Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Simona Halep, the pride of Romania, retires from professional tennis

I enjoyed watching Simona Halep long before she became a household tennis name. She had talent and court intelligence, and I wondered what direction her career would take. Several years later, beginning in 2013, when she won six titles, it took a very fine direction, resulting in her winning both the French Open and Wimbledon.

Halep had to fight for the French Open title; on two occasions, she was the runner-up, once to Maria Sharapova (2014) and once to Alona Ostapenko (2017). Finally, in 2018, she won the tournament, defeating Sloane Stephens in the final. That same year, Halep was the runner-up at the Australian Open, losing the final to Caroline Wozniacki. The following year, the Romanian star won in London by defeating seven-time champion Wimbledon Serena Williams in the final.

Halep’s ascension in professional tennis also brought about something that I wasn’t accustomed to seeing—her fans traveled all over the world to support her. And support her they did, yelling “Si-mo-na!” whenver she appeared on the court. Halep’s tennis idol was Justine Henin, and this fact came as no surprise to anyone who saw her play. Like the four-time French Open champion, Halep—despite being “small” in pro tennis terms—used relentless aggression to defeat her opponents, and was especially fond of doing so on clay. She was a feared returner of the ball.

Halep experienced her share of injuries, especially foot and back injuries, though she also had to deal with injuries to her shoulder, neck and calf. She also had to contend with a breathing problem, and eventually had surgery to correct it. Despite these physical challenges, Halep always bounced back, and always worked her way back to the top.

There were also psychological challenges. Halep had a tendency to let stress overcome her, and to become visibly upset with herself on the court. Once, I asked her if she had any kind of strategy on the court to stop her thoughts and move on in a more positive way. “Oh,” she said, waving her hand and smiling, “I’m like this all the time.” But she conquered those demons, like (until now) she conquered her injury woes.

I’ll leave it to others to deconstruct what happened to Simona when, in the fall of 2022, she tested positive for roxadusat. Halep’s saga, like the saga of so many players, was filled with inconsistencies and questionable behaviors from the organizations that are in charge of dealing with doping. We’ve seen many players treated unfairly by these organizations, but Halep’s case may be the most egregious of them all. Her four-year ban was eventually changed to nine months, which she had already “served.”

Unfortunately, her return to the tour was marred by a serious knee injury, from which she was unable to fully recover. Today, after losing in the first round at her home tournament in Transylvania, the 33-year-old Halep announced her retirement from professional tennis. “To be competitive again requires much more, and at this moment, it’s no longer possible,” she said, in making the announcement. “I don’t want to cry—this is something beautiful. I reached world number 1, I won grand slams; it’s everything I ever wanted.” 

Simona Halep held the position of number 1 in the world for 64 weeks, and was twice the year-end number 1. She won 24 singles titles, was a member of the Romanian Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) team eight times, and a member of the 2012 Romanian Olympic team.

Sports—which are known for providing us with metaphors for all of our major hopes, as well as the dashing of those hopes—frequently remind us that life isn’t fair. The likable and hard-working Halep was a star, she put Romanian tennis on the map, and she thrilled fans all over the world. Her career shouldn’t have ended this way, but it did, and—as Simona herself said—it was beautiful.

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Sunday, January 26, 2025

My Australian Open top 10

Here are my top 10 Australian Open occurrences, in ascending order:

10: One to watch: 17-year-old Wakana Sonobe of Japan, seeded 4th, won the junior championship when she defeated 6th seed Kristina Penikova (USA) 6-0, 6-1 in the final. Sonobe also upset top seed Emerson Jones of Australia in the semifinals.

9. Conspicuous by their absence: With the exception of doubles super-star Katerina Siniakova, Czech players were practically invisible at this event, which--in the world of women's tennis--is shocking. Petra Kvitova, of course, did not enter, nor did Barbora Krejcikova, who is still recovering from injury. Karolina Pliskova is recovering from surgery, and the often-injured Marketa Vondrousova, injured once again, withdrew before the event began. Linda Noskova was defeated in the first round.

8. The tennis gods are smiling: Hsieh Su-wei, the Casual Queen, and Aฤผlona Ostapenko played doubles together. Enough said.

