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Wednesday, June 4, 2025

French flair in 2025

Today, in Paris, French wild card Lois Boisson continued her amazing run by upsetting 6th seed Mirra Andreeva and reaching the semifinals of the tournament. Boisson had already caused a great stir by reaching the quarterfinals and upsetting 3rd seed Jessica Pegula. Prior to that, she had defeated Anna Kalinina and 24th seed Elise Mertens. She then had to play another French wild card, Elsa Jacquemot, in the third round, and the fact that they had both made it to the third round was news in itself. 

Boisson was granted a wild card to the French Open last year, but shortly before the tournament began, she injured her left knee, tearing the ACL, and had to undergo surgery. Part of her rehab was using virtual reality, and it appears to have paid off. According to the Roland Garros website, "The neurovisual training included sight tests, catching a ball at short range with one eye obstructed, buzzer reaction tests, even using virtual reality headsets."

"Doing these exercises has greatly improved my reactivity and it now comes naturally," Boisson said of the program.

Boisson made her WTA debut in 2021, playing doubles in Lyon. She has won three ITF singles titles, and she won her first WTA title in Sain-Malo, a WTA 125 tournament. She is ranked number 361 in the world.

Andreeva stunned the tennis world earlier this year by winning Dubai and Indian Wells (back-to-back wins). In Dubai, she knocked out 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, five-time major champion Iga Swiatek and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina before defeating Clara Tauson in the final. In Indian Wells, Andreeva defeated world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

But today, the Russian star, who is only 18, could not channel her inner Ostapenko. After narrowly losing the first set in an 8-6 tiebreak, she was obviously rattled by the predictably brutal French crowd. To make her situation worse, her opponent didn't appear to be under any pressure--she just went about her business, utilizing an impressive forehand with a lot of spin.

Boisson is the second player in the past 40 years to defeat multiple top 10 players in her first major main draw. (Monica Seles did it in 1999, also at the French Open.)

In today's other semifinal, 2nd seed (and 2022 runner-up) Coco Gauff defeated 7th seed Madison Keys 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-1. Between them, Gauff and Keys made 101 unforced errors and hit 40 winners, most of which came from Keys' racket. But Gauff went about solving problems and expertly covering the court. 

In yesterday's quarterfinal play, top seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated 8th seed Zheng Qinwen 7-6(7), 6-3. Zheng, who won an Olympic gold medal on the Roland Garros courts last year, was a favorite to win the title, but Sabalenka's was too much for her this week.

In the other quarterfinal, four-time champion and 5th seed Iga Swiatek defeated 13th seed Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5. Svitolina's run was notable, however, in that she upset 2024 finalist Jasmine Paolini in the round of 16, in a match in which Paolini led for two sets, and in which she held three match points. 

Swiatek and Sabalenka have never played one another at the French Open, but now they will compete for a place in the final. 

Here is the semifinal singles draw:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Iga Swiatek (5)
Lois Boisson (wc) vs. Coco Gauff (2)

There have also been other big upsets in Paris. One didn't surprise me that much--four-time defending wheelchair champion Diede de Groot (who is seeded 3rd, and it feels strange just to write that) was knocked out in the first round by Li Xiaohui. de Groot is just returning from injury and subsequent surgery, and Li--who ended de Groot's 145-match win streak at the World Team Cup last year--was certainly not the player she wanted to face in her first round. 

The other upset is indeed surprising: The unseeded team of Anna Danilina and Aleks Krunic upset top doubles seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Danilina and Krunic will play another unseeded team--Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi. The other semifinal match will feature 4th seeds Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who will compete against 2nd seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.

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Thursday, June 5, 2025

It wasn't meant to be--parts 1 and 2

She had a tough draw--Emma Raducanu, Jaqueline Cristian, 12th seed Elena Rybakina, 13th seed Elina Svitolina--and throughout the first several rounds, four-time champion and three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek looked good. Cristian was tricky, and Rybakina looked like she was going to run away with their round of 16 match. Yet the 5th seed managed to turn on a switch that allowed her to defeat the former Wimbledon champion in three sets. Then there was Svitolina, who was coming off an edge-of-the-cliff upset over 4th seed Jasmine Paolini, and was an obvious danger. But Swiatek got through that challenge, too. 

Then she hit the wall that is Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka, who had never before played Swiatek at Roland Garros, and who was 1-5 against her on clay, arrived on Court Philippe-Chatrier today without having dropped a set throughout the tournament. It was raining in Paris, so the roof was closed. Within ten minutes, Sabalenka was up a double break. It appeared that the world number 1 was hitting her forehand even harder than usual--and she was. Swiatek, having finally figured out that she had to stand back in order to deal with Rybakina's hard hitting, stood back for Sabalenka, got the breaks back, and maneuvered her way to a tiebreak. But the tiebreak resembled the beginning of the set, with Sabalenka overpowering her opponent 7-1.

