ATP
Not all right on the night
THE scheduling for the French Open night games is once again under the spotlight – for the lack of a women’s match in the peak viewing slot.
There have been women’s matches, but not top of the bill. Why?
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo explained that this time slot was reserved for the best match of the day – and the match that gets the bigger audience at Roland Garros is a men’s match.
Take a glance around the stands during the matches – the proof is there.
Some may argue, and rightly so, that there is a need to promote women’s matches.
And one journalist has called it out on social media.
“This year so far, none of the six nights will have had women’s matches scheduled. Tomorrow night [June 3], Zverev vs. Tiafoe. No Swiatek, Jabeur or Gauff vs. Andreeva.”
But let’s look deeper – as this is not a sexist issue.
Swiatek has made it clear that she doesn’t want to play night matches.
Last year Mauresmo apologised for saying women’s tennis did not have the same ‘appeal’.
But she is right – commercial reasons prove that – bums on seats in the arena and lower TV ratings.
And while we are in Paris, what is it with all this booing?
TUNISIAN Ons Jabeur was booed after she beat home star Oceane Dodin in round two at Roland Garros.
She admitted afterwards that the fans at Roland-Garros are “difficult” and didn’t enjoy being booed during the match.
“The French crowd is a bit difficult, I would say,” she said after the match. “I don’t like it when they boo, but that’s part of the game.
“They want French players to win. In the other countries, although I hit a good shot, they appreciate not necessarily here. They prefer me to miss, but it’s part of the game.”
Booing at a Grand Slam? To borrow from another sport … it’s just not tennis.
ANOTHER to be booed was American Taylor Fritz, jeered by fans after he beat Arthur Rinderknech 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-4.
Fritz celebrated his win by placing his finger to his lips as fans booed him.
“The crowd was just so great that I had to let it fire me up. They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks guys,” the American said sarcastically in his on-court interview.
AND…. What was this all about…?
Video footage has emerged of a photographer being dragged out of the arena during Carlos Alcaraz’s match with Denis Shapovalov.
A clip by Eurosport Polska shows the four members of security dragging the journalist out of the arena. The reasons for his rejection are as of now uncertain.
BELARUSIAN World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka opted to skip a press conference after her win over Kamilla Rakhimova during the week, citing safety reasons.
Some have likened the boycott to that of former former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka, who had a history of skipping press conferences, claiming a variety of reasons, including mental health, while simultaneously posting on her social media channels promoting sponsors.
But Sabalenka’s is more likely because of the ongoing issues between her and Ukrainian players.
“For my own mental health and well-being, I decided to take myself out of this situation today, and the tournament has supported me in this. On Wednesday I didn’t feel safe in press conference,“ she said.
Didn’t feel safe from what?
Journalists doing their job and asking her about her homeland’s support of Russia in its invasion of another sovereign country.
WITH Tennis participation in the US apparently surging, the USTA announced last week its marketing campaign for the 2023 US Open will be led by someone called ‘Cookie’.
Who? You may well ask. And GST asked a couple of savvy younger generation – answer: who?
The USTA’s creative agency, Dentsu Creative, wants to connect with younger potential fans.
New Jersey-native Cookie Kawaii (real name Vanice Palmer) has had a couple of Twitter hits with ‘Vibe’ and ‘Violin’ and according to USTA’s marketing guru, Nicole Kankam, “is a unique talent with a distinctive voice that we think can further connect with new fans as the future of tennis shines bright under the spotlight of the US Open.”
‘Violin’ a rap song, has apparently been streamed 40 million times.
The US Open will begin Monday, August 28 and end on Sunday, September 10.
NO great shock that Daniil Medvedev was dumped out of the French Open last week in the first round – although by a rank outsider might have been more of an eye-opener.
No. 172-ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild, a 23-year-old Brazilian virtual unknown, overcame cramps before dominating the back end of the match.
“It definitely was the happiest day of my life,” Seyboth Wild said after the match.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match, but I knew how to play. I have watched him play 1,000 times already. I just had to believe in myself.”
BUT did you know that in 2021, Seyboth Wild faced a lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend Thayane Lima and was investigated by police in Rio de Janeiro over allegations of mental and physical abuse.
He denied the allegations, describing them as “fabricated and vengeful claims”.
And Medvedev? He has always struggled on clay and has shown distaste for the surface over a number of years.
BIANCA Andreescu has tapped into a new source to get her back to winning ways on court: her Romanian grandmother.
“I started thinking about my grandmother because she’s getting old, and I’m very close to her. She said – in Romanian, she doesn’t speak English – ‘Bianca, I really want to watch you win another major’,” Andreescu said in Paris on Tuesday, after beating Victoria Azarenka.
And having her grandmother close helps Andreescu realise that success on the tennis court is worth fighting for.
“The last few weeks haven’t been easy for me, just like recovering from my injury and all that stuff,” she said.
“I’m still not 100 per cent. I still get pain here and there. I just have to push through it and not think that it’s bad pain.
“My fighting spirit is back, so that feels nice.”
Photo: Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
AMERICAN Jessica Pegula has revealed she got food poisoning shortly after arriving in Paris and said she was “a zombie for two days.”
Pegula arrived in the French capital on Tuesday went to a restaurant for a meal.
“I don’t know exactly what did the damage,” she told the BBC.
“I had escargots (snails) – I love escargots – but everyone else in my group had them. I also had salmon so maybe it was a bad piece of fish.
“I was throwing up for the whole night and I couldn’t sleep much. I didn’t practise on Wednesday, I practised on Thursday – but it was not pretty.
“I could barely do anything. I was getting a lot of nausea and acid reflux, I wasn’t eating.
“I was afraid to eat anything. I didn’t have an appetite. It lingered for four or five days but I wasn’t able to just sit in bed, I had a bunch of stuff to do.”
CAM Norrie should think himself lucky there are no video replays in tennis – or he would be playing well into the early hours, if the delays annoying soccer fans are any indication.
Norrie called for replays to be used in tennis after a umpiring controversy in his second-round victory over Lucas Pouille at the French Open.
Umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore failed to spot a double bounce at a key moment in the third set of Norrie’s 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Both men said afterwards a video replay might have resolved the issue – albeit that soccer overtime now often extends games for lengthy periods while referees still debate a ruling with their VAR system that also still got it wrong.
AND finally … Rafa Nadal pumps his fist after undergoing minor surgery for a psoas muscle injury in a Barcelona hospital.
The what muscle?
The psoas muscle is one of a number of muscles that overlie the vertebral column in your back.
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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