Rando Thoughts from Wimbledon

1. Watching Alexandra Eala beat Iga Swiatek in straight sets this morning. Between points, Eala walks around like a waitress getting off a 32-hour shift at Waffle House, and I respect it. 

2. Days after Serena Williams' first-round loss, folks are still debating the handshake Serena gave? Which was a perfectly fine handshake. But folks want to know why she didn't say something nice to Maya Joint after the match. And I am sorry, but, like what?? Joint played the whole match with her eyes the size of saucers. Which is fine. She was nervous. And she didn't play her best match. Serena also didn't play her best match. It was not a great match. Is that OK to say? It was sort of difficult to watch! Also, here is a thought experiment. Let's say you are a 20-year-old professional tennis player, and by some miracle, you are drawn into a match with one of the all-time greats of the game. This isn't disputed. So my question is: Wouldn't YOU say something after the match? Like, "*unintelligible*" or "Wow. I can't believe this just happened," or "You're awesome," or "OK, let's never do that again because my nerves are SHOT! Ha!" If you're unhappy with a perfectly normal handshake, why is the onus on Serena? 

3. After this match, Serena mentioned as an aside that she has hurt her knee and although Wimbledon did their level best to accommodate her (rumor has it, offering to postpone she and Venus' match to late September after the U.S. Open), she finally did have to withdraw today. It's a shame, because this was the wildcard I was most interested in. I have been of the opinion that Venus Williams has been on the cusp of winning a match this year and I wondered if she needed Serena there to make it happen. I am probably fantasizing at this point, but I'm staying on my cloud!

4. I think the only thing that could get me remotely interested in the men's draw is ... I mean, I don't know. I'm kind of curious about Felix Auger-Aliassime? Ooh, or Grigor Dimitrov. After last year? You have to root for this guy.

5. If Taylor Townsend and Katerina Sinaikova ever split up as a doubles team, I'll be inconsolable. The ribbon situation brings me an unreasonable amount of optimism that people can still work together towards a common goal without being complete jerks about it. 

6. The women's draw, however. We've got last year's finalists already out of it, along with Elena Rybakina, who has been really struggling to keep her bike on the path this year. The top half of the draw is insane: Naomi Osaka v. Aryna Sabalenka (who is also on the shaky bike team this year, and may need to keep the training wheels for a bit), Karolina Muchova v. Barbora Krejcikova (who is playing pretty well), Jessica Pegula v. Iva Jovic (a true toss-up, I think!) and Belinda Bencic v. Coco Gauff. 

7. Not quite Wimbledon, but there is a former champion who is not in the draw and might not be for several years if tennis' governing body has its way. Marketa Vondrousova has been suspended by the (get this) International Tennis Integrity Association for refusing a drug test. And I just can't anymore. This is insane. We got Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek FAILING drug tests and both get a finely curated "suspension" that somehow means neither has to miss a Slam. Like, these "suspensions" were clearly negotiated out! Four years for not taking one?! And truly, Vondrousova's explanation seems reasonable. And also? This idea that surprise testing playing a role in keeping the sport clean is a joke when you consider that there were two players who failed a test and the scales seemed to tip for them because of who they were. I will add that if I were Simona Halep, I would be a menace on the Internet every time something like this happened. An absolute menace. They'd have to ban me from the Twitter.

French Open '26: Hot Enough For Ya?

Well, I don't know about you amateurs, but the French Open has turned out exactly the way I expected it to -- the world 114 competing for the women's title while the guy who I guess can win a Slam only when the rest of the field has been decimated. So that's good, I guess! 

Look, I have thoughts, so let's just go:

is the title of this section. 

So some members of the black delegation on the pro tour got together at the beginning of the French Open for a private dinner, hosted by Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend. And of course nonblack folks had something to say, along the lines of this brilliant tweet:

Where to start. I'll start with why I went to a historically black college (Hampton, baby, the real HU!). It's not because diversity is a problem for me. It's that being a black person in a majority white world can be hard. Ask any person of color who has worked in corporate America. When I was coming up, there were all types of narratives about black people -- we go to prison, we don't have baby daddies, we're on crack cocaine, gangsta rap. Believe it or not, it's annoying to have that nonsense following you.