In the second set, the world number 5 looked like--herself. Her expert movement was on display, and she made risky shots look like a day on the practice court. The rallies were fast, the hitting was flat, and Swiatek took the set 6-4.

I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who thought: This third set is going to be something else. It was, but not in the way I expected. Sabalenka made no unforced errors, and did what no one does to the bagel queen--she won the set 6-0. Swiatek struggled at this tournament, but she was also able to do some good problem-solving and win five straight matches against good opponents. But her Roland Garros 26-match win streak was broken, and in dramatic fashion.

In the second semifinal match, 2nd seed Coco Gauff faced off against the star of the 2025 French Open, wild card Lois Boisson. Boisson had delivered so many shock results that it no longer seemed prudent to assume that she would lose. All the same, competing against the Coco Gauff that we've been watching in Paris was nothing to be taken lightly. Commentators remarked that Boisson looked tired--and she did--but, to me, she looked even more fatigued in her quarterfinal match against Mirra Andreeva. At any rate, it was clear, early on, that the Frenchwoman had only so much left to give.

Gauff was as on her game as ever, breaking her opponent six times, and saving four out of five break points against her. She defeated Boisson 6-1, 6-2. After the match, Boisson said that she was unable to play her game today: "She was just too good." Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up, is 5-5 against Sabalenka, and 1-1 against her on clay. They have never before played each other at the French Open.

Paths to the final:

ARYNA SABALENKA (1)
round 1--def. Kamilla Rakhimova
round 2--def. Jil Teichmann
round 3--def. Olga Danilovic
round of 16-- def. Amanda Anisimova (16)
quarterfinals--def. Zheng Qinwen (8)
semifinals--def. Iga Swiatek (5) 

COCO GAUFF (2)

round 1--def. Olivia Gadecki
round 2--def. Tereza Valentova
round 3--def. Marie Bouzkova
round of 16--def. Ekaterina Alexandrova (20)
quarterfinals--def. Madison Keys (7)
semifinals--def. Lois Boisson (wc) 

In the meantime, we have a champion! Sara Errani and partner Andrea Vavassori, seeded 3rd, won the mixed double championship today when they defeated 4th seeds Taylor Townsend and Evan King 6-4, 6-2 in the final. Errani and Vavassori are the first Italian team to win the French Open mixed doubles title in 67 years. They also won the 2024 U.S. Open. Errani, who is 38, has also won five major women's doubles titles (all with Roberta Vinci), an Olympic gold medal in doubles (with Jasmine Paolini), and she was the French Open singles runner-up in 2012.

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Monday, June 2, 2025

In Paris, wild cards and wild goings-on

I doubt that anyone expected two French wild cards to be competing in the third round of the French Open, but that's what happened. Elsa Jacquemont had upset Maria Sakkari and Alycia Parks, and Boisson had upset 24th seed Elise Mertens and Anhelina Kalinina. When they played each other, Boisson emerged the victor, which gave her a slot in the round of 16 against 3rd seed and Charleston champion Jessica Pegula. 

That match went to three sets, and the final game was a almost a sporting event in itself. At 4-5, Pegula held four break points, all of which disappeared, a couple in dramatic fashion. The Frenchwoman clinched it with an impressive forehand shot, and won her biggest match--in her first major competition--3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Ranked number 361 in the world, Boisson is the lowest-ranked woman to reach a major quarterfinal since 2017. The 22-year-old was supposed to have competed last year, but she tore her ACL shortly before the tournament began. What a way to make up for lost time!

The French now have not only a countrywoman in the quarterfinals, but also an "honorary" Frenchwoman in the form of Elina Svitolina (married to Gaeil Monfils), who pulled off a shocking upset against 4th seed and 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini. Svitolina was down a set and 1-4, then she was down a set and 3-5, then down a set, 4-5, 15-40. The Ukrainian star saved those two match points, then saved a third match point in a tiebreak. In the third set, Svitolina had a pretty easy time, winning it 6-1. She played well, and her determination was first-rate, but Paolini wilted, presumably from the pressure. I was surprised--Fighting Italians don't generally do that. I had picked Paolini as highly probable to win the whole thing, so file that under What Do I Know?

Those were the most dramatic results, but those weren't the only matches that took fans (and the players) to the edge. Enter defending champion Iga Swiatek, who had to face Elena Rybakina in the round of 16. Swiatek and Rybakina were 4-4 against each other before taking to the court in Paris. Rybakina had won both of their clay court matches, though one of those was won via Swiatek's retirement.

Swiatek has hardly been her best tennis self for the past year, but she has played well at this tournament (which she has won four times). In the round of 16, however, Rybakina, in her no-nonsense (almost) poker-face way, immediately went about dismantling her opponent's game. At 5-0 in the first set, she held a set point, but wasn't able to convert it, and we thereby avoided the hostile takeover of a popular European specialty baked goods company.

