How to Keep Calm and Enjoy Venus' Return (Suggestions Welcome)

While I was preparing for my summer vacation to Denver, some major news popped out of the tennis world. THEE Venus Williams was actually going to play a tournament! This was not another false alarm. THEE Venus Ebony Starr Williams was coming out to play some tennis! As longtime readers to this blog know, the reason I even tennis at all is because of Venus. And now she's back! Just in time for the U.S. Open swing! I was holding out hope that Venus hadn't just quit tennis without so much as an announcement. It kinda felt like something she would do, but on the other hand, Venus was a flag bearer for American tennis, and for black athletes in tennis. 

She and Serena Williams opened the door and a floodgate continues to this day. But even before Serena could join Venus on those big stages, it was just the big sister, out there by herself, in a sport no one felt she belonged. No one felt she should have confidence and when she showed that confidence, she was questioned. She became a target. So it's always hard to be the first. Now? Tennis players thank themselves when they win tournaments. I see that kind of squaring up of the shoulders, and I think of Venus. It's only in the last few years that she's dropped the stoic attitude on court and has opted for showing joy when she wins. She didn't get to do that her whole career because she was the first one. Venus got screwed out of a point at Wimbledon -- just straight-up robbed -- and no one did anything about it. Think that would happen to Coco Gauff now? 

So, anyway, fans deserve a chance for a goodbye from Venus. So imagine my surprise to learn that she was coming back to say hello! Just in time for the U.S. Open swing! The tournament where she first made her mark as a major threat to the top tier of tennis. Even though she didn't win that tournament, it put her on the map. So it's perfect timing, you see, to make a return --

Oh, um. It would also be a perfect timing for an announcem --

Whoa. 

Uh, so my vacation was fun! We went to Colorado, which is just beautiful. The first thing we saw when we got out there were these weird little squirrel-looking things that are actually called prairie dogs. 

See? Adorbs.

There's also an Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, where we passed through on the way to Pike's Peak. Venus won three gold medals, by the way. She won her gold medal in 2000 in the middle of a 35-match winning streak, I believe? Wow, that was really in the year 2000. What a career. 

Anyway!

So I opted to drive up Pike's Peak, which is not a choice for the weak of stomach. 

When we arrived, I got talked into upgrading my sedan rental car to this boat called the Chevy Traverse. This seemed like a pretty good deal until it was time to drive up a 14,000 foot-tall mountain. Obviously, we made it. But, like, there isn't even railing on a large chunk of this road and it's hard not to look to your right or left and see that we were up pretty high. But I realized that if I took my eye off the quite narrow road, my chances of success getting to the top were going to be pretty slim. 

Anyway.

The next day, we went to this place called the Red Rocks Amphitheater, which is a concert venue that's surrounded by these rocks and is an acoustical wonder. There's a visitor center that detailed the history of the amphitheater, including the grounds on which they were built. It's an eye-opening reminder that this place, and most of the state, was once Native American grounds and at the amphitheather, there's actually a map showing how a series of "land deals" left the original inhabitors on a plot of land the size of my thumbprint. The current inhabitants charge you $60 to drive up a mountain and buy some overpriced trinkets or drop $200 for a concert ticket. And we do it, knowing what it cost a whole race of people who were there to begin with. Capitalism, man. Hell of a drug.

Venus won her first match at the Washington D.C. tournament against Peyton Stearns. After, she said that she was back on tour because she needed to have health insurance. Capitalism, amirite? Maybe that's really the only reason she's back? If that's true, we might get another year, maybe two, maybe another Slam run. But maybe Venus Williams, winner of seven Slams, three Gold medals, with countless other titles, who leads active players with $42 MILLION dollars in prize money and god knows how much more in endorsements, could afford good insurance, or even to live somewhere where she wouldn't have to worry about it.

And if that's true, then ...

So, right. I was talking about vacation. The crazy part about watching her play this week was that she looked good out there. Even in doubles. She was playing with Hailey Baptiste, and honestly it was Baptiste who looked like she was selling (lingo from the kids). 

Still. Venus looked good out there, and happy. Just in time for that U.S. Open swing.

Wimbledon: The Numbers are a Target

The irony is that as a tennis player, the goal is to play, and win, as much as possible during the year so that when the big tournaments come up, like Wimbledon, you are seeded, and that in theory keeps you from playing the Jannik Sinners of the world in the first round. 