The people who tweet about being left out when they were never even on the invite list suffer from a lack of imagination, I fear. It seems they have never walked into a room and immediately understood there was no one there who looked like them, and that if they were going to stay in that room, they would simply have to deal with it. And they were going to stay. And so of course, they've never understood the relief you feel when finally you see others who look like you, partly because they stayed in the room. Still, though. You're in the room but not always part of it, and sometimes it's nice to hang out with your people, so you can finally just relax before it's back to the grind. 

And yet there seems to be this actual confusion about gatherings like this. It is due, I think, to this privilege on the part of those who have never really been left out, have always been centered. And so of course, why can't they come to the dinner? 

Mostly because no one invited you. Maybe get reservations at the Masters golf tournament. 

Mirra Andreeva Wins the French Open

It goes without saying that Mirra Andreeva is a special player and winning the French is likely just the beginning for her. The thing that struck me during the post-match celebration was the press conference with her coach, Conchita Martinez. I realized that it was the first time in all my time watching tennis, that a woman coach was being celebrated for a Slam win. 

When I was first getting into tennis, Martinez was just getting out, and she didn't look like anything great to my untrained eye. She wasn't flashy like the Williams sisters or the big hitters who began to occupy the top 10. But as I began to understand the game better, I saw her genius, how she moved the ball around, crafted a point. She took her skills and built a great career. One slam, yes, but 43 other titles, five Fed Cups, a regular in the top 10 for almost a decade. I mean.

I'm giving Andreeva (or the people around her) props for not just hiring some dude to coach her. And I hope more women step up to coach. Martina Hingis? Kim Clijsters (apparently coaching Katie Volynets, a name that has to have been manufactured, right?)? Steffi Graf? 

'Nuanced:' You Keep Using that Word. I Do Not Think You Know What it Means

All weekend, I saw Alexander Zverev's French Open run as one that is complex and nuanced. That's because it's divided the tennis community on whether it should be celebrated, but the cause for the divide isn't nuanced at all. 

Here is what I understand to be true. Zverev has been credibly accused of hitting two former girlfriends, to the point of leaving marks. The evidence of one of these rows can be seen on camera because it was during one of these tournaments. A reporter wrote about this and has faced more consequences somehow. The ATP looked at the case and ruled that they couldn't come to any conclusions. The mother of Zverev's child took him to court and before the trial could finish, he opted to settle and pay her.  So far, not complicated. 

Zverev also happened to be a really good tennis player and on Sunday, he won his first Slam. Lots of fans aren't happy about this because lots of signs point to him being an abuser who has never faced consequences, even though he's never been found guilty as the result of any investigation. This is fairly straightforward too. 

There's nothing nuanced here and the only reason it could even look that way is that we play in our own faces all the time now. We've (in the U.S.) got a president who says one thing and does another and winks. Some people see the evidence of the lie, and choose to focus on something else, like the economy. Oops, like immigration. Oops. Affordability. D'oh! The simplest conclusion is that 1+1=2, but some people are like, "What if it's actually three?" as if that makes them an abstract thinker who can think outside the box. Yo, sometimes the box is there for a reason.

It's simple to determine whether you think that Zverev is worthy of your support. You can see the evidence of his character. Some people see that evidence and decide that this is just a conversation about tennis, and he really deserved that Slam. He played well! He did. 

And I don't support him. This is super not nuanced.

Quick Hits

I turned on the mens double final over the weekend and was like, "OK, still with Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos? These guys have to be older than even me!" First of all, they're not, and second of all, these 40-year-old dudes just won the French Open again. Wild ...

It's crazy how some women's doubles teams seem to be in flux. Jelena Ostapenko is always playing with someone different. I thought Gabrielle Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe would play together forever, but they split up this year, too. Hsieh Su-wei is out there looking for a regular partner again. But it looks like  Townsend and Katerina Siniakova have figured out that if something works, let it cook, as the kids say. They dropped exactly one set during their run to the French Open title. 

Australian Open 2026: OK, Happy Slam. I See You.

         I will be the first to admit that I used to make fun of over-the-hill NFL quarterbacks who couldn’t call it quits, no matter how badly their skills were waning. 

