Welcome to the Monday Tennis Briefing, Competitor will explain the story behind what happened in court last week.
This week marks the first week of the coveted Madrid Masters 1000, where the stories on the court are matched by the drama off the court as the Grand Slams and tennis tours continue their beauty contest for the future of the sport.
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Are the “guarantees” for the safety of Saudi Arabian players enough?
Daria Kasatkina, the highest-ranked openly gay player in women’s tennis, was asked on Sunday how she felt about the WTA’s choice to hold its tour finals in Saudi Arabia for the next three years. In Saudi Arabia, homosexuality is a crime and punishable by law.
Only the top eight players qualify for the Tour Finals. Kasatkina is currently ranked 11th in the world.
“Look, if I advance, it means I’m in the top eight in the world,” Kasatkina said after advancing to the last 16 in Madrid. “That’s good news to me.”
Kasatkina has been one of the most prominent figures in Saudi Arabia’s incursion into the sport (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Then she took a deep breath. “We see that the Saudis are very passionate about the sport now. They want to grow the sport as long as it provides opportunities for the people there, the kids and the women, you know, we see the sport, especially tennis , it’s actually so close that they can watch it, they can be a part of it, which I think is great.
Asked what she thought the environment was like for gay gamers and those in same-sex relationships with her, and whether she had received assurances that she would be able to share a room with her partner, Kasatkina again fell into deep thought. I’ll be fine,” she said.
Does it matter whether Aryna Sabalenka wants to watch men’s tennis?
Sabalenka caused quite a stir last week when she told a Spanish media outlet that she didn’t watch much women’s tennis and preferred the men’s game, saying it was more interesting. It’s not the kind of buzz the women’s tour hopes to get from its top players.
Sabalenka clarified those comments after winning her first match in Madrid, explaining that sitting back and watching her opponents is not how she likes to spend her free time.
“I played against all of them and I just wanted to shake things up because I watched a lot of women’s tennis before going to the match, I watched my opponents, I watched a lot of women’s tennis,” she said. “It’s not that I don’t like it or that I’m trying to offend what I’m doing. What I’m saying is, because I played there, it was too much for me, so I wanted to watch men’s tennis. This More fun than watching my future opponents in tournaments.
A perfectly understandable explanation. Playing and watching tennis is the job of the world’s top athletes, both men and women. Baseball players don’t watch much baseball in their free time.
(Full disclosure, the same goes for tennis writers.)
It’s a sensitive topic on the tour, not least because not long ago French Open tournament director and former world number one Amelie Mauresmo described men’s tennis as more attractive, to justify her decision to let men dominate the event’s nightly feature.
It’s unrealistic to expect female tennis players to be the sport’s sole defenders (Martin Cape/AFP via Getty Images)
Women have enough problems with men disparaging their sport. Fairly or unfairly — probably the latter — it forces them to be extra careful when talking about their favorite version of the sport. When Daniil Medvedev or any other male player admits to not watching their matches, no one is going to attack them unless they are competing.
deeper
Listening to women: The slow rise of female tennis coaches
Will arm injury really help Carlos Alcaraz?
Nothing worries the tennis world more than the health and well-being of Carlos Alcaraz. His magical play and energetic style appealed to tennis fans and other sports consuming public. He is one of those players who appears infrequently but rises above the game, giving tennis a chance to break through the morass.
He was also frequently injured and missed some mid-sized tournaments early in his career, which cost him the opportunity to play in major events – with the 2022 ATP Tour Finals and 2023 Australian Open at the top of the list.
deeper
Carlos Alcaraz creates another miracle. careful.
So it was a bit of a shock when Alcaraz withdrew from Monte Carlo and Barcelona this month with a forearm injury. It was hair-trigger form in Madrid until his final training session the day before the first game, when he played with his sleeves on. His near-flawless 6-2, 6-1 victory over Kazakhstan’s Andriy Shevchenko eased many of those concerns, but it also showed another side of Alcaraz, who says he never uses a cannon forehand to protect himself. ball.
“I’m hitting the ball lighter than before, but it helps me stay relaxed,” he said. “I think too much.”