Rybakina then immediately went up a break in the second set. Alona Ostapkenko, who has never lost to Swiatek (and who was "scheduled" to meet her again in this round) said, when asked how she always managed to beat the Polish star, replied, "I don't give her any time." Swiatek, like most clay court experts, likes to have some time to set up her shots, and the clay gives her that time. But against big hitters like Ostapenko and Rybakina, time can be a luxury that the four-time French Open champion can't afford. Or at least, a luxuty that she thinks she can't afford. 

As her hopes began to rapidly fade, Swiatek opted to let go of some of her well-known aggression, explore the baseline, and rally with her opponent, thus receiving some precious time. And as things got better for her and she "remembered who she was," the 5th seed was able to throw Rybakina off of her rhythm. The two and half hour match ended with a Swaitek victory--1-6, 6-3, 7-5. 

Zheng Qinwen, for her part, had to work to get past Liudmila Samsonova, whom she eventually defeated, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3. The match lasted two hours and 47 minutes, including an hour-and-a-half first set. In defeating Samsonova, the 2024 Olympic gold medal winner completed a sweep of ten matches on the Roland Garros courts. 

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-3. Prior to this event, the U.S. players held a 5-2 record against Sabalenka. Mirra Andreeva defeated former countrywoman Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-5, Australian Open champion Madison Keys defeated Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 7-5, and 2022 finalist Coco Gauff defeated Ekaterina Alexadnrova 6-0, 7-5.

Here is the quarterfinal draw:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Zheng Qinwen (8)
Elina Svitolina (13) vs. Iga Swiatek (5)
Mirra Andreeva (6) vs. Lois Boisson (wc)
Madison Keys (7) vs. Coco Gauff (2)

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Saturday, May 31, 2025

Early exits re-shape the draw at the French Open

Sad as it is, it was rational to expect both 2023 finalist Karolina Muchova and 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova to make early exits from the French Open. Krejcikova, who was out for six months with a back injury, did make it to the second round. Muchova, however--who had both a recurrence of her long-time chronic wrist injury, as well as an illness--lost in the first round to Alycia Parks. And the other great Czech, Petra Kvitova, back from maternity leave (though she had planned to retire), also went out in the opening round.

For me, having the great Czech players go out early in a major takes some of the fun out of watching the event. (2029 finalist Marketa Vondrousova, who--like Muchova--has been constantly plagued with injuries, lost in the third round to 3rd seed Jessica Pegula.) But they weren't the only ones to leave the tournament earlier than expected. First round exits included 9th seed Emma Navarro, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Elise Mertens, and Rome finalist Peyton Stearns, among other notable competitors. The biggest surprise for me was the first round defeat of Marta Kostyuk, who lost to qualifier Sara Bejlek (from the Czech Republic). Second round play resulted in the defeats of Danielle Collins, Donna Vekic and 11th seed Diana Shnaider.  

The most dramatic match that I saw was the one played between 10th seed Paula Badosa and Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the second round. It as dramatic because Badosa was ill--with a fever. She nevertheless defeated Ruse 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Defending (and four-time) champion Iga Swiatek, who hasn't won a tournament since her victory in Paris last year, has won her first three rounds, though, in the second set of her third round match, she got some serious push-back from the talented Jaqueline Cristian. And world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka has yet to drop a set.

Here is the draw for the round of 16:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Amanda Anisimova (16)
Liudmla Samsonova (19) vs. Zheng Qinwen
Jasmine Paolini (4) vs. Elina Svitolina (13)
Elena Rybakina (12) vs. Iga Swiatek (5)
Mirra Andreeva (6) vs. Daria Kasatkina (17)
Lois Boisson (wc) vs. Jessica Pegula (3)
Madison Keys (7) vs. Hailey Baptiste
Ekaterina Alexandrova (30) vs. Coco Gauff (2)

Boisson is one of two French wild cards who had to compete against one another in the third round. Boisson defeated Elsa Jacquemot 6-3, 0-6, 7-5. 

A lot of eyes are on Zheng Qinwen, who won an Olympic gold medal last year on the Roland Garros courts. Also of interest is the match to be played between Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek. I hope to be able to watch that one, and the round of 16 match that I hope I can watch (though so many of those matches are at times that I can't watch them) is the one between 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini and Elina Svitolina. Paolini had a tough first round match against Yuan Yue, which probably served as a confidence-builder.  

In doubles, top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend and 2nd seds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolin are into the quarterfinals.

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Sunday, June 8, 2025

My French Open top 10

Here are my top 10 French Open occurences, in ascending order:

10. The less things change, the more they stay the same: Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo tried to explain why no women are scheduled for night matches, and to assure everyone concerned that the tournament isn't really delivering the message that so many people are getting. Time, she said, is a factor--the matches need to go for a long time. And while it's true that women play the best of three and men play the best of five--two back-to-back women's matches would solve that problem. Also, many men's matches last only three sets. Ons Jabeur responded, and when she did, others followed her. 