And then, when you get there, some player you scouted by watching them frame their way through a previous match takes you out in the first round on a surface you're pretty sure isn't even for tennis.

I'm talking about Daniil Medvedev, who had this to say about the guy who beat him in the first round of Wimbledon on Monday, thus starting a cascade of seeded players to tumble out of the draw at what has to be a record pace:

From The Athletic: "I was supposed to play him or (Quentin) Halys in Halle. I watched the match. He couldn't play two balls in a row in the court. I was surprised."

Who needs Sinner when you have ... whatever is in the water at Wimbledon right now?

Serena Williams was sort of mocked by everyone (OK, me) when she'd say that the women are playing their best against her. I'm starting to understand what she's saying. Right now, I'm watching Laura Siegemund on the precipice of taking a set off of Aryna Sabalenka. (She just did it.) Sinner himself was moments away from being out of Wimbledon if not for a freak injury sustained by Grigor Dimitrov. 

So the remaining question: Who takes advantage of the void left by the 22 seeds who went home after round one? The fact is that on both sides, the favorites are still there. Sinner is the biggest question mark as he is also coping with injury. But he and Carlos Alcaraz are still on a collision course. Sinner's got a harder path. Ben Shelton is playing some great tennis right now, but does he have the maturity to hold it together for a whole match against Sinner? I'm not 100% sold on that one, but even if Sinner gets through, he'll have Djokovic (probably) to contend with, which is basically like a final to get to a final. 

Although she is down a set, I find it hard to believe Sabalenka won't make it through this match. I think she could manage either Ana Pavlyuchenkova or Amanda Anisimova. The bottom half is ... interesting. The thing is that Iga Swiatek has been having a pretty good year, but has been faltering right around this stage. I really would pick the winner of the Belinda Bencic and Mirra Andreeva match to get to the final. 

And at this point, it's probably just wise to choose anyone without a seed by their name. 

REPOST: Scenes from Heathrow Airport

First of all, a somewhat shocking revelation to myself that Tennis With Attitude has been live for nearly *gulp* 20 years?! I mean, what?! 

Second, a realization that I have never reposted an old post. But this one is one of my favorites, and it's about the seeded players at Wimbledon having a rough time. Sounds familiar. Anyway, enjoy. I'm working on a post about this year's insanity.

Garbine Muguruza sulks through Heathrow Airport, head down. It feels as though everyone was staring at her. They're always staring. They stare at the airport. They stare at Wimbledon while she gets outgunned by some kid no one ever heard of. Why are they staring at her? Don't they have smartphones or something?
She approaches the desk. "I'd like the first flight out of here, please."
The kindly woman smiles and rolls her eyes. "Wouldn't we all?" she says, and chuckles.
Mugu looks back at her blankly.
"Oh, it's a Brexit thing -- you wouldn't understand," the airline ticket agent says. "Never mind. Well, anyway, the next flight out is booked."
"OK," Mugu says. "I normally don't like pulling this, but do you know who I am? I won the French Open last month."
"Oh, I do!" the woman says. "It's just that the flight is booked." She gestures with a little head tilt and Mugu looks behind her. An ocean of tennis players stare back. Everyone with the staring.
"Don't expect me to give up my flight out of here," Petra Kvitova says. She's sitting in a chair. Next to her, there's a tennis bag in the trash can. "I don't even know why I come to this place every year. It's always raining!"
"Probably because you win it," Genie Bouchard says. "Lemme ask you guys: Does Cibulkova play a full schedule or does she just go to Slams to screw with the seeded players?"
"Oh. Do not even get me started," Kvitova says. "I coulda told you when the draws came out that Makarova was gonna be a problem. But everyone's all like, "Upset, upset! Whatever."
"Boy, you women. Always whining, whining," Stan Wawrinka pipes in from the other set of seats.
"The heck are you doing here already?" says Mugu.
"I just think it's illegal to play on grass, and if you have to play on grass, then you can't be allowed to ace everywhere," Wawrinka answers, gesturing wildly with his hands. "It's outrageous. And all that crowing from del Potro about wrist injuries. Yeah, right!"
"Dude," says David Ferrer. "Seriously?" Everyone mumbles agreement and Wawrinka begins absently reading his tattoo.
Muguruza settles into the second row of chairs and they fall silent. For a second.
"You know what I don't get," Grigor Dmitrov says. "Every year, they play this tournament at the rainiest time of the year, and are always surprised when we have delays. And instead of pushing it back, they just make us play more without rest. What do they expect? Don't the Americans have a saying about people doing the same thing and expecting different results?"
"They do," Ferrer says. "But are you referring to the organizers putting it on or the players who come?"
The ticket agent clears her throat. "Kvitova? Kvitova?"
"Yeah," she answers.
"Sorry, I need to put you on the next flight."
"What?" She shoots up from her chair.
The ticket agent shrugs. "We have another priority customer." The man in front of her turns around. It's Novak Djokovic.
The whole section of tennis players recoil.
"I don't want to talk about it!" he shouts.
The agent interrupts again. "I'm sorry -- I just heard that the flight has been delayed due to weather."
"Of course," Djokovic mutters. "Of course."

