built her success, the 23 Grand Slams. She built her fan base. When she was on court, Serena was on a cloud. Her fans seemed to plead more than cheer. “Come on Serena,” they would whine.

Now she’s going, not coming. There’s no announcement of termination, and none should be expected. Tennis players always believe there will be another game, another set.

“After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the U.S. Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” Serena wrote on Instagram.

When you’re a few weeks from your 40th birthday, bodies rarely heal completely or even incompletely. As the years grow, so do the ailments. “Your body’s like a bar of soap — it just keeps wearing down,” said the ballplayer Dick Allen.

DiMaggio, his legs aching, retired from baseball after the 1951 season, aware he couldn’t perform to the high standards he had established and knowing a kid named Mickey Mantle would take over centerfield for the Yankees.

But who takes over Centre Court at Wimbledon in place of Serena? Or Center Court at Flushing Meadows? Other players will fill the openings, but they won’t fill the bill.

Red Smith knew full well there wouldn’t be another DiMaggio. We know there won’t be another Serena. You can say we were lucky to have the one we did.

Federer, Serena both upset; was it age or opponent?

in ,

Time often is the athlete’s friend. The longer a game or a match or a tournament goes on, the better the chances of the favorite. Yet, as the years go by, time, the pal, the benefactor, becomes the enemy.

As surely it was Tuesday for the best tennis players of their time — arguably of all time — Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

In Geneva in his homeland, Switzerland — where he never loses — Federer was beaten 6-4. 4-6. 6-4 by Pablo Andujar of Spain.

You could say that Federer missed much of the 2020 season after two knee surgeries. You could say that Federer had not played since losing in Doha in March. You could say that the match was on clay, Federer’s least favorite surface.

You also could say that Federer is 39, which happens to be the same age as Serena, who in Parma, Italy, was stunned, 7-5 (4), 6-2, by somebody named Katarina Sinakova.

Williams was in the Emilia-Romagna Open as a wild-card invitee, after losing her opening match in the Italian Open in Rome. Along with Federer, she is preparing for the French Open (or if you prefer, Roland Garros), which starts May 30.

There are upsets, if rarely in the early rounds, and there are indications. Federer, with his record 20 Slams, and Serena, with her near-record 23, are not the players they once were and never will be again. It’s one thing to lose to Stan Wawrinka or Andy Murray. It’s another to lose to Pablo Andujar, ranked 78th (Federer is 8th).

Maybe Serena and Roger will accept their declining play without regret — Chris Evert said in her mind there was nothing wrong with being third in the world after Ranking No. 1 — but can we?

Does their popularity linger, or do the fans and the media, out of obligation, seek other choices?

Change is inevitable in sport, in life. Age brings injury — Federer was able to stay healthy for so long, but for him, as with others, pounding shots, catching flights, the body wears down.

You’re the king or the queen, but there’s always some new kid hovering over your shoulder.

Once, when things were tough, when losing seemed probable, Serena would power one of those monster serves or Federer could come up with a beautiful passing shot.

That’s why they were great. That’s why the people on the other side of the net ended up in awe and in defeat.

After beating Federer, Andujar, a 35-year-old from Spain, was as much in disbelief as in elation. “It’s amazing,” said Andujar. ”I still cannot believe it.”

A year or three ago, none of us would have believed it. But this is now, 2021, and Roger Federer is battling himself as much as his opponents.

He understands what he’s up against. The confidence ebbs as the years multiply, not that Roger and Serena would make that admission.

“It’s good to be back on the court,” Federer said candidly, “but then you lost a match like this, and you’re down. It never feels great. I was looking forward to playing here. No doubt about it. But this is a press conference where I have to explain why and how it all happened.”

That’s the price that champions pay. And no question, it’s much harder to explain why you lose than how you won — especially after all those wins, more than 100.

Serena had the same problem, telling us what was wrong, particularly since what was wrong may be as simple and unescapable as getting older.

Until now, she only got better.

Osaka gets better, Serena gets older

in ,

The tears told us more than Serena Willams’ words. She had been asked after what we might consider a momentous, if unsurprising defeat, whether this was it. 