9. Gone so soon: Emma Navarro, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Elise Mertens, 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova, Karolina Muchova, Marta Kostyuk--they were all defeated in the first round. Krejcikova and Muchova were both coming back from injury/illness, so those exits--though very sad--weren't surprising. In the second round, we lost Danielle Collins, Donna Vekic and Diana Shnaider. 

8. With a Fighting Italian behind you, you can do anything: Lilli Tagger became the first Austrian to win the junior girls' title, and she did it without dropping a set. Tagger's coach? 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone, of course. 

7. Mixing and matching in Paris: Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the mixed doubles championship, and are the first Italian team to do so in 67 years. Errani and Vavassori also won the U.S. Open title in 2024.

6. Kamiji rolls on: Yui Kamiji, the top seed in Paris, won both the wheelchair singles and doubles (with Kgothatso Montjane) titles. Kamiji, for several years, has played the "second best" role to Diede de Groot. De Groot, whose 125 match win streak was broken last year at World Team Cup play, had to undergo surgery and rehab for her hip, and has returned to the tour, but is clearly not yet back to her former level. Kamiji's "second best" is quite impressive, though. This is her fifth French Open singles title, and her fifth French Open doubles title. She has a total of ten major singles titles, and she has achieved a Career Slam in doubles.

5. When the Fight goes out of the Italian: Jasmine Paolini, seeded 4th, stunned the tennis world last year when she reached the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon. Just before she arrived in Paris, Paolini won both the singles and doubles titles in Rome, and then made it through the first three rounds at Roland Garros without dropping a set.

Then something happened: In the round of 16, Paolini played Elina Svitolina, who is always a threat, to be sure. But Paolini took the first set 6-4, then went up 4-1 in the second. She then went up 5-3. At 5-4, she held two match points. Svitolina saved those, then forced a tiebreak, which Paolini led 6-5, thereby holding a third match point. But Svitolina saved that one, too, and went on to win the match. This is to take nothing away from Elina Svitolina, who played at top form and had nerves of steel; she may have won under any circumstance. But Paolini was clearly rattled. Was she exhausted from Rome? Was Svitolina just too much for her? Was it just a bad day? Or all of those things? Only Paolini knows. 

4. The crown is off--for now: Three-time defending champion (and four-time champion) Iga Swiatek, whose name has become synonymous with Roland Garros, wasn't exactly a favorite this year. After all, she hadn't won a title since she won the French Open last year. But she made it past both Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina, and she owned a 5-1 record on clay against her semifinal opponent, Aryna Sabalenka. The world number 1, however, defeated Swiatek 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-0, then went on, of course, to reach her first French Open final. 

3. They love Paris every moment: Despite her tense round of 16 loss in singles, Jasmine Paolini wasn't out of the tournament. She and partner Sara Errani, seeded 2nd, won the doubles championship. Errani and Paolini, the 2024 runners-up, also won an Olympic gold medal at Roland Garros last year.

2. Lois! Lois! Lois!: Until last week, only serious fans had heard of Lois Boisson. That all changed when the 22-year-old Frenchwoman, ranked number 361 in the world and holding a wild card, went on an upset tear, the likes of which we haven't seen in a while. Boisson, who serves well, and is a clever competitor and a cool head on the court, went about showing the exit to 24th seed Elise Mertens, Anhelina Kalinina, wild card Elsa Jacquemont, 3rd seed Jessica Pegula, and 6th seed Mirra Andreeva. She was stopped by Coco Gauff in the semifinals, but her run was unforgettable. The French crowd, yelling "Lois! Lois! Lois!," went crazy (which also meant that they were brutal toward her opponents), and now everyone knows her name. Next week, she'll be ranked number 65 in the world.

1. First the Coco, then the champagne: In 2022, an 18-year-old Coco Gauff made it to the final of the French Open, but was defeated in straight sets by Iga Swiatek. Gauff later said that she approached the final without much self-belief, and that she continued to feel bad about her performance. Gauff reached the quarterfinals in 2023 and the semifinals in 2024. In the meantime, she won the U.S. Open in 2023. The Coco Gauff who arrived in Paris this year was ready to take on anybody. Her draw became tougher by the time she reached the round of 16, but she would go on to defeat 30the seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, 7th seed Madison Keys, and the very in-form Frenchwoman, Lois Boisson. In the final, she faced world number 1, Aryna Sabalenka, and--after losing a tense first set in a tiebreak--Gauff went on to win the next two sets, 6-2 and 6-4. 

Coco Gauff has had her ups and downs, like all good players, but she has worked steadily to improve her game, and her mindset is now the mindset of a champion, a reality that was on display throughout the final. 

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Thursday, December 4, 2025

My 2025 top 10

So many notable things occurred this year that I need a top 15 or a top 20.

Belinda Bencic, just a few months after returning from her maternity leave, won the championship in Abu Dhabi.

Jasmine Paolini won the Italian Open in both singles and doubles. 

Tatjana Maria, at age 37, won her first 500 title. 

The USA defended its junior Billie Jean King Cup championship. 

Elena Rybakina won the WTA Finals. 