7. Kamiji has her day: With Diede de Groot absent, this tournament was Yui Kamiji's to lose. Seeded number 1, she indeed captured the wheelchair singles title, defeating 2nd seed Aniek Van Koot in the final. However, Kamiji and her doubles partner, Lucy Shuker, lost in the semifinals. The doubles title went to the unseeded team of Li Xiohui and Wang Ziying, who defeated the unseeded team of Manami Tanaka and Zhu Zhenzhen in the final.

6. Aussie Aussie Aussie!: Australian wild cards Olivia Gadecki and John Peers won the title in mixed doubles when they defeated Australian wild cards Kimberly Birrell and John-Patrick Smith in the final. Gadecki and Peers also upset 2nd seeds Erin Routliffe and Michael Venus in the semifinals.

5. "Lucky" doesn't begin to describe it: Germany's Eva Lys lost in the third round of qualifying, and--as she was packing to leave Australia--she was awarded a lucky loser slot in the main draw when Alona Kalinskaya withdrew from the tournament. Lys would go on to defeat three players, including Varvara Gracheva and Jaqueline Cristian. She then canceled another flight so that she could compete in the round of 16, in which she was finally defeated--by Iga Swiatek.

4. Nobody does it better: Jelena Dokic is a treasure. The former world number 4, who is also a tennis commentator, and who is known throughout the world for her courage and resilience, is an on-court interviewer without parallel. Dockic's warmth, humor and empathy put players at ease and engage them in ways that we don't always see after big matches.

         

3. One to remember: Madison Keys' semifinal match against 2nd seed Iga Swiatek was a stand-out affair at the Australian Open; the third set, however, was a stand-out affair, period. The two and a half hour contest, which Keys won, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6, had everything--clever tactics, stunning shot-making, superb athleticism, and plenty of thrills.

2. Ten and counting: Katerina Siniakova, playing with Taylor Townsend, won her tenth major doubles title in Melbourne. The Olympic gold medal winner has won the Australian Open title twice before, with Barbora Krejcikova. Top seeds Siniakova and Townsend defeated 3rd seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Alona Ostapenko in the final. Siniakova and Townsend also won the 2024 Wimbledon title, and we can expect more victories this season.

1. With age comes wisdom: In 2017, Madison Keys lost the U.S. Open final after winning the first set 6-0. Since then, we've seen her play really good, and powerful, tennis, but when match tension became extreme, she would falter. In 2023, for example, she lost her U.S. Open semifinal to Aryna Sabalenka, 6-0, 6-7, 6-7. But in Melbourne, Keys--with a new racket, a new serve, and a new attitude--showed us an explosion of her potential. She took out both top seeds--2nd seed Iga Swiatek (in the semifinals) and top seed Sabalenka. But that wasn't all--the 19th seed also defeated 10th seed and 2022 finalist Danielle Collins, 6th seed and 2023 finalist Elena Rynbakina, and Elina Svitolina. Keys' 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 defeat of Sabalenka in the final was, of course, a dream come true for the 29-year-old. But, she said, she was able to achieve that dream only after she finally rid herself of the belief that she needed to win a major in order to validate herself. Next week, Keys returns to the top 10.

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Saturday, January 25, 2025

How to tame a Tiger

Change your racket. Get something lighter, so that you can get better control of the ball. 

Change your serve. Bring that toss down, and make the entire movement more efficient.

Be sure to get the draw from hell---including both the first and second seeds--so that you become more feared, and more confident, as the tournament progresses.

Change your attitude. Maybe you’ll never win a major, but winning a major—or even having a pro sports career—isn’t who you are. 

This formula, put together with the help of Keys' partner/coach/new husband, Bjorn Frantangelo, helped 19th seed Madison Keys defeat two-time defending champion and world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and to therefore become the 2025 Australian Open singles champion. The final, which lasted just over two hours, progressed quickly at first, and then it slowed down, and eventually became a crowd-pleasing drama.

Keys had to work very hard to reach the final. She had to defeat 10th seed (and 2022 finalist) Danielle Collins, 6th seed (and 2023 finalist) Elena Rybakina, the always-dangerous 28th seed Elina Svitolina, and 2nd seed Iga Swiatek, who—up until she ran into Keys—had looked deadly. Keys had spent a lot of time on the court, and—especially in the Swiatek match—she had probably experienced high tension (I know that the rest of us did).

Both players arrived at the final holding eleven-match win streaks. Top seed Sabalenka had a 4-1 career record against Keys, and was seeking her third straight Australian Open title.