        OK, I’m probably still going to make fun of them because for the most part, these dudes tend to bring a whole team down with them when they start to decline. That said, I understand them a little better now after watching Venus Williams battle in round 1 of the Australian Open. 

        I’ve said before that the older you get, the less likely you are to tell someone they need to retire, for obvious reasons. I’ve wondered why Venus is still doing this and I’m convinced it’s not just for the health benefits. It’s not likely to win another Slam (which would be difficult in this current climate anyway). It’s for the love of the game. It’s because you can still do it. Stephen King is 78 years old. Imagine telling him to stop what he’s doing because he's old and doesn’t have a shot at his former glory. Despite wondering why Venus is still doing this, last night, it was obvious to the stadium and her opponent Olga Danilović that she is willing to show up and do the job. So I’m done cracking wise about age and just going to sit back and watch this extraordinary athlete steer her career wherever she wants it to go, and doing that well. 

        (But. Losing a 4-0 lead in the final set is brutal. Hang in there, girl.)

                  

The Happy Slam Gets Happier!

        Every time tennis tries to do something to draw in the masses, I give tremendous side-eye. But this year’s run-up to the Australian Open included a 1-Point Slam, and legends matches that involved Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Pat Rafter and Ash Barty! This is what I’m talking about! I am talking about exhibitions that combine pros with amateur players and events that take full advantage of what tennis already has. That, notably is not the same as changing the rules to make the game more palatable. Or taking an actual Slam event and turning it into an exhibition. 

        Also, uh, got a chance to check in one of the sports legends that we don’t talk about enough (except on this corner of the Internet): 

 

        Is that ... is that Marat Safin!

        Oh, it is. And I thought he couldn’t get hotter. Long hair!?!!!? (#swoon)

TWA Podcast Episode 5: I Need a Pep Talk

Listen to the latest episode of the Tennis With Attitude podcast. As promised in the episode, here's some of the worst things I did during sectionals this fall:

     

U.S. Open 2025: Pure Chaos, Per Usual

Full disclosure: I wasn't going to post about the U.S. Open until the weekend. I'm trying to finish this project and wanted to prioritize it, so I thought I would chill on the seed report, predictions and early observations. But why did the U.S. Open have to go ham, like, right out the chute? Let's start with ...

Messy Medvedev

Look, I know Daniil Medvedev does it for the drama, and by "it" that's anything. That is his bag. But Sunday night was another level. Honestly, I had turned my head for one second, listening from the other room for the start of the match point that Benjamin Bonzi had against Medvedev and all of a sudden, I heard booing and screaming. I came back in and literally had no idea what I was witnessing. Medvedev hyping the crowd, the crowd going insane, the umpire going "please" and this guy with a huge camera and a wry smile on his face. Yeah, buddy, it was you. You started it. 

I say this every year -- New York fans at night are a dangerous crew. Not only are they drunk, but most of them came in with no advance knowledge of how tennis works anyway. Of course Bonzi should have gotten a first serve. I don't even get what Medvedev was going on about, but questioning the umpire's manliness and intentionally riling the crowd?

That's not even the worst of what he did. The other problem is that Medvedev had an opponent who was standing there trying to serve so he could win his match. Tennis is supposed to be played at the server's pace, but Medvedev kept inciting the chaos so they couldn't even play. And it didn't even change the call? AND the call to give him a first serve was 100 percent the right call!

Another thing I thought would happen Sunday night was that I would go to bed at a decent hour, but after that mess? I absolutely stayed up to watch Medvedev lose. Rest assured, had he won, I would have turned off the TV at match point. But truly, another low from Medvedev. Maybe his lowest. I was rooting for the umpire to not shake his hand. Livid, I was. Over tennis. Again. Help.

After the match, Medvedev snuck on his angel's wings and claimed ignorance, that he did nothing wrong in the moment, that he was just a little upset with the first-serve decision. You know whose perspective I'd like on that one is his wife, who left when he started beating up his racquet after his loss. 