Yui Kamiji, who, in Diede de Groot’s absence/rehab/return, became world number 1 again, won three singles majors, and took the Wheelchair Masters in both singles and doubles. 

Those were all important events, but—between the abundance of really big events and my own fondness for certain happenings and phenomena, I had to narrow down my top 10 occurrences, in ascending order:

10. Young blood: Lois Boisson, Victoria Mboko, and Alexandra Eala rocked the tour this year. Frenchwoman Boisson, ranked number 361 in the world, made her major debut at the French Open, and made the most of it—she reached the semifinals, knocking out the likes of Elise Mertens, Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva along the way. A couple of months later, she would win her first title, in Hamburg, and enter the top 50.

Canadian Mboko became an instant star when she won the Canadian Open, a 1000 event, and rose to the top 20. And Philipino Eala, ranked number 140 in the world, was given a wild card to the Miami Open (a 1000 event), and reached the semifinals.

Eala’s run in Miiami was unbelievably dramatic: She took out Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek before she was stopped by Jessica Pegula. This stunning run made Eala the first wild card in history to defeat three major champions in straight sets at a WTA event. She is also the first player from the Philippines to reach the semifinals of a 1000 event.

9. Seems like old times: Remember when the Fighting Four couldn’t stop winning? Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Sara Errani, and Roberta Vinci ruled Fed Cup for a long time (well, when the Czechs weren’t ruling it). Errani never left, and she and Jasmine Paolini form a solid base for the current Italian Billie Jean King Cup team. Last year, Italy won the Billie Jean King Cup; this year, Errani and Paolini, along with Lucia Bronzetti and Elisabetta Cocciaretto—all coached by Tathiana Garbin—defeated the USA in the final. Feels like a pattern.

8. Take this show on the road: I’ve heard a lot of International Tennis Hall of Fame induction speeches, and a lot of acceptance speeches. The induction speeches were generally what one would expect, though a few of the acceptance speeches stand out for me (Jennifer Capriati’s candid and memorable speech, Aranxa Sanchez-Viccario’s indictment of sexism in tennis, Mary’s Pierce’s beyond-description speech). But there was never before anything like Serena Williams’ induction of Maria Sharapova, which occurred this year. 

Apparently, I was one of the few people who wasn’t shocked by this occurrence. It actually seemed just right, in light of the pair’s long history, and their more recent history. But it was more than an allegedly shocking twist—it was a delicious combination of honest emotion and comedic theatre. Sharapova has always been very funny, and—on this occasion—Williams was right there with her (“Security—I have a heckler”). I would gladly watch it again. And again. Those two…..

7. One singular sensation: This was the year that Katerina Siniakova tied Martina Navratilova for having the most doubles world number 1 year-end finishes (five) on the tour. It was also the year that she won her tenth major, and her first mixed doubles title (Wimbledon). The Czech player has established herself as one of the all-time greats in doubles. Of note: In September, the world number 1 teamed with former long-time partner Barbora Krejcikova, and they won the Korea Open. (I can’t help but want more of this.)

6. Virgo rising: If I had to pick a face for a tennis “Never Give Up” poster, I might pick Amanda Anisimova’s. Yes, she’s only 24, but she’s already lived what feels like a lifetime on the WTA tour. Anisimova has always had a lot of talent and potential, but—what with undergoing a personal tragedy and then, later, taking an eight-month break from tennis—it took her a while to put it all together. 

But did she ever put it together this year! Anisimova started by winning her first 1000 event in Qatar. She also reached her first grass court semifinal at the Queen’s Club Championships. But all that was just a prelude to some really big events: Anisimova fought hard to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon, in which she upset world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka. She then lost 0-6, 0-6 to Iga Swiatek in the final. But despite that scoreline, Anisimova would go on to also reach the final of the U.S. Open, upsetting Swiatek along the way. She lost that final to Sabalenka, but she entered the top five. What a season!

5. Saving the best for last: World number 1 Aryna Sabalenka had a somewhat (for her) frustrating season, in that she lost both the Australian Open (she was the two-time defending champion) and the French Open finals. But she won her second consecutive U.S. Open, as well as two 1000 titles. And for the second year in a row, Sabalenka ended the year as the world number 1.

4. Coco means France—then and now: Three years ago, Coco Guaff lost the French Open final to Iga Swiatek. This year, she won the title, and she did it by defeating world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Before she got to Sabalenka, Gauff took out, among others, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Madison Keys, and French Open breakout star Lois Boisson.

3. Worth the wait: According to Madison Keys, she spent much of her career wanting to win a major. For her, this was a realistic goal—from the start of that career, Keys was thought to have the kind of potential that could get her a very big trophy. But it didn’t happen. It almost happened in 2017, but Sloane Stephens allowed Keys only three games in the U.S. Open final. 