The data (below) shows that Alcaraz’s shots were weaker (a 3 mph difference may not seem like much, but over 78 feet, it’s significant) and “poor quality,” but he still won.
There’s no way anyone would criticize the 20-year-old two-time major champion’s performance, but if Alcaraz has a weakness, it’s that he sometimes tends to shoot rather than score – especially under pressure – And putting together highlight reels rather than simply winning by playing solid, mediocre tennis. If there’s a silver lining to this latest injury, it might be that it forces Alcaraz to be a more restrained but more efficient player while still having plenty of bright spots to play for.
Give you two bagels of cocoa, you go cocoa!
Coco Gauff has done a lot of impressive things in her tennis career, but the so-called “double bagel” isn’t usually her cup of tea. She has come close before, most recently against a faltering Ons Jabeur at last year’s WTA Finals. However, for Gauff, there are usually times in every match when a forehand is shaky or a serve slips.
Next up is Madrid, who will face Dutch player Arancha Rose in the first round. Goff got her first double bagel after 51 minutes, 51-18. In her second match, against Dayana Yastremska, Goff sprinted to a 4-0 lead and looked like she might score three in a row, but ended up 6-4 Ended with a score of 6-1. Breadsticks are also great fuel.
Goff finished the game with ease (Oscar Del Pozo/AFP via Getty Images)
Goff is a great athlete and can play all night if she needs to, but every player likes to stay as calm as possible. If Goff can figure out how to do that, especially in the early rounds of the game, other players better watch out.
Is a Billie Jean Gold Cup and Davis Cup crossover a good idea?
Billie Jean King, a legend of the sport, has long wanted to host a “World Cup of Tennis” — and now she’s done it… sort of.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced this week that it will adjust the schedule and format of the annual event, interleaving the BJK Cup with the men’s Davis Cup for one week. The second semi-finals and finals will be played between the women’s competition and the Davis Cup in late November this year. The first two days of the men’s tournament were held overlapping.
The Women’s Championship also follows the Women’s Championship’s knockout structure, replacing the round-robin final with a direct penalty shootout between eight of the last twelve teams. The four seeded nations – as things stand, the Czech Republic and Australia, as well as 2023 champions and runners-up Canada and Italy – will have direct byes into the quarterfinals.
Rooney and Navone take control of Madrid
If Medvedev’s fate rests on his strings, Holgruen’s may lack a weave.
In his unnecessary up-and-down victory over Argentinian rookie Mariano Navone, the judges ruled the score 5-3 in his favor (even though minutes earlier, the score had been 5-1).
“The tournament tried to trick me,” he said. “They missed a string on my racket.” He then pushed the camera away before complaining again. It looks more like a crossed rope being woven incorrectly rather than the entire thread being missing.
In the second set, Rooney fell behind 5-6, 15-30 on Navoney’s serve and was on the verge of exiting the game, but Navoney tightened up and made two double faults and a backhand error, barely falling. Tramline gave up the game tiebreaker. Rooney soared with this ball and scored 5-1 in the next six games. However, the racket incident completely destabilized him. He finally needed five match points before winning 6-1 in the last service game. 4 wins, swings like a pendulum.
Maybe to win over Navone.
Shot of the week (shooting)
Alexander Bublik will do whatever Alexander Bublik wants to do, whenever he wants. Roberto Carballes Baena is not a fan.
What Carballes Baena 🇪🇸 did here was let them give him a nice sanction that kept him out of the game for a long period of time.
He got upset that Bublik was acting stupid (as he always does) and then tried to hit him with his serve twice in a row.
Shameful is an understatement pic.twitter.com/B7VAFtMekW
— Miguel_cmm (@Miguelcmm1) April 28, 2024
Recommended reading:
📅Coming soon
🎾 Adenosine triphosphate:
📍Madrid, Mutua Madrid Open (1000) Week 2, ft. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; US: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV
🎾 Women’s Tennis Association:
📍Madrid, Mutua Madrid Open (1000) Week 2, ft. Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; US: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV
As the tour continues, let us know in the comments what you noticed this week.
(Top Photo: Clive Brunskill/Julian Finney/Getty Images)