SIDEBAR: And by the way, when we try to accommodate non-fans of tennis, this is what we get. I'm not just talking about the half of the dunderhead crowd that got mad when the umpire did his job. The mixed doubles. I mean what are we doing. What we're doing is accommodating the people who know who Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu are, but not who Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac are. And instead of educating new fans (because that Siniakova/Machac story is something else), what do the tennis powers that be do? They rush the mixed draw and make it more like an exhibition instead of a legit part of the tournament -- and leaving doubles specialists high and dry so we can watch Jack Draper and Jess Pegula fart around on center court. Why do we always abandon what tennis is for the people who don't appreciate it? Tennis is the only sport willing to change its core identity for the sake of a few dollars and extra street cred. Anyone who mentions baseball: Look, that is a boring-ass sport to watch and they needed to do something about it. Tennis is not that. Sigh. End SIDEBAR.

It's a Game of Inches, But My God Clara Tauson

That's basically the whole point. In case you didn't catch this insane drama during the Tauson/Alexandra Eala match:

OK, so. I know there's money on the line here. So I can almost forgive Tauson wanting a closer look at this call to see if Eala made contact with the ball past the net into Tauson's court because you can't do that. This image shows that it's right there. OK. Move on, right. No! Shockingly, Tauson turned this into a five-minute debate with the umpire which in retrospect mainly served the purpose of throwing her own self off her game. Porque? To what end? 

Probably the part of this interaction that made me cackle was when Eala just walked up like she was in the office: "Excuse me, what is the score?" I hollered. 

Anyway, Tauson's young. Hopefully this was an expensive lesson learned.

Avoiding Chaos: Venus Williams

I have to acknowledge that I was a little afraid of watching the night match last night between Venus Williams and Karolina Muchova. First of all, I anticipated a shellacking and I hate to see the queen getting beat up like that. Second, as mentioned, I was convinced to the point of hyperventilating that she was going to retire at this tournament. 

I'm pleased to report that neither happened. I gotta say, Venus looked better last night than she has in a minute. No one has seen her on court a lot, but I mean the way she was getting hang time on some of those ground strokes? Vintage, baby. Let's goooooo!

She was defending her second serve better than she has in a while, too. Yes, it's still a meatball, which I do not understand given her height and power, but she placed it better and although Muchova was able to take some of them for a ride, Venus stayed in it. 

I really thought we were looking at an upset after she won the second set. But one thing you wouldn't have known from that crowd was how well Muchova was playing. She was hitting that serve in the corner pocket every time. She played smarter and cleaner tennis. And it's also a little eerie how much she looks like a young Chris Evert. That's not weird to anyone else?

Anyway. Obviously, we are on the tail end of an illustrious career and I really am going to try to settle down and just enjoy it. 

The Hall of Fame Has Me LOLing

Last thing, I promise. Look, I'm not going to link to the post I wrote after I read about Maria Sharapova's drug suspension because that would open up the line of inquiry as to whether someone who has had a drug suspension should be in the Hall of Fame to begin with. Given today's climate, it would be a cold and empty place. But anyway. 

Sharapova was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame over the weekend before the start of the Open, and Serena Williams came out to introduce her. Look, if Serena can get over their non-rivalry being called a rivalry, I guess I should too. But still, I had to crack up when I saw this. She came out there like

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!

2025 Australian Open: Busted Draws, Drama-Queen Djokovic and the Svitolinas Make Money Moves

I'm writing this as Elina Svitolina just came back from 4-1 down in the first set against Veronika Kudermetova. It's the day after (here in the States) that Gael Monfils beat TayLOR FRITZ to advance to tHE FOURTH ROUND of the Australian Open?!?? I'd said for years that Monfils has the game to win a major. Full disclosure: The last year I said that was probably, like, 2018. 

But I keep forgetting that this is the first Slam of the year, and I had told myself I was going to stop doing draws for this one, because it is always quite a surprise how it actually plays out. At least it's a surprise to me. Behold, these busted draws:

That red is bad. (Like it is on an election map in the U.S. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Also, you can see it's rare that I'm right and I hated to be right about Ons Jabeur losing to Emma Navarro. But a Navarro/Daria Kasatkina fourth round feels like a great time to multi-task. I'm sure I can finish doing all the laundry in my house. Also, painting my garage. Might even be able to throw in a bathroom redesign. Both of them.