This match followed a pattern that we have seen many times in big matches—one player easily takes the first set, the other player elevates her game and takes the second set, and—in the third set—both players reach performance heights. In this case, Keys, who was broken only once, took the first set 6-3, winning with 86% of her first serves. Not unexpectedly, in the next set, Sabalenka decided to try a new tactic, and—not since Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez completely flummoxed Jelena Jankovic in the 2010 Rome final—has a player repeatedly used the drop shot to get the best of her opponent.

(And speaking of JJ, she would surely have applauded Keys’ backhand down the line, which became her signature shot at the Australian Open.)

Keys had trouble adjusting to this “new” (let’s not forget that the world number 1 has won her share of doubles titles) Sabalenka, and her new job became one of trying to figure out how far to stray from the baseline. To make things even more difficult for Keys, Sabalenka improved her serve in the second set, which she won, 6-2.

The final set was a battle of first-rate ball-striking, quick thinking, and clever tactics, and both players performed at a high level. It should have been a battle of nerves, but neither player was inclined to blink. And if the possibility of holding the trophy for the third time in a row was hanging over Sabalenka’s head, it seems unlikely that Keys wouldn’t have (at least to some extent) the memory of the 2023 U.S. Open semifinal that she played against Sabalenka in her head. Keys won the first set of that match 6-0, then lost the other two in tiebreaks.

When Sabalenka served to stay in the match at 4-5 in the third set, the tension was palpable. She held, then Keys held. At that point in the set, neither woman’s serve had been broken. Serving at 5-6, Sabalenka quickly went down 0-30. The world number 1 went on to save a match point, but Keys clinched the title with a forehand winner on her second match point.

Keys hit 29 winners in the  match, and some of her shots—including an over-the-shoulder backhand—were stunning. We’re used to this type of shot-making from her, but what was new at this major was the addition of nerves of steel. Keys said later, in press, that she had put so much pressure on herself to live up to her “young phenom” reputation (one can’t help but think of Michelle Wie), that she eventually sought the help of a psychotherapist to help her realize that her worth had nothing to do with whether she won a major.

“I did a lot of work to no longer need this,” she said after the match. “I wanted it, but it no longer defined me.” In Melbourne, the 29-year-old Keys was a totally different player from the one who contested the U.S. Open final in 2017. In that match, friend and countrywoman Sloane Stephens easily defeated her, 6-3, 6-0. The current, more mature Madison Keys, is finally a major champion, and it’s a lovely thing to behold. On Monday, she will return to the top 10, where she belongs.

In other Australian Open news, 4th seed Wakana Sonobe of Japan won the junior girls' title, defeating the USA's Kristina Penikova 6-0, 6-1. And top seed Yui Kamiji won the wheelchair singles title, defeating 2nd seed Aniek Van Koot 6-2, 6-2. Van Koot's amazing comeback in her semifinal match may have taken something out of her; in the final, she appeared to be a little too overcome by anger to be as effective as she could have been against Kamiji.

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Thursday, January 23, 2025

Sabalenka and Keys have a meeting scheduled; Daphne Akhurst awaits

Top seed and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will play 19th seed Madison Keys for the 2025 Australian Open singles championship, but those two will have to bring extra bags of tricks and a Broadway-level layer of drama to top what happened in the semifinal that Keys played against 2nd seed Iga Swiatek. 

Keys has always been a hard hitter, capable of hanging in with the best of the power hitters. But she has not always been able to go that little extra stretch, blending spontaneous creativity and nerves of steel to overcome elite players. The Keys who arrived in Melbourne, however, is another story. The 2017 U.S. Open runner-up had a tough draw, and had to take out three seeds, all of whom play very well on hard courts. 

The 19th seed made it difficult for Swiatek in the first set, which the Polish star won, 7-5. She took her momentum into the next set, in which Swiatek won only one game. It was the third set, however, that will be remembered when this tournament has come and gone. Swiatek performed magic tricks (apparently, this is a Polish tradition), while Keys covered the court superbly and placed her opponent in awkward positions. Keys had another advantage in this set--a first serve win percentage of 75, while Swiatek struggled with her serve, and won with only 38% of her first serves.