As she advanced in (tennis) years, Keys utilized her maturity to make some changes. She changed her racket, which—for a professional player—is a major change. And she made the decision to have someone help her delve into her psyche. She stopped believing that she had to win a major in order to achieve validation. And when she did that, she won one. At age 29, Keys won her first major, defeating two-time defending champion  and world number 1 Ayrna Sabalenka in the final of the Australian Open.

2. Too many goodbyes: Every season, we have to deal with at least one notable—or even elite—player’s retiring from professional tennis. This year, we had to deal with three notable retirements,  and that was, and is, difficult for fans. In February, two-time major champion Simona Halep announced her retirement, and this one was sad in a special way because Halep had been made to suffer for so long by the organizations that pretend to guard the tour’s morality (and who are still allowed to get away with their outrageous behaviors). Finally back on the tour, the Romanian star had to deal with injuries, and she called it quits. 

Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia also retired this year. Garcia, a key member of the French Billie Jean King Cup team, won eleven singles titles and eight doubles titles, two of which were majors. In 2022 and 2023, she led the tour in serving aces. 

And then there was Petra Kvitova. The two-time Wimbledon champion, whose career was made difficult by illness and was almost destroyed by a violent act perpetrated against her, was so many things to fans, media, and those who work in the professional tennis field. Adored and respected by her peers, the Czech star had a wicked sense of humor and an innate gentleness that lifted her to a status beyond that of “just” elite athlete. 

(Yes, Alize Cornet retired for the second time this year, but her “comeback” was so brief that—for me—she retired in 2024. She did get some good news this year, though: Cornet, who is also a very fine writer, was named captain of France’s Billie Jean King Cup team.)

1. High on grass!: Former world number 1 Iga Swiatek made some changes this year. She hired a new coach, and she made some changes to her game. But the four-time French Open champion lost her semifinal match in Paris to world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka. To add insult to inury, Sabalenka turned the tables on the tour’s bakery queen and bageled her in the third set. But the clay court leader of her generation wasn’t to be left behind: In a major run that stunned some and delighted many, Swiatek won Wimbledon. Having defeated Belinnda Bencic 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals, she then defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the final. No one (perhaps not even the champions themselves) can say which are the sweetest victories, but this one had to rank pretty high in the Polish star’s resume. She has now won six singles majors.

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Saturday, September 5, 2026

One week in, and the U.S. Open is already a collection of notable stories

Queen-wen Returns! After fighting her way through qualifying and two main draw matches, Zheng Qinwen pulls off a stunning comeback to reach the 4th round at the US Open The reigning Olympic gold medalist rallies from a 0-5 deficit in the final set, winning the final 7 games to topple Madison Keys

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— Tick Tock Tennis (@ticktocktennis.bsky.social) September 5, 2026 at 12:40 PM

A lot has happened since main draw play began at the 2026 U.S. Open. Two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova lost (again) in the first round, the Williams sisters played (and lost) a long and entertaining doubles match, Karolina Muchova went from brilliant to befuddled, and Emma Navarro and Lois Boisson gave us a visual that ranks among the best of its kind when the victorious Navarro celebrated her victory in juxtaposition to Boisson's Zvonareva-level racket breaking.

And then there was the crowd. There is no longer any question--the U.S. crowd is more ill-behaved than even the French, who--for a long time--held the title. Among the drinking, the marijuana smoking, the policy that lets ticket-holders take their seats whenever they want, and the addition of a group of ill-behaving influencers (I hate it when I have to use that word), things have gotten out of control. In my opinion, anyone who disrupts play in any way--after one warning--should be escorted out of the stadium. I know--good luck with that.

Czechs are generally fixtures in the second week of majors, but--as of now--there is only one Czech standing. Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, seeded 6th, was put to a hard test in the third round by Ann Li, but she passed it. Krejcikova made it to the round of 16 at Wimbledon, but lost in the first round in all the other majors this season. A victim of the Czech Curse, Krejcikova just doesn't seem herself after her long injury and illness struggle. 

As for Muchova--after delivering bagels in both her first and second round matches--she simply could not find her serve in her third round match against Emma Navarro. Rising star Nikola Bartunkova gave Mirra Andreeva an excellent fight in the second set, but Andreeva prevailed, 6-2, 7-6 (5). And finally, in the third round, Marie Bouzkova gave it her all against 2022 champion Iga Swiatek, but Swiatek advanced with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) victory. This was such a close match, and Bouzkova, despite losing, certainly played some of her best tennis.

Sorana Cirstea, playing in her (probably) final U.S. Open, continues to show the best of her game. The Romanian veteran, who is having one hell of a season, defeated Jasmine Paolini in the third round. Also in the third round, Anna Kalinskaya-- despite double-faulting fourteen times--defeated Elina Svitolina in a momentum-shifting three-set match. If Kalinskaya can get the serving problem under control, she has the power and accuracy to keep going at this event.

3rd seed Jessica Pegula had to come back from a 1-6 first set against Leylah Fernandez in the third round, while the ever-evolving Marta Kostyuk, seeded 11th, defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets, and the unseeded Taylor Towsend upset 15th seed Diana Shnaider. 

