Remembering Halep’s Sportsmanship

Simona Halep hasn’t played Serena Williams in this US Open yet, but before she does, I think it’s worth remembering her only win against Serena and the sportsmanship she showed.

Simona beat Serena in the round robin segment of the year-end championships in 2014.  That victory secured a place for Halep in the semifinals, with a chance to win the tournament.  However, Halep still had one more round robin match to play.

Had Simona lost her next round robin match, the loss would have eliminated Serena from the semifinals.  That circumstance would have removed Serena as a potential obstacle for Halep in Halep’s quest for the title.  A player at Halep’s level can easily lose a match without making it look like a deliberate loss.  She can, for example claim injury and retire.

But Simona didn’t play strategy.  She won her final round robin match, put Serena into the semis, then lost to Serena on the final weekend.  Simona’s good sportsmanship could well have cost her the biggest title of her career.

At a time when players are suspected of all kinds of misconduct (drug use in particular), it’s nice to highlight behavior that upholds and reinforces

the integrity of the game.   Thanks, Simona, for reminding us that true professionals like you always want to win and always play hard.  Good luck in your next match with the great Serena Williams!!

More US Open Happenings

Significant events at the Open as the second week begins include:

The men:

Nadal goes down.  I never thought I’d feel sorry for Rafa Nadal, who has so brutally and mercilessly crushed so many players throughout his career, but his look of dejection when leaving the court after losing the Lucas Pouille was painful to see.  Nadal did not get as far as the quarters in any major this year.  Pouille played a great match, which ended after more than 4 hours, but Nadal made very uncharacteristic errors from everywhere on the court at key moments.  Tennis is a game of big points, and Nadal lost too many of them.  Nadal clearly has problems, but exactly what they are remains an enigma.

Murray dominates.  Andy Murray played just awesome tennis to defeat Grigor Dimitrov and move on.  Dimitrov has nothing to be embarrassed about, despite getting thrashed, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.  Murray was just too good, hitting serves even into the 140’s, not making errors, getting to every ball, and playing flawless tactical tennis.  Just an amazing performance from him.  Dimitrov had a good tournament and he should try to build on his success.

Unexpected success.  Unexpectedly, Gael Monfils and Juan Martin del Potro are still in the mix.  Monfils has had a fairly friendly draw, and that will continue, as he plays Lucas Pouille next.  Pouille has had a great tournament, but is coming off a grueling match against Nadal.  Many players lose matches following victories over Nadal, so the circumstances favor Monfils, who is clearly more serious about his tennis these days.  Del Potro got a retirement from Dominic Thiem (knee injury) so he is still in as well.  He faces Stan Wawrinka next.  Stan is a terrific player but his up-and-down play led me to discount him from the list of favorites.  At this point, though, he deserves a closer look.  If you like hard hitting don’t miss this next match!

Nishikori still in.  Kei Nishikori, a former finalist is also still in, but he faces the daunting task of beating Murray next.

The women.

Wozniaki gives Keys a tennis lesson.  Caroline Wozniaki used her incredible defensive skills, improved serve and forehand, and perceptive tactics to defeat Madison Keys.  A great performance from Caroline, who holds the title for most nicknames on the tour (Sunshine, Sweet Caroline, The Great Dane, the Wizard of Woz etc.).  Keys should review the film of this match closely in an effort to discern how her vulnerabilities were exposed by Caroline’s elegant play.  Wozniaki plays Anastija Sevastova next.  A terrific run Sevastova.  This could be an interesting match.  

Pliskova beats Venus.  Karolina Pliskova, a player I picked as an outside shot to win, beat Venus Williams, a player I tagged as someone to keep an eye on.  Pliskova got a break in more ways than one in this match when she broke serve on a let cord in the final set to send the match into a tiebreaker.  Plenty of thrills in this one!  Regardless of what happens next, Pliskova is showing a lot of mental fortitude in the past few weeks, the absence of which has hampered her in the past.  This was a tough win on a huge stage against a great player with all the fans against her.  Good job Karolina!

Ana “Konjuhs” up an improbable victory.  Ana Konjuh, an 18-year-old Latvian ranked 92 in the world has really announced herself in this tournament.  She took out Aggie Radwanska, a tough out on any surface, in straight sets.  She gets Pliskova next. 

Other results.  Angie Kerber helped Petra Kvitova lose by Petra’s usual method of making too many unforced errors and will play Roberta Vinci next.  Vinci seems to really love this tournament.  Despite her alleged physical problems, Serena Williams continues to win easily.  She beat Shvedova in straights and gets Halep next (Halep took out Suarez-Navarro).  That is the most interesting match of the quarters.

US Open Happenings

Significant events at the Open after completion of the early rounds include:

The men:

Novak gets a free ride.  Novak was handed two free rounds when Jiri Vesely gave him a walkover and Mikhail Youzhny retired from the next match.  Djokovic will be rested, but will have to produce better tennis than in his first round match in order to win the tournament.  Next up for him will be Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, who’s had a good tournament.  Gotta pick Novak in this one.