The Terrible Twos

Back in the day, like in the biblical day, terrible meant something a little different than it does now. It meant frightening. 

And if you're Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, you are probably quite frightened right now. 

Let's start with Sabalenka and her No. 2, Coco Gauff. Having dispatched French Open's reigning queen Iga Swiatek, it's fair to assume that she may have figured the title was hers. Hell, she had a harder draw too, for the best player in the world, especially compared to Gauff. The problem is that you still have to play the match. Full disclosure: I was out playing tennis and only caught the tail end of the match at first. I saw Sabalenka's comments first before seeing the rest of the match and I thought, "How awful can she have played with a scoreline like that??" Then I saw the match and I was really confused. I mean I know she's not going to forget about that easy volley she netted deep in the first set, but she did win that set, so ... But otherwise, they obviously played a competitive match. So, the comments. Why, though.

Fun fact: I just went to Google Sabalenka's draw and as I typed in her name, the first thing that autopopulated was 'sabalenka sore loser.' Yikeys. Which brings me to the second level to these comments. It is one thing to be hard on yourself in the aftermath of a hard-fought match, but then Sabalenka said that if Iga had played the Coco, Iga would have won. Which is ... like, why?!?? That is petty af and not even based on reality because Coco beat her easily on clay, like, last month. (OK, their head-to-head is a little lopsided on Swiatek's end but still.) Also, bro, how are you going to say out loud that your opponent was framing balls and they were staying in? That is basically saying she got lucky. 

One could argue that when you say things like that, it might be because you're scared. 

Speaking of frightening, I couldn't watch the whole men's match right away on Sunday but was following it online. Not gonna lie, I thought it was going to be a Sinner wipeout. Talk about scary? His form for this whole tournament was absolutely terrifying. He actually had me feeling sorry for Novak Djokovic, which is no easy task. In fact, it would be the first time I've ever felt sorry for him. 

Anyway, Carlos Alcaraz was down two sets before he decided to play some of the best tennis I've ever seen from him. My thing with Alcaraz has been that he has gotten into heavy moments in matches and just lost focus a bit. Even in the deeps of this match, I thought it would happen again. But match point was the perfect example of how he played the whole match. You're trying to win a match in a fifth-set tiebreak, right? So you go to the high-percentage shot, into midcourt, right? No, you scream a winner down the line, which was low-percentage, ballsy and confident! I love the showman Alcaraz, but sometimes I think he gets a bit too much into his options. That final showed that he is capable of locking in and staying there. 

As for Sinner, it was hard to see where he went wrong. It's not like he gave the match away, but he did look a little tired there at the end which is sort of unacceptable after a five-and-a-half-hour match. I kid. It's good to see Sinner get a bit of a scare in him. He probably doesn't feel that way, but

Thoughts from the French Open (From My Back Patio)

                Ah, the French Open. The Slam that requires American fans to wake up at the crack of dawn just to see their comrades duke it out. Uh, I chose sleep, so I have no idea yet who won the Coco Gauff/Madison Keys matchup but if I had to guess, I’d say Gauff in a quick two sets. 

                  Right now, Mirra Andreeva and Lois Boisson are putting on a show out here. The teen Andreeva has traditionally managed stress pretty well in her young career but not today! It’s hard to imagine what it must be like to be used to being the belle of the ball and then going into a match where the crowd is actively rooting against you. A couple minutes ago, she smacked a ball way out of the court and got a ball abuse warning. (Such a stupid penalty. Especially when half the time, hitting an actual person yields almost no response. Coming up later.) 

