Sinner gets an Open win and a rare New York treatment

They are playing the US Open in New York where the fans are not only wise to what’s happening, but also wiseacres, known to pick on an athlete’s failings in the loudest of disparaging words.

So what was with their response to Jannik Sinner? Maybe they had an idea that this was an unusual situation. And it was. It was announced at the end of last week that he was docked prize money and ranking points from the tournament where the first result appeared. He had tested positive for trace amounts of the Anabolic steroid Clostebol twice in a period of eight days in March, but there was no penalty because it was ruled that Sinner was not at fault.

This brought skepticism from some, including Tony Kornheiser on ESPN’s 'Pardon The Interruption,' who explained how tennis works.

“He’s a star,” Kornheiser said.

And as everyone in the business knows, tennis does not want to lose its stars. Indeed not only is Sinner a star, but he is also No. 1 in the ATP rankings, ahead of Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.

Certainly, Sinner didn’t want to miss The Open, the biggest tournament of any in America. 

And Sinner, who said the positive tests were due to using applications of the ointment for a cut from a trainer whom he subsequently fired, not only didn’t miss his first-round match Tuesday, but he won. 

He defeated Mackie McDonald 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. Bizarre because Sinner gave up 6 games in the first set and then only 5 combined in the next three sets.

McDonald learned the game in Berkeley, won a championship at UCLA and seemed to have a solid future as a pro. That hasn’t been the case so far.

There was nothing out of the ordinary, cheers for Sinner’s better shots, without any noticeable negative chants or shouts.  The obligatory on-court, post-match interview went on as scheduled, but there were no references to Sinner’s problem.

Obviously tennis spectators are not quite as demanding as those from, say, baseball or the NFL. You know that had it been a ball player who was caught in the mess as Sinner, he would have been booed as soon as stepped on the field—all the while protesting his innocence. Sinner, who is from Northern Italy, said he was pleased with the way the fans treated him. 

You don’t often hear that comment after a sporting event in New York.

At Indian Wells, Mother Nature rains, Carlos Alcaraz reigns to find a way to hang on

To the match. Not an umbrella.

He had taken a 6-1 lead in the first set of the BNP Paribas semifinal. He had won 19 straight matches and in the process a Grand Slam, the Australian. His opponent, Carlos Alcaraz, said of Sinner, “He’s the best player in the world right now.  

Right, and it doesn’t rain in the Coachella Valley in springtime. Sinner lost, or rather, Alcaraz won 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. He will play another former champion, Dan Medvedev, who in the semi defeated the American Tommy Paul, 1-6, 7-6, 6-2.

“I tried to play obviously good tennis, which I have done,” said  Sinner, “especially the first set. Then I made a couple of mistakes. You know the momentum has changed. He raised his level.”

Which since Alcaraz is No. 2 in the world and Sinner No. 3, it isn’t quite like having to leap the Empire State Building. It was just that Sinner had flown in the first set, verifying the betting line making him such a solid favorite the tennis folk concluded it was a given.

 “Who’s going to stop Jannik?” questioned somebody. Well, good old Mother Nature — he had a 2-1 lead in the first set when the weather intervened, play being delayed more than two hours. And eventually, Alcaraz, who won the BNP a year ago.

“Obviously a tough one to swallow,” said Sinner, previously unbeaten in 2024.

The thinking in men’s tennis has been Alcaraz, the Spaniard, eventually would replace Novak Djokovic, the game’s best. Someday at least. At the moment, Djokovic remains first, and even though he’s 36 and the two heir apparents are in their early 20s, the change could be in the distance.   

Alcaraz had an impressive start, but in the last few months he has slipped. And  Sinner has surged. Then came the Saturday meeting, proof that all the speculation might mean nothing.

“Well, I’m really happy to classify (qualify) for another final,” said Alcaraz. “It means a lot to me to play at such a great level and be able to play another final.”

In the post-match interview, Alcaraz was reminded Thursday he had to flee when a hive of bees swarmed in while Carlos was playing.

 “On Thursday,” he was told, “you had the bees and then you had the rain delay today. You came from down a set. Kind of a wild 48 hours.”