Serving at 6-5, Swiatek nevertheless held a match point, which Keys saved. Keys broke Swiatek to force a tiebreak, and that looked to be going the 2nd seed's way; she had leads at 7-5 and 8-7. But Keys would have none of it, and won the tiebreak 10-8. During the post-match interview, Keys couldn't recall saving a match point. "I feel like I blacked out at some point and was just running around," she said.

It's Madison time!

In the other semifinal, best friends faced off, as Sabalenka played former world number 2 Paula Badosa. Badosa, who considered retiring last year because of her chronic back problems, had an exceptional run in Melbourne, upsetting 3rd seed Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. But she was stopped, not surprisingly, by the world number 1, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals. 

 Paths to the final:

ARYNA SABALENKA

round 1--d. Sloane Stephens
round 2--d. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
round 3--d. Clara Tauson
round of 16--d. Mirra Andreeva (14)
quarterfinals--d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27)
semifinals--d. Paula Badosa (11)

MADISON KEYS
round 1--d. Ann Li
round 2--d. Elena-Gabriela Ruse
round 3--d. Danielle Collins (10)
round of 16--d. Elena Rybakina (6)
quarterfinals--d. Elina Svitolina (28)
semifinals--d. Iga Swiatek (2)

On another note, many fans probably missed what had to be the comeback of this event: In wheelchair singles, 2nd seed Aniek Van Koot, down 1-6, 2-5 and facing a match point, found a way to defeat 3rd seed Wang Ziying 1-6, 7-6, 6-1. She will face top seed Yui Kamiji in the final.

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Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Badosa and Keys await world number 1 and world number 2 in Australian Open semifinals

Four women remain in the Australian Open draw, including the world number 1 and the world number 2 (who was the world number 1 not that long ago). It's easy--and not at all illogical--to anticipate watching them play in a dramatic final, especially since both women are playing at an extremely high level. But first they have to get past two resurgent players who have made huge statements at this event. And, in the case of Sabalenka, she also has to get past a very close friend.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has been in somewhat of a resurgent mode herself lately, took world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka to three sets in the quarterfinals, and that marked the first time that Sabalenka dropped a set at the 2025 Australian Open. World number 2 Iga Swiatek has yet to drop a set, she has dropped only fourteen games (seven of those were claimed by her first round opponent, Katerina Siniakova), and she has delivered three bagel sets. In the quarterfinals, Swiatek easily defeated 8th seed Emma Navarro, who had a very good run, taking out both Ons Jabeur and 9th seed Daria Kasatkina.

Standing in Sabalenka's way on her route to the final is her close friend, Paula Badosa. Badosa considered retiring from professional tennis last year because of her long-term, chronic back problems, but then decided to give it another go. In Melbourne, the former world number 2 has looked "like herself," and she upset an error-prone 3rd seed Coco Gauff 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Come Monday, the Spanish star will return to the WTA top 10.

Then there's Madison Keys, who upset both 10th seed Danielle Collins and 6th seed Elena Rybakina on her way to the quarterfinals, in which she defeated an in-form Elina Svitolina. Keys, to the relief of her fans, has slowed down and refined her game, allowing herself to linger a while in tough rallies, and this tactic has paid off in Melbourne. She has her work cut out for her in the semifinals, in which she faces Swiatek.

The semifinals are also set in doubles play. Top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend will play Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, and 3rd seeds Hsieh Su wei and Aฤผona Ostapenko (!) will play 2nd seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. 

In singles wheelchair play, top seed Yui Kamiji will face LI Xiahui in the semifinals, and 3rd seed Wang Ziying will play 2nd seed Aniek Van Koot. Diede de Groot is not in Melbourne because she is recovering from surgery.

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Monday, January 20, 2025

U.S. women dominate Australian Open quarterfinals

Three U.S. players made it to the Australian Open round of 16, and now those three have made it to the quarterfinals. 3rd seed Coco Gauff, 8th seed Emma Navarro and 19th seed Madison Keys are in the final eight.

The round of 16 featured some really good competition, and also a fair share of injury. Donna Vekic, 6th seed Elena Rybakina and Veronika Kudermetova all had to have medical timeouts. Rybakina hurt her back, and when she returned to the court after the MTO, her serve was noticeably less powerful. However, this issue was soon corrected. In the meantime, Rybakina's opponent, Madison Keys, had her own serve go off for a while. And despite Rybakina's brief struggle, this was a good match, with Keys playing her best game, and prevailing, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. 