Whether the way she touched her heart as she strode sadly across the surface of Rod Laver Arena was a sign that, half a year from her 40th birthday, it was time to retire — from the Australian Open, if not tennis.

Her response in oh-so-many words was classic Serena, a blend of defiance and acceptance. This lady did not become the best women’s tennis player ever — and who cares if Margaret Court has one more Grand Slam victory than Williams? — because she gave in easily. 

The hope was that Williams, two nights ago, would defeat Naomi Osaka and advance to the Aussie Open finals. It was a false hope. Osaka is 23. She keeps getting better (yes, in that chaotic win over Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open, Osaka was just 21).

Serena keeps getting older.

We’re all victims of Father Time. That’s sports. That’s life, really, but we notice it more in the athletes. One day you’re the new kid. In the blink of an eye you’re a veteran, looking over your shoulder or across the net.

Serena losing to someone 16 years her junior is no sin. Nor is it any fun, no matter how much you’ve accomplished. Athletes are taught never to quit, never to concede. A Tom Brady may keep going, but he is rare.

Venus Williams kept getting knocked out in the opening rounds of Slams, until a victory in the first round of this Australian Open. Some would choose a less tortuous path. 

Who knows about Serena? She’s a wife and a mother. She’s also a competitor.

The tennis player who decides immediately following a loss, no matter how unexpected or enervating, is rare. Nobody wants that stinging defeat to be the final line in their resume.

 A day before the Osaka-Williams match, the sports talk show conversations were consistent. On ESPN’s “Pardon The Interruption,” both Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser said they were pulling for Serena but expected Osaka to win.

Williams lacked her primary weapon, the devastating serve. Our bodies change. Our styles change. Maybe the serve will be there another day. Most likely it will. This was the day she needed it, and she didn’t have it.

The years and the tournaments go past. Serena’s last Grand Slam triumph was the 2017 Australian. Four years and a lifetime ago, Osaka was a kid. Now she’s a champion.

As is Serena. She has the 23 Slams. The question was, could she add one more? You know the answer.

"Today was not the ideal outcome or performance, but it happens," Williams wrote in her post after the match.

Athletes have a tendency to think the results will get better, especially when for years they were better.

"I am so honored to be able to play in front of you all,” she posted. “Your support, your cheers, I only wish I could have done better for you today. I am forever in debt and grateful to each and every single one of you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I adore you."

What she doesn’t love is the negative questions from the media, which doesn’t make her any different from the rest.

"I don't know if I’d ever tell when I’m going to retire,” she said with some agitation. Then she walked away, and left the press conference, insisting, "I'm done.”

At least for now.

Wimbledon loses out to the coronavirus

in ,

By Art Spander

Another announcement. Another disappointment. No Wimbledon. No tennis on the lawns of the All-England Club.

No kidding.

The coronavirus was the winner this year, in straight sets. John McEnroe would have shouted, “You can’t be serious.” Oh, but we are. Sadly.

Ask anyone hunkered down, waiting, hoping, unsure of what will happen next — in sports, in life — worrying about a protein molecule that has hospitals overflowing and our world a mess.

No Wimbledon. No Final Four. Probably no U.S. Open or Masters. Maybe no British Open. The NBA perhaps running into August, if it restarts — and suddenly the optimism of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was talking about mid-May, has been dimmed.

Major League baseball perhaps running into Decemeber. If it starts at all.

Hard to complain about what’s not happening in sport when you read and hear what is happening in society.

In normal times, the predictions would be about Roger Federer’s chance for another title. Now they’re about how many people will fall victim to the coronavirus.

Our patterns have been altered, our template shattered.

George Vecsey, the retired New York Times sports columnist, had a book, “A Year in the Sun,” a title that, if not literally accurate, described our sports writing culture. From event to event, across the calendar.

So many places, so many games, and so few that through tradition and location stand out — the Rose Bowl, the Super Bowl, the Masters and, because it’s very name is so instantly recognizable, Wimbledon.

“Devastated,” was Federer’s one-word tweet, when the 2020 tournament, as the British say, was abandoned. His sentiment is understood. For more than a decade, Wimbledon was Roger’s tournament. He won it eight times and believed he could add another.