At Indian Wells, bees, a bad toe, and another Sinner victory

INDIAN WELLS — Quarter-final Thursday, as the round is known at the BNP Paribas, turned out to be the afternoon Carlos Alcaraz had to worry more about back-biting (from insects) than backhands. The round “The Woz” could no longer go toe-to-toe with her comeback dream.

The round Jannik Sinner (16-0) remained undefeated, Tommy Paul remained on track and the world’s second-ranked male, Carlos Alcaraz, managed to survive, unlike top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who three days earlier was upset and then subsequently decided to pull out of next week’s event at Miami.

And for the round, the temperature, here often in the 80s and usually in the 70s, was no higher than that mid-60s, not that the weather seemed to matter to the boisterous fans packed in the 16,200-seat main stadium.

If it’s too cold to go to the pool, go to the courts — especially with the cast of those entered. Not that the stories all dealt with the actual tasks of cracking serves and hitting returns.

Three games into the Alcaraz-Alexander Zverev match, eventually won by Alcaraz, 6-3, 6-1, a swarm of bees arrived (OK, toss in buzz lines) and the two contestants ran for safety. Officials called an apiarist (a beekeeper) who collected the swarm.

“I'm glad I'm not there anymore… That's crazy. There was nothing like 30 minutes ago. I would run away," said Iga Świątek, watching from the interview room after her 6-4, 6-1 over The Woz, Caroline Wozniacki.

Wozniacki, once No. 1 before she married former Warriors center David Lee and gave birth to two children, is coming back from retirement. She injured a big toe a few days ago in a win over Angelique Kerber, and when the pain grew so severe, she called a stop against Świątek.

Sinner is the Italian from the Dolomite region of the Alps where they speak as much German — if not more — than Italian. But whatever language he employs his racquets pay attention.

He was a 6-3, 6-3, winner over Jiri Lehecka, and after taking his first Grand Slam, the Australian  Open, he had the rest of the pros in awe. He has great speed and beautiful consistent groundstrokes. And even more notably, he has the confidence that is a byproduct of success. Or the reason for the success.

And yes, the former teen, Coco Gauff, now age 20, also won, 6-4, 6-3 over Yue Yuan.

“It wasn’t the best serving,” concedes Gauff, “but the groundstrokes worked. I just try and take the positives.”

A day of a lot of tennis is too much for Fritz

INDIAN WELLS — That problem for Taylor Fritz, the town reminding him he was the defending champ in the BNP Paribas Open? It’s no longer around.

Neither is Fritz.  

Jannik Sinner, an Italian who moved from a possible career in skiing to a definite career in tennis, ousted Fritz, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Thursday in their quarterfinal at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

You can debate whether it was an upset — Fritz was fifth in the ATP rankings, Sinner, 13th — there is no question for the fans shouting for the guy from southern California, it was a disappointment.

Whether you liked the results from this Thursday when the temperature would reach 72, you had the format and the entertainment.

The term March Madness has been copyrighted by the NCAA for another sport that uses nets and balls, so we’ll just refer to what was almost nine hours of activity as Racquet Revelry.

It began a good time before noon — you hate to describe matches involving the women’s Wimbledon champ and the No. 1 player in the women’s rankings — as warm up competition.

It closed after 8 p.m., not quite closing time around Palm Springs, but you’d better move quickly.

Elena Rybakina, who in July won Wimbledon, defeated Karolina Muchova, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.

Then the sun set especially on ex-champ, Fritz.

Then, after the lights came on, Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 1 and also the Wimbledon champ, defeated the man who he had never previously beaten, Félix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 6-4.

Is that enough for you? It was more than enough for the 25-year-old Fritz, who was knocked out by a kid even younger, Sinner, who’s 21.

Asked if there was anything positive he could take from the match, Fritz said. “Not really. No, it’s a tough match. You know, I found a way to get back in it and into the third and got it back. I don’t know. I put myself in a decent chance to win, but in the end, I just couldn’t make it happen.”

Fritz said the wind, which often blows in the desert, increased in the afternoon which had an effect on the match.

“Obviously I wanted to keep going. I wanted to defend.”

And hear his friends and neighbors remind him he was a champion. 

Which he was.