A quick word about Boisson. Unfortunately, all anyone knew about her before was that another tennis player said she smelled, which did not happen in middle school – this was still the pro tour, so. But I’m curious to know if her will to win is happening in Paris because she’s French, or if she is always so brave in the face of break points and in tight moments. Right now, she’s receiving for the match, and Andreeva appears to already be thinking about where to have dinner – in England. Oops, it’s over. Boisson is through to the semis. What in the world.  Boisson is saying now in post-match that she is tired. Bet she is – it’s crazy that running around her backhand is working for her, but she’s obviously in great shape. 

                  Anyway, couple rando thoughts before I go back to the tennis (I mean work!):

 

1.        What is with the Nike kits this Slam? They are giving Charlie Brown, well-known as the world’s biggest loser?? 

2.        OK, Lorenzo Musetti. He kicked a ball into the upper body of a linesperson yesterday. He got the same level of penalty that Andreeva just got for hitting an inanimate object out of the court. This is what I mean about umpire judgement making tennis rules impossible to consistently uphold. Novak Djokovic obviously didn’t mean to hit a ball at a linesperson’s throat, but he got defaulted. As well he should have, because if you can’t control your temper and it ends up hurting someone, the penalty should hit you where it hurts. Musetti says he obviously didn’t mean it and that was why he got to stay in the tournament and advance to the semifinals. In short, that is crazy. 

 

 

 

 

x

French Open 2025: "Such a hottie."

Hey, sorry I'm late. Just finished chain-smoking my way through the Naomi Osaka/Paula Badosa first round at the French Open. But it's OK -- it was those little cute French cigarettes in the movies. I also ate a whole baguette.    

There should be some type of rule when you're putting draws together. Like, if you have two great players who are trying to re-establish their foothold on the game, and they get paired for a first or second round match, you gotta start the draw over. There is no world where it's fair that these two had to play each other right away. They deserved better but that stadium of spectators got their money's worth. 

The tennis was exciting to watch, but as a mere mortal who plays tennis, it is actually a little encouraging to see pros do things that you have also done. I can imagine that Osaka is going to see that game point Badosa had at 3-4 in her sleep for a while. She had Badosa outmaneuvered and pushes the backhand up the line just wide?! It was a game of margins, it seemed, for both players, except that the ball seemed to always be just out for Osaka. It's hard to say what, if anything, she did wrong at the end -- Badosa turned up the defense and set herself up better for closing shots. 

Tough loss for Osaka, but she'll be back. And it'd be nice to see Badosa stay healthy for the whole tournament, especially because her little corner of the draw looks really good for her!

Anyway, I also ended up stress eating another baguette and crying into my strong French roast yesterday watching the Rafael Nadal ceremony. I mean, you knew it was going to be an emotional rollercoaster. But the French went all the hell out. Matching shirts for the crowd? Bringing out the rest of the Big 4 on video, then in person?! The footprint on the court FOREVER?! Look, he deserved it and if I had any qualms, I'd say a bootyprint instead. Such a hottie. 

Speaking of the Big 4, it is hard to look at them and realize that one of these people were not like the others. I am not a person who likes shooing people into retirement. But I am just saying that Novak Djokovic might take something more from yesterday's ceremony. Like considering the idea that he had to get his 100th title at an ATP 250 tournament and beating Hubert Hurkacz in the final. Like losing to Matteo Arnaldi in Madrid. I am just saying.

P.S.: Yo, how is Yanina Wickmayer still playing Slams!? I ask this realizing her opponent is Victoria Azarenka, who is literally the same age. 

TWA Podcast: Episode 4 (as in 4.0!)

I know you were just thinking, "Man, when're we getting a new podcast episode?" Beloved, your prayers have been answered!

I mentioned some things in the episode, including Iga Swiatek choosing a weird time to work on her swing during the Aussie Open semifinal: 

OMG, the hand up at the end of those shenanigans gets me every damn time. Girl.

The other thing I talked about was confidence and Debbie Millman. I've talked about it before on the blog, but just in case ya missed it, click here to get a definition of confidence and some fuel for all you late bloomers out there.

And Jannik Sinner. I'll get back to that one. All I know is that if Nick Kyrgios and I are even remotely close to being on the same side of an issue, it warrants further investigation. Like, that makes me think I could be wrong!

Lastly, and pop-culturally-speaking, I should have mentioned Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show. Not because I am a huge fan -- although I am new to the bandwagon and have some catching up to do -- but because of the record time my butt was off the couch when I saw Ms. Serena Williams dancing during "Not Like Us." Really, I was more like

Anyway, don't forget to listen to Episode 4!