Last thing, I swear: Why is Novak Djokovic such a drama queen. (That punctuation is correct. I do not expect an answer.) I just read this story about Djokovic basically hissy-fitting his way to an apology from an Australian tennis commentator who either made a bad joke or voiced a bad take. But because he called Djokovic overrated, my guy boycotted the network's post-match interview after his fourth-round win. Left poor Jim Courier hanging. Because a rando tennis commentator said a thing that wasn't terribly funny or made much sense. I assume the man was joking because no one would call Djokovic overrated. He is the major Slams record holder. He is the last of the Big Three standing, and currently being coached by the Fourth. He is not going to lose to Reilly Opelka in this tournament. And he needs the affirmations of this rando guy? Whatever happened to the days when commentators' ridiculous takes were met with a healthy public scoffing and ... that was it? 

(Even if this guy was serious, I've heard John McEnroe say far dumber things and people love him!) (But hey, when you think about who's about to be the president of the United States, that dynamic makes sense!)

I have said this before and I'ma have to say it again, I guess. Djokovic cares waaaaayyyyy too much about what people think about him. I don't know if he feels like the little sister when it comes to Roger and Rafa, but speaking of, those guys didn't seem to hunt down bad press about themselves and get butthurt over silly comments. I think it's because they let their games and their reputations speak for themselves. I don't want to say that he should do the same thing because he's gonna have his hands full in this draw from here on. 

2025 Australian Open: Who Needs an Offseason?

NOTE: Edited to add, well, words!

Before we go any further, I just want to say Madison Keys. She looks amazing right now and she's looked pretty good in the warmups. We gotta keep her encased in bubble wrap between matches. 

For the guys, I've never been a fan of Reilly Opelka but he better work that Brisbane magic. 

Men's Draw

I didn't see too many first-round matches that got me excited, but now that play has started, big props to Kei Nishikori. I've been rooting for him since back in the day and his career has been waylaid by injury. And also Thiago Montiero, it seemed for a second. Nishikori was down match point against an opponent who is kind of like Jelena Ostapenko -- lots of firepower, shots that make your mouth drop open, followed by errors that simply didn't need to be made. Heck of a treat for round one, that's for sure. 

And, yes, I picked Opelka against Djokovic. Now, I've watched too many true-crime documentaries to ever let Opelka into my car, but I do think he can beat Djokovic again -- that wasn't a fluke. But it's not just Opelka's game -- Djokovic does look a step slower. Did he ever, like, recover from his knee surgery?

Women's Draw

Now. Here are some good first-round matches. Note the starred matches. Minnen v. Aiava was a good one. I feel for Victoria Azarenka. Like, when did Lucia Bronzetti learn to serve like that? Did I miss something? Probably yes, but dang! I expect Emma Raducanu and Ekaterina Alexandrova to be another good one. I watched Laura Siegemund v. Hailey Baptiste, expecting exactly what I got -- the battle of the inconsistents. It was entertaining, as those matches tend to be. But yikeys. And Osaka/Garcia just finished about five minutes ago in my corner of the world. I think Osaka is right there, man. Right on the edge of another breakthrough. She's missing consistency and might need more match play for that. But she is riiiiight therrrrre.

And of course, if the seeds hold up, I am planning on putting everyone and everything on mute to watch Keys v. Danielle Collins. Keys just looks effortless right now. The power and accuracy is just flowing off the racquet. Danielle is just sheer willpower, so that should be fun!

League Watch: Just a Number

Sometimes you think you’re ready for something. Then you get it. 

I’ve been trying to get my USTA rating bumped to 4.0 for a couple of years now. Last year, I won almost all my singles matches, but didn’t do so great in doubles. Still, I was sure I was about to get the bump. I didn’t and so I came into this season with a chip on my shoulder and a promise: You want to keep me at 3.5? I’m going to make everyone sorry about it. And I did, mowing down (almost) all takers at that level. I’m still a little mad about one match and I will get my vengeance, in this life or the next. (I quote "Gladiator" a lot on this blog.)

But then that got boring. And someone told me that in addition to killing it at 3.5, I should also play 4.0. So I did that, too, and the matches got more challenging, but I was holding my own. I don’t want to brag (but why not?), but I even had a winning record in 4.0 play this year: 12-3. Notably, in singles, that record is 3-3.