And then there was Madison Keys. who--up 5-0 in the third set--lost to a resurgent Zheng Qinwen.  This sort of thing happens rarely, but it does happen. After the match, Keys said: “I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I just got really scared, like I couldn't swing. Tennis just feels really hard right now, so I feel like that kind of took over."

A highly anticipated match was the third round clash between close friends Iva Jovic and Alex Eala, two of the tour's youngest, most promising stars. They did not disappoint. Jovic experienced what appeared to be a slight leg injury, but it didn't appear to hamper her too much. There were several momentum swings during the match, and Jovic was down 2-4 in the third set, but fought her way back. Eala then saved a match point at 4-5, but--after over three hours--Jovic prevailed, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. This was a splendid match by any standard.

Here is the round of 16 draw:

Aryna Sabalenka (1) v. Taylor Townsend 
Marta Kostyuk (11) v. Linda Noskova (6)
Jessica Pegula (3) v. Sorana Cirstea (16)
Anna Kalinskaya (21) v. Emma Navarro (26)
Mirra Andreeva (5) v. Anastasia Potapova (24)
Iva Jovic (14 ) v. Coco Guaff (4)
Iga Swiatek (8) v. Zheng Quinwen
Naomi Osaka (13) v. Elena Rybakina (2)

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Saturday, June 28, 2025

Challenges for Czechs as Wimbledon draws near

Last year, Barbora Krejcikova won Wimbledon. However, in November, she sustained a back injury that kept her off the tour for six months. She returned in May, and--as she was headed for the quarterfinals in Eastbourne earlier this month--she sustained a left hip injury and withdrew from the tournament. It sounds like this was a precautionary move, but--between the long break and the new injury--it isn't exactly a good time for Krejickova to compete in London.

Her countrywoman, the piece of dynamic art known as Karolina Muchova, has never won Wimbledon, but I certainly believe that she could. But Muchova's career has been wrecked, again and again, by a chronic wrist injury. The Czech player's temporary solution to that problem is her conversion to a one-handed backhand (which certainly suits her elegant game), but she hasn't had a lot of experience hitting her backhand with one hand, and--well, Wimbledon is almost here.

The other chronically injured Czech is Marketa Vondrousova (she's had two wrist surgeries), who won Wimbledon in 2023, and was the first unseeded woman to do so in history. Things look good for Vondrousova, however; she recently won Berlin, defeating the likes of Madison Keys, Diana Shnaider, Ons Jabeur, top seed and world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and Wang Xinyu. We can only hope that she stays healthy for the next couple of weeks.

It doesn't feel right to have this conversation without mentioning two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who intended to retire after she had her baby, but has come back (with a wild card) for one more year. I don't think that anyone expects Kvitova to be in the conversation for Wimbledon, but it would be nice to see her do well there. One way or the other, just having her there is special.

Other grass court winners this season include Elise Mertens ('S-Hertogenbosch--her first grass title), Tatjana Maria (in an absolutely stunning run at Queen's Club), McCartney Kessler (Nottingham), Jessica Pegula (Bad Homburg), and Maya Joint (Eastbourne). Berlin, Queen's Club and Bad Homburg are all WTA 500 tournaments. 

Notable during Wimbledon qualifying was Canadian player Carson Branstine, who defeated both French Open breakout star Lois Boisson and Bianca Andreescu. But the tennis gods never tire of performing their tricks. Branstine's first round opponent?--world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka,

Other first round matches of interest:

Marketa Vondrousova v. McCarney Kessler (32)--The former champion (and now the Berlin champion) will face the Nottingham champion.

Katerina Siniakova v. Zheng Qinwen (5)--Zheng is the clear favorite, but Siniakova, an elite doubles player, knows her way around a grass court--and she's Czech.

Barbora Krejcikova (17) v. Alexandra Eala--The Eastbourne runner-up probably isn't the player Krejickova wants to face in the first round (I doubt that anyone wants to face her in the first round.)

Petra Kvitova (wc) v. Emma Navarro (10)--This isn't an easy first round draw for Kvitova; it should be interesting to watch.

Karolina Muchova (15) v. Wang Xinyu--Wang's grass breakout occurred in Berlin, where she defeated Daria Kasatkina, 2nd seed Coco Gauff, Paula Badosa (via retirement), and Liudmila Samsonova. She was stopped by Vondrousova in the final, but it was quite a run, and Wang exhibited a number of impressive moves and shots. She'll have her work cut out for her with Muchova, the current queen of impressive moves and shots.

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Saturday, May 23, 2026

Predicting the French Open champion--not a good idea

During the 2026 clay season, we’ve had four 500-level tournaments and two 1000-level tournaments, which means that we’ve had six champions—and none of them is named Swiatek or Sabalenka. And while winning a pre-French Open clay court tournament—even a 1000—doesn’t always translate to winning the French Open, we would have been within our rights to think that the above mentioned players would each have won one. Or that at least one of them would have won one. 

Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek has been off her game for a while, though, in Rome, we saw a lot of that Iga—the one who came charging in in 2020 and won the title without dropping a set. Swiatek would go on to win the tournament in 2022, 2023 and 2024. 

The Polish star has yet to win a title of any kind in 2026, but a recent coaching change, whose results were manifested in Rome, shows much promise. When asked, in a press conference in Rome, whether we can now say that she’s “coming back,” Swiatek replied, “Where was I?” Exactly.

As for world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka, her story is a bit different. She had to withdraw from Stuttgart because of an injury, so she began her clay season in Madrid, where she reached the quarterfinals. She was defeated in that round by Hailey Baptiste, despite having held six match points. In Rome, Sabalenka was up a set and a break in the third round, but lost to a resurgent Sorana Cirstea (it was, in fact, the Romanian’s first defeat of a number 1 player).

Sabalenka has won four hard court majors, and last year, she came close to adding a very big clay court title—she reached the final of the French Open, but lost to Coco Gauff. 

In the four 500 tournaments of 2026, we’ve had four champions. Jessica Pegula, the defending champion in Charleston, won the title again. She did it the hard way, and earned the nickname, Three-Set Jess. Mirra Andreeva won the Linz title, Elena Rybakina won in Stuttgart (her second title there), and Emma Navarro--who has been dealing with a chronic illness for a year and a half--upset top seed Vicky Mboko in the Strasbourg final. 

The drama in both Madrid and Rome was increased because of the standings of the champions. Marta Kostyuk won the Madrid title. Kostyuk—who had just won a 250-level tournament in France—had a tough draw, which included Pegula, Linda Noskova and Anastasia Potapova. In the past, the very talented Ukrainian player might have lost her way, but the Marta Kostyuk of today is calmer on court, and more able to make smart shot decisions. 

The winner in Rome was Elina Svitolina, and this was her third Rome title. Svitolina last won Rome in 2018, and so much has changed in her life since then. Always a talented player, whose  movement was considered her greatest asset, Svitolina’s tennis career was interrupted by marriage, childbirth, and an ongoing war. Upon returning to the tour after her maternity leave, the Ukrainian star was a different player, with a better serve, more variety, and bigger hitting. This year in Rome, she did what few could do: She defeated Rybakina in the quarterfinals, Swiatek in the semifinals, and Gauff in the final.

So who is the most likely to win at Roland Garros? Anyone’s guess is good at this point. Sadly, 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova sustained another injury last week while playing in the final of a 125 event. Krejcikova  is now a victim of the Czech Curse, which has already put both Karolina Muchova (who is currently healthy) and Marketa Vondrousova out of commission for months at a time. Muchova, a French Open finalist in 2023, doesn’t have the momentum that we would expect a contender to have, but she could nevertheless make things difficult for other top players in Paris.

Coco Gauff is the defending champion in Paris, and—while her results lately have been inconsistent—Gauff is capable of showing up in her best form. Whatever wobbles she has, she also tends to have a champion’s mind when she plays in big events. 

Elena Rybakina has won a major on a hard court and a major on grass, and there’s no reason—given the strength of her game—that she can’t win one on clay. Rybakina’s serve makes her dangerous on any surface, and her steadiness on court has returned. 

Mirra Andreeva—-though she is sometimes distracted by her own emotions—is no stranger to a big stage. In addition to reaching the French Open semifinals in 2024, the Russian star has also won two 1000-level tournaments. 

As for Kostyuk—the success she’s having has been a long time coming. Between improving her game and settling her mentality, the Ukrainian star has established herself as someone whom no one will want to see on the other side of the net at Roland Garros.

And that brings me to Svitolina, who can now be considered a complete player, and one who is—in my opinion—a real contender in Paris. Her performance in Rome was a feat that few could have pulled off, and there’s no reason to think that the clay in Paris will intimidate her.

Swiatek is likely to have her work cut out for her, for—if things go as they “should” go—she’ll face Alona Ostapenko in the third round. Ostapenko is 6-0 against Swiatek, and—more than any other player on the tour—has figured out how to flummox the former world number 1 and four-time French Open champion. Ostapenko’s formula is a simple one: Don’t give Swiatek any time to set up her shots. One would think that—by now—Swiatek would have a strategy to counter Ostapenko’s speed and aggression. We’ll see.

Sabalenka and Gauff are both in the upper half of the draw, while Rybakina and Swiatek (along with Svitolina and Kostyuk) are in the bottom half. Every major draw is very competitive, but—since there is no clear favorite in Paris this year—the draw seems especially competitive. 

We won’t have to wait for the competition to heat, though. 17th seed Iva Jovic and Alex Eala meet in the first round, which feels unfair, but it’s just the (bad) luck of the draw. Also of interest in the first round: 2025 semifinalist Lois Boisson—who has had her share of injury woes—will face 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya, and 2021 champion Krejcikova will play 26th seed Hailey Baptiste. 

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