ATP
US Open Week 1 in review
HOW MUCH? Yes, it’s New York, the Big Apple for the US Open 2023. And Big prices.
Van Leeuwen ice cream, a bespoke organic New York speciality, doesn’t come cheap.
$9.50 US for one scoop!
The ice cream vendor was overheard saying he was selling about 50,000 scoops a day!
That’s a chilling $475,000 per day!!
Ben Van Leeuwen stared the business in 2008 with brother Peter and friend Laura O’Neill.
They claim their success is down to only the best natural ingredients.
At almost ten bucks a scoop it needs to be.
But it’s not just ice cream where the cash registers are merrily clicking away.
A Grey Goose vodka cocktail will set you back $22.00.
A glass of sparkling wine $19.00 and food?
Chicken Caesar wrap: $14.00. The same for as tuna sandwich.
Popcorn doesn’t come cheap either – $8.50 for a small tub. Add a coke, that’ll be another $7.50.
And the obsession with bottled water never ends – $6.50 for a 500ml bottle that would cost about $2.00 in a local supermarket.
But, it’s New York, where everything, including prices, is BIG.
THE USTA continues with its bizarre middle of the night match schedule that has seen many arenas half empty.
Novak Djokovic’s late night win last week ended at almost 2am, as did other matches.
With so many empty seats and no public transport at that late hour, is there another reason for witching hour tennis?
Late night TV viewing in Los Angeles perhaps. Certainly not in London or Paris -m or early morning in Australia where fans have already jumped on the commuter train for work.
To date, no one at the US Open has given a logical reason and it would appear, no one seems to care about player health welfare and recovery.
DANIIL Medvedev delivered some hilarious remarks when a doctor came on court to check his medical timeout in New York.
After losing the third set to Christopher O’Connell, Medvedev requested the medical timeout.
The doctor asked Medvedev if he had any symptoms. Medvedev responded: “Yeah. I lost the set. Give me whatever you gave him”.
Medvedev was also in hot water continuing his long-running feud with the New York crowd.
With crowd behind Aussie Chris O’Connell, Medvedev yelled: “Can you shut up guys?”.
Red rag to a bull… the crowd intensified their support for O’Connell.
ITALIAN Matteo Berrettini sent fans into shock after a horror fall during his match against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech on Friday, badly twisting his ankle and screaming in agony on the court.
Berrettini was trailing in the second set at the time of incident and took no further part in the match, retiring injured.
He was surrounded by ball kids forming a protective shield with umbrellas as medics tried to comfort him, but he was is agony and could be heard mumbling, “oh no”.
Later, vision emerged of him in a wheelchair with his head in his hands.
DID you know… The last time Novak Djokovic won a match at the US Open after being down 0-2 sets was 2011.
SHOT of the week:
World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz again showcased his talent defeating Britain’s Daniel Evans in the round of 32 clash 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Saturday.
AUSSIE wildcard Rinky Hijikata had an amazing run through the US Open draw, resisting a fightback from China’s Zhizhen Zhang to win 6-3, 6-3, 4-6 6-3.
The win secured the 22-year-old a fourth-round date with Frances Tiafoe tomorrow and a payday of $US284,000.
THE 2023 US Open was hit with a mystery illness that has affected more than one player, but Ons Jabeur is not among them.
The Tunisian was thought to be part of a mass infection, but only has flu, according to reports.
Emil Ruusuvuori pulled out of the tournament because of “sickness”, and Dominic Thiem and Christopher Eubanks are also affected during their matches.
Thiem retired midway through his second-round clash against Ben Shelton and Eubanks was visibly struggling during his match against Benjamin Bonzi.
Jabeur cleared up her issues after her win over Linda Noskova.
“Actually my stomach is fine. It’s not the stomach. I think I got a flu or something,” she said.
“I know some other players got stomach issues. Not me, thankfully.”
PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
Britain’s Andy Murray still has his wedding ring neatly looped into the laces of his shoe.
Alexander Zverev on Thursday made a long-sought after return to the Shanghai Masters semi-finals, booking his first final four at the event since 2019, defeating Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4.
The 2027 year-end No. 1 last got this far as the Covid pandemic began to surface in China in 2019. The event was not played 2020-2022, with the German making modest progress here over the past three editions since resumption.
After winning his 62nd match of the season, the 29-year-old was pleased with his performance.
“I think it was a huge step up. From just being on the court I felt both of us were playing really well.
“I was, a lot of the time, outhitting Alex, which is difficult to do from the baseline because he is so fast and he loves this kind of court speed here.
“I felt good and I’m happy with the step up from the past couple of matches.”
Zverev advanced in 78 minutes, sending over 10 aces as he defeated the Australian for the ninth time in their 13 matches.
Added the reigning Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows Grand Slam champion: “I’ve been handling pressure quite okay this year. In a way you play a bit more relaxed.
“Once Jannik (SInner) unfortunately announced he won’t play for the rest of the year, I’m 4,000 points ahead of everyone else, so I trust myself enough that I’m going to win [enough matches].
Zverev will play for the final to wrap up the Asian swing as he takes on Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who advanced when Arthur Gea quit their quarter-final with injury.
Alexander Zverev marked his new status as sure-thing year-end No. 1 by reaching the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday by posting a fighting 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (1) victory over Alexander Bublik..
The 29-year-old German whose two Grand Slam titles this season and the absence of injured Jannik Sinner helped him into the top spot for the first time, needed to save four early set points and deal with an ank;e issue on his journey into the last eight.
Zverev moved through in just under two and three-quarter hours to set up a match with last week’s Beijing finalist Alex de Minaur, The Australian booked his spot over Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4.
Zverev will be playing in his 40th quarter-final in a Masters 1000 and is on the hunt for an eighth trophy this season.
He said his ankle was giving problems – but not enough to affect the match outcome.”It was kind of understandable because I have been playing a lot of tennis, which is kind of a good sign because I have been playing well.
“I’m starting to feel my body more and more but happy to get through. It was a difficult match because he has been playing amazing tennis,” he said after coming from a break down in the deciding set.
De Minaur has bounced back nicely in Shanghai after quitting the Tokyo final against Carlos Alcaraz with an adductor muscle injury.
Stefanos Tsitsipas willed himself to a 401st Tour win on Monday, with the Greek advancing to the Shanghai Masters 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, over world No. 12 Taylor Fritz to reach the fourth round.
The win leaves the Greek with a 5-2 record against the American in a series dating back nine years.
The cerebral Tsitsipas credited the victory to some simple mental gymnastics.
“I was manifesting today’s match and trying to put myself in a victorious situation,” he said.
“I’ve always had big fights against him. Some of my biggest matches were played facing him on the other side of the court. I had to up my level.
“Once I started doing that, a lot of doors were open and I was really able to unleash my biggest potential out there.”
The match ended on an unusual note as the ball twice fell from the pocket of Fritz, causing each of the points in question to be replayed.
Tsitsipas missed on three match points in the mistake-marred game but secured the fightback victory a game later after two and a quarter hours.
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