I was feeling pretty good about myself and my play. And then fall season came. I was playing in all kinds of combo leagues at differing skill levels and I think it messed me up. I had one partner I would always win with, but everything else was a shot in the dark. I found myself overcompensating for partners, trying to play safely so I could win. Why? So I could be a 4.0. Except who the hell wins at 4.0 like that? Not me. So the last few months have been a doozy.  

Part of it could be playing too much and I did play in 10 leagues this year, which is probably a little too much in retrospect. The other problem I noticed was that I was not as dominant in singles as I had been. Yes, better players, but I was starting to wonder if I was getting Too Old for This. I’ve always been a slow starter, especially in singles, but in all my matches, I was just playing terribly. There were 2 or 3 matches where I had to chuckle at myself for having taken the match to tiebreaks, because I was stinking it up. Which meant I was maybe doing something right? But not very right, because the results.  

The last league match of the year for me was for a league I had joined with the intention of playing doubles with one of my favorite partners. The reality is that both of us ended mostly on singles duty, so there I was at first singles feeling like ... well, not first. Or even second. I realized shortly after arriving that I was playing against my old team. I realized that when I went up to speak to a few of them and they acted like I had the plague. (Guys, life is too short for that nonsense.) 

Anyway, then I realized my opponent was someone I had gone the distance against the previous year. Mostly what I remember about that match is that I was on my period and not in the best mood. I snapped at her for a line call for waiting a half-second too late, a call that was totally fine, and I had to tell her the next time I saw her why, and apologize. We had a good laugh. But I knew that this was going to be a pain in the ass, especially with my confidence in the basement as it was. 

We got started. Well, she got started. I just stood around watching winners whiz past me. It was nice. Good breeze. The crazy part was that I didn’t feel as if I was playing badly – she was hitting a clean ball and playing smart. Even with that, I held game points and couldn’t convert them.  

You know what I said about a slow start. 0-6 is a pretty slow start. All I could do was dig in my heels and keep going. But in the back of my head? Yeah, I was thinking I was too old for this maybe. I was able to win the first game of the second set and get on the board. But every game was a struggle and it felt like every positive step I took was erased by an error or a great shot from my opponent. In the middle of the set, I began to (sort of emptily) repeat my mantra to myself: “Inhale confidence. Exhale execution.” Which got me thinking about a conversation I’d just had with my boyfriend about confidence and what it really means. Debbie Millman has a definition that just stuck with me. I reminded myself of it on the baseline: Confidence is the successful repetition of an endeavor, a task. (You should listen to this whole interview if you’re a late bloomer in anything. It’s just *chef’s kiss.*) I told myself: You’ve won points before. You’ve won games before. You’ve won matches before. You have earned confidence. 

Sometimes my self-talk game can be counterproductive, but something happened when I reminded myself that I knew how to play tennis. I began hitting my spots on the court. I began serving better. I bricked my volleys, which wasn’t a surprise, but after I did, I reset myself and kept going. I ran almost everything down, keeping points alive until my opponent missed. I realized that there was this one thing I could do that would always pull an error out of her, and I did it until I was serving at 5-3. Then I coughed up four errors quickly, and then we were at 5-all! Sigh. One second, I was killing it. The next, I was shooting myself in the foot and bleeding out on court. The problem, I think, was that it had been a minute since I had felt confident of my ability to close a match out. So I was getting to the precipice and then just standing there.  

Bizarrely, I won the set tiebreak pretty fast. But now, there was a 10-point tiebreak for the match. And again, I built a lead. And again, I watched it disappear mostly due to bad decisions or straight-up errors. Then, at 9-all, I double-faulted. Which, my goodness. I stood at the line to now face a match point and I was angry and nervous and pissed and then my second serve landed in the box, and then I just played. I thought a lot about not making a stupid mistake but I left a ball sort of short. When she hit it out, I just took a long pause, and dug my heels in again.  

I don’t remember much after that, not that there was much more to remember. We played only two more points after that and I won them both.  

The next morning, my doubles partner sent me a note of congratulations and in glancing at it, thought it was about the match. No. The early-start ratings for USTA had come out and I was officially a 4.0. The timing made me chuckle.

You know I like a visual. Here's one I'm really digging on right now:

  

Oh, a low 4.0? Let's see what we can do about that.