A resurgent Belinda Bencic, returning from a maternity leave, was very impressive against Coco Gauff in the first set, but then faded, and won only three games in the last two sets. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka made quick work of rising star Mirra Andreeva (6-1, 6-2), and breakout star Eva Lys saw her run end abruptly when 2nd seed Iga Swiatek defeated her 6-0, 6-1. 

 

Navarro has needed three sets to win each of her matches, and--to be fair--she had a pretty tough draw. Her first-round match against Peyton Stearns, which she won 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, lasted three hours and 20 minutes. In the second round, she needed two hours and eleven minutes to defeat Wang Xiyu 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 

and in the third round, it took her just over two hours to defeat Ons Jabeur 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Finally, Navarro's round of 16 match against 9th seed Daria Kasatkina lasted two hours and 40 minutes. Navarro won that match 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. That's a lot of time to spend on the court--in the heat.

In the meantime, the top three doubles seeds are still in the draw. Siniakova/Townsend, Dabrowski/Routliffe and Hsieh/Ostapenko have all advanced to the quarterfinals. 

Here is the singles quarterfinal draw:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27)
Coco Gauff (3) vs. Paula Badosa (11)
Madison Keys (19) v. Elina Svitolina (28)
Emma Navarro (8) vs. Iga Swiatek (2)

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Saturday, January 18, 2025

Zheng and Pegula out, and Lucky Lys rolls on at Australian Open

I’m sure that few were expecting it, but the first big upset of the Australian Open was that of 5th seed (and last year’s runner-up), Zheng Qinwen, who lost in the second round to a very in-form Laura Siegemund, who gave the kind consistently disruptive performance that she has historically presented on clay courts. The glory wouldn’t last for the German player, who—in the next round—won only three games against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Also in the second round, qualifier Olga Danilovic upset 25th seed Liudmila Samsonova, then she proceeded to upset 7th seed Jessical Pegula in straight sets. Danilovic got our attention at the French Open, when she made it through three rounds of qualifying, then upset Martina Trevisan, Danielle Collins and Donna Vekic. She was stopped in the round of 16 by Marketa Vondrousova, but it was a great run.

The Australian Open’s breakout star is Eva Lys, who—after losing in the third round of qualifying—booked her flight home to Germany. But then Anna Kalinskaya withdrew from the tournament, and Lys became a lucky loser. But she’s more than lucky. After defeating qualifier Kimberly Birrell, Varvara Gracheva and Jaqueline Cristian, Lys became the first lucky loser in 37 years to reach the round of 16. She has since had to postpone another flight home as she prepares to play her next opponent—Iga Swiatek.

The ever-resilient Donna Vekic, seeded 18th, defeated 12th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, in a highly entertaining and thrilling third round match that lasted two hours and 58 minutes. Last year, Vekic reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and also won an Olympic silver medal. The Croatian’s next opponent will be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, another veteran who has had somewhat of a resurgence lately.

Also entertaining (as one would expect) was the third round match contested by Paula Badosa and Marta Kostyuk. Badosa won that one in three sets. Also in the third round, Emma Navarro defeated Ons Jabeur, and Elina Svitolina upset 4th seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Two-time champion Naomi Osaka, who defeated Karolina Muchova in the second round, had to retire in her third round match against Belinda Bencic.

And speaking of Czech players—they are conspicuous by their absence. Petra Kvitova isn’t in Australia, of course, and Barbora Krejcikova’s back injury prevented her from entering the tournament. Marketa Vondrousova had to withdraw before the first round because of an injury that she sustained in Adelaide, Muchova was knocked out by Osaka, and Katerina Siniakova had the bad fortune of drawing Iga Swiatek in the first round. It just doesn’t feel like a major without Czechs.

As for top seed and two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka—she was put to a tough test in the third round by Clara Tauson, and a tough test is usually what a champion needs as she goes forward to compete at the business end of the tournament.

Here is the singles round of 16 draw:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) v. Mirra Andreeva (14)
Donna Vekic (18) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27)
Coco Gauff (3) v. Belinda Bencic
Paula Badosa (11) v. Olga Danilovic
Elena Rybakina (6) v. Madison Keys (19)
Veronika Kudermetova v. Elina Svitolina (28)
Emma Navarro (8) v. Daria Kasatkina (9)
Eva lys (LL) v. Iga Swiatek (2)

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