Dimitrov continues to win.  Grigor Dimitrov, a player I tagged to “keep and eye on”, is still in the tournament after taking a 5-setter from Jeremy Chardy and a 4- setter from Joao Sousa.  Is he finally getting his game together?  Next up for him will be Andy Murray, my pick to win it all.  Let’s see what Grigor can do though.

Thiem vs del Potro next.  Afer winning a fabulous match against Pablo Carreno Busta, in which he hit some frighteningly good backhands, Dominic Thiem will face Juan Martin del Potro, who bested a fading David Ferrer.  It’s so good to see del Potro playing well!  This is the best match on the docket.

Sock continues:  After a terrific win against Marin Cilic, Jack Sock will go up against J.W. Tsonga.  This should be a good one too.  Sock’s prodigious talents are showing in this tournament.

Nadal continues.  It’s hard to know what to expect from Rafa these days, but he’s still in, and will face Lucas Pouille next.  It will be interesting to see what happens if Nadal and Djokovic meet in the semis.

The women

Keys survives no-nos against Osaka.  In a previous post I listed as one of the no-nos: don’t fail to get your opponent’s second serves in play when you’re down a break.  Keys did just that in the second set against Naomi Osaka, who was serving for that set at 5-4, 30-30.  On the next two points Osaka missed her first serves, but Keys failed to get the second serves in play and lost the set.  In the third set, when down 5-1, Keys suddenly seemed to realize the importance of making your opponent play when in the lead, and she started getting into more rallies on Osaka’s serve.  In the end, she pulled it out in a third set tiebreaker.  What a dramatic match!  She next plays Caroline Wozniaki, one of the world’s best defenders.  If she wants to win that she’ll have to keep the errors down.

Pliskova vs. V. Williams.  I tagged Venus as a player to keep an eye on in this tournament, and she’s still in.  I tagged Karolina Pliskova as having an outside shot to win it all, and she’s in.  They play each other next.  Venus is a much better mover, but Pliskova hits even harder than Venus.  It should be interesting.

Konta continues.  I hadn’t flagged Konta as someone deserving of special attention prior to the start of the tournament, this despite her great year.  My reluctance was based on her tendency to not go all the way in tournaments just yet.  However, she’s still around, and is a very solid player both mentally with her game.  She next gets Sevastova, who’s making good on her victory over Muguruza.  I think Konta will win that too, and find herself oin the quarters of a major, where she will face either Keys or Wozniaki.

Battle of lefties.  A terrific match on the docket is Kerber vs Kvitova, the “special K’s”

of lefty tennis.  This could be a good one if Petra produces her best tennis.

Big match brewing.  Serena Williams has had a straightforward draw up until now, but if she gets past Yaroslava Shvedova next, which she should do, she could well face Simona Halep, whom I favor to beat Carla Suarez-Navarro.  Halep is playing great tennis and has beaten Serena on the big stage in the past.  This would be a big match for Serena, who seeks her 23d slam win.

Climate change and professional tennis

Climate change is not a sports issue in and of itself, but this year’s US Open results are being affected by this phenomenon. 

Climate change background. 

With the beginning of the industrial revolution, human activity began pouring green house gases, mainly carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.  The risk that these gases would warm the planet was recognized as far back as the 1890’s, and official reports of warming first appeared in the 1930’s.  With the advent of industrial farming and development of the chemical industry, methane and chlorofluorcarbons, both of which are far more efficient heat trappers than carbon dioxide, were spilled into the atmosphere in ever increasing amounts.  Methane comes mainly from industrial farming, and chlorofluorocarbons are synthesized for use as refrigerants and propellants in aerosol sprays.   As a consequence of green house gas emissions, the planet has been warming rapidly.  This year NASA reported that the rate of warming today is faster than at any time in the last 1000 years.  The bottom line here is that we have already done catastrophic damage to the global environment, and we are just beginning to feel effects that will further evolve over the next few decades.  Of course, green house gas emissions continue to increase.  The Paris climate change accords will lead to some abatement of this increase but will not be enough to forestall a global environmental crisis that is close upon us. 

Climate change and sports

Climate change has been affecting organized sports for quite a long time.  In 1982 the New York Marathon date was moved from October to November because of excessively warm weather in 1981.  In 1992, the WTA instituted a “Heat rule” that allowed a 10 minute rest period between the second and third sets of matches if the temperature exceeded 30 degrees centigrade.   In 2012 the New York Marathon was canceled because of the effects of Sandy, a late season hurricane that decimated the New York area with flooding.  Such extreme weather cannot be proved to be due to climate change, but there is ample reason to be suspicious. 