However, Federer is growing older. At the next Wimbledon, 2021, he’ll be a month from his 40th birthday. His time is ebbing away. The same for Serena Williams, who has won the tournament seven times. She’ll be 40 in September 2021.

So unfortunate for Roger. For Serena. For the kid who didn’t get to play in the NCAA tournament. For all the athletes whose careers have been affected by something beyond their control, beyond our control.

How barren the sports landscape. No basketball, baseball, soccer, golf. Now, nothing.

Two months ago, they held the Super Bowl, which was followed by the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which was followed by the Genesis L.A. Open. Spring training was underway, just like always. We were loving it.

Then what didn’t come to a halt became a sad apology.

"It is with great regret that the Main Board of the All-England Club (AELTC) and the Committee of Management of The Championships have today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic," Wimbledon said on Wednesday, in a statement on its website.

"Uppermost in our mind has been the health and safety of all of those who come together to make Wimbledon happen — the public in the UK and visitors from around the world, our players, guests, members, staff, volunteers, partners, contractors, and local residents — as well as our broader responsibility to society's efforts to tackle this global challenge to our way of life."

There had been talk about holding the tournament without spectators, as there have been suggestions that NBA games end English Premier League games and baseball games be held without fans, in empty stadiums or arenas. But why?

The people who watch, who cheer, who queue for seats at Wimbledon, who wait to give high fives to Steph Curry as he leaves the court, are as much a part of a sport as those who play. Think Rafael Nadal would scramble up the seats after a win at Wimbledon if there were nobody waiting to hug him?

The virus won this time, in straight sets. Wimbledon never had a chance. It was unfair. But as have been reminded of late, so is life.

Serena puts herself in position — and in the U.S. Open final again

in ,

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

NEW YORK — She did it impressively and quickly, with surprising grace as well as unsurprising power. Serena Williams moved around the court like she owned it (why not, it’s in her homeland?) and Thursday night moved into the finals of the U.S. Open championship. Again.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019, The Maven

Roger and Serena win in the daylight

in ,

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

NEW YORK — It was a day to get up early in the city that never sleeps. Roger and Serena went from late night to daylight, tough for the TV ratings but great for the fans who on a Friday when the temperature reached 86 degrees were at the U.S. Open.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019, The Maven

The Open: Noise, traffic and terrific tennis

in ,

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

NEW YORK — Yes, if you can make it here, you’ll make it anywhere. It’s New York, where the heat isn’t bad this year — only in the mid-70s Tuesday — the traffic heading to Billie Jean King Center is terrible and the tennis is terrific.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019 The Maven

Newsday (N.Y.): Halep wins Wimbledon, stops Williams' bid for 24th Slam

in ,

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — Simona Halep needed less than an hour to stun Serena Williams — and maybe the entire tennis world — while winning the Wimbledon women’s final, 6-2, 6-2, Saturday on Centre Court.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2019 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Wins for tennis's Big Three and farewell to Andy and Serena

in ,

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

WIMBLEDON, England — It’s their tournament, isn’t it? I mean, they do call it the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships. So if a Brit who isn’t even entered in the singles gets the same attention as Roger, Novak and Rafa — please, you don’t need last names — then fine.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019 The Maven 

Newsday (N.Y.): Serena Williams beats Julia Goerges, reaches fourth round at Wimbledon

in ,

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

WIMBLEDON, England — Serena Williams scored a quick, tidy third-round victory Saturday, leaving plenty of time in her post-match interview to discuss playing mixed doubles with Andy Murray — seemingly all that Britain cares about — and the stunning success of 15-year-old American Cori “Coco” Gauff.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2019 Newsday. All rights reserved. 

Serena rallies — and now it’s mixed doubles with Andy

in ,

By Art Spander
For Maven Sports

WIMBLEDON, England — The defending champion, Angelique Kerber, had been beaten an hour earlier. And now Serena Williams was getting pummeled in the first set of her match by an 18-year-old qualifier. You wondered if this Wimbledon, having already lost Naomi Osaka and Venus Williams, was about to go off the rails.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019 The Maven