At this year’s US Open, several players have suffered significantly from the heat.  Garbine Muguruza nearly lost her first round match until she was rescued by ice towels around the neck.  David Goffin lost a final set to 122-ranked Jared Donaldson by 6-0, apparently because of “fatigue”.  Donaldson also suffered from cramps in the match.  Milos Raonic, one of the favorites, succumbed to severe cramping against Ryan Harrison and is out of the tournament.  Cramps in his right arm and legs lowered his serve speed to under 80 mph.  In some cases this year, matches have been more a test of players’ ability to tolerate heat and humidity than a test of tennis skills.  It is naïve to think that players who retire from the heat simply aren’t in good shape.  No two people have exactly the same physiology, and heat tolerance can be as much a function of chance as conditioning.

Whether or not the impact of heat and humidity on matches is acceptable to fans, there are some serious implications of this situation.  Exertion can lead to an inability to cope with rises in core body temperature.  If severe enough, heat stroke may occur, and this condition can be associated with end organ damage, including brain damage, or even death.  We don’t want to see players injured or killed by heat stroke, so this possibility should be considered carefully.  In the Citi Open earlier this year in Washington DC, the court temperature in the final was measured at 141 degrees Farenheit.   Nobody collapsed or died, but should that match have been played under those conditions?  Another concern is for the fans.  Players are young and generally healthy, but fans sitting in the stands may be older and affected by medical conditions that could compromise heat tolerance.  It would not be a good thing if a fan was overcome by heat and suffered severe injury or death. 

             The WTA heat rule demonstrates concern on the part of organized tennis that excessive heat can threaten the health of players.  In my opinion this concern should be heightened and extended to men’s matches.  I also think tournaments that are held in summertime should develop aggressive programs for alerting fans to the potential risks of heat related illness, and advising them on prevention and early treatment.

US Open Happenings

Here are some of the highlights from early round US Open play.

Djokovic wins, but…

            Novak beat Jersey Janowicz, the 6-8 Polish player who has a world of talent, but hasn’t won an important match in quite a long time.  But… - Djokovic did look very good.  He dropped a set, played poorly, and looked physically uncomfortable.  Djokovic got a free pass through the second round when Jiri Vesely, who beat him earlier this year on clay, withdrew.  Djokovic fans should watch him closely as things progress, because he didn’t play title tennis in the first round.

Bouchard loses, but…

            Eugenie Bouchard lost her first round match to 72- ranked Katerina Sinikova by 6-2 in the third set.  This may seem like a terrible loss, but… Bouchard fans should actually feel some encouragement from this one.  Not only did Siniakova play a very good match, but Bouchard played hard until the last point.  In some matches earlier this year Bouchard collapsed emotionally and simply hit balls out to get the match over with as quickly as possible.  Not as bad a loss here as it looks on paper.

Donaldson the giant killer

            Jared Donaldson, a 19-year-old American ranked 122, defeated David Goffin by 6-0 in the fourth set.  The diminutive Goffin has flirted with the top 10 in rankings during this year, apparently succumbed to heat-related fatigue.  Donaldson also began cramping late in the match but pulled through.

Harrison the giant killer. 

Ryan Harrison, playing the best tennis I’ve ever seen from him, took Milos Raonic out of the US Open in a huge upset.  The real winner in this match was the oppressive weather, which caused Raonic to cramp in his right arm and both thighs.  Late in the match, Raonic, who has one of the biggest serves in tennis, hit a serve at 78 mph!   Credit to Raonic for not retiring. 

Muguruza loses. 

After successfully dealing with severe heat and humidity in the first round, Garbine Muguruza lost a night match in the second round to Anastasija Sevastova, ranked 48.  Muguruza has a pattern of going away in matches, and that occurred here, where she gave up a first set lead, got down 4-0 in the second set, then got broken to lose 6-4 in the second.  It’s not clear what Muguruza’s career ambitions are, but if she wants to become a legendary player she will have to address this problem.  She will be missed not only for her great play, but for her post match press conferences.  She gave one of the most delightful conferences I’ve ever seen after the first round.

A spirited match

            In one of the better matches thus far on the women’s side, Caroline Wozniaki rebounded from a 0-4 start in the first set to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova.  Wozniaki, whose ranking has suffered from injury-related interruptions of play and from issues with confidence, did something that I’ve always felt she must do to break through in a slam: she flattened out her inside-out forehand and penetrated the court with it far better than in the past.  Historically she has used the forehand to keep rallies going with cross court topspin shots, and has ended points with her backhand.  Players got on to this pattern, timed that forehand, and began pummeling it to take over rallies.  Wozniaki is often maligned for not winning a major, but it’s worth keeping in mind that she finished at #1 in the world for two consecutive years, and that she is still only 26 years old.  She is also one of the four best defenders in women’s tennis, the other three being Radwanska, Halep and Kerber.  A good win here.