By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — That was more like it. Indian Wells, the elite suburb of Palm Springs — which is pretty elite its ownself — was what we expect this time of year, beautiful weather. And Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also were what we expect this time of year, playing beautiful tennis.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Rafael Nadal was sitting there after a win trying to explain a defeat. That’s the way it is in tennis. Maybe in all sports.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — She is the protective one, the careful one, because after all Venus Williams is the older sister. Serena might toss out wisecracks, might wear a T-shirt to the press conference after one Wimbledon victory embellished by a double-entendre. Not Venus.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — It was going perfectly. For Serena Williams, who won the first three games leading up to her match against two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — There’s no real explanation, other than the fact that what Venus Williams did Saturday evening, in her case not unique but still very special, is the reason she is a champion — and apparently intends to remain one until the Twelfth of Never.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — She was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first American woman in 20 years not named Venus or Serena to win the U.S. Open, the national tennis championship.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — You know his nickname, “Joker,” a word play on Novak Djokovic’s last name — by now, even non-tennis people know the “D” is silent. But a year ago, the Joker wasn’t laughing. Or smiling. Or, worst of all, winning.
Copyright 2019 The Maven
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The phrase is overused. Because it’s true. You can’t go home again. Thomas Wolfe borrowed the line from Ida Winkler, and it’s understood.
Of course, you can go into that familiar house you once knew, but it’s not the same. Nor are you the same.
The idea was made clear Monday night on Stadium Court 1 at Indian Wells, the tennis complex spread across the sand east of Palm Springs. There they were, two of the great female champions, playing a match that, well, meant nothing, and didn’t even fill two-thirds of the 16,000 seats.
Well, it did mean something. It meant Venus Williams had a 6-3, 6-4 victory over younger sister Serena, who of course was playing a WTA match for only the third time — all in the past few days, all at the BNP Paribas event — since a 14-month maternity break.
It also meant that Venus, at 37 and looking sharp, goes on to the fourth round and meant, not surprisingly, that Serena, 36, will need competition to return to the tennis summit. If that’s possible, with the years working against her.
But this is 2018, not 2001 when Venus and Serena refused to meet in the semifinal at Indian Wells because of booing that was perceived as racist. And this is not 2008, when they met in a final at Wimbledon. The stakes were high in those days. This one, in the 77-degree temperature, was merely a reminder of what used to be.
Venus won because she should have won. She’s been playing, while Serena was giving birth and learning how difficult — and how wonderful — it is to care for an infant. Serena, with maybe the greatest serve the women’s game has ever seen, was broken twice in the first set.
We’ve heard from both how difficult it is playing the sister. At least if it’s a final or semi in a Grand Slam, the match carries some gravitas: the “I hate to beat her, but I wanted to win the U.S. Open” sort of thing. What did they want Monday night, except to perform to a high standard?
Venus was her usually efficient and protective self. She rarely makes statements that will grab a headline, on Inside Tennis magazine or the New York Post.
Asked the difference in the match, Venus said, “Yeah, I just think I have played more in the past year.”
Reminded it was the 29th time they had played (Serena has won 17), Venus then was asked whether the sisters occasionally chided each other or cracked a joke. “Like you said,” she answered, “it’s the 29th time.”
And what did Venus think of the match? “Obviously Serena is playing very well," she said. "The biggest challenge is her tennis.”
No, the biggest challenge is get Venus to say something exciting.
But the two of them, successful, wealthy and wise at least to the demands of the media, have endorsements to protect. You’re not going to get a lot of crazy remarks.
Serena gave what was expected, on the court and off. She can say she understands it will take practice and tournaments to regain the game she showed before retirement, winning the 2017 Australian Open.
But one senses deep down there’s a frustration. Champions never stop thinking like champions.
“I don’t think it would have been a surprise if I won,” said Serena. “So I don’t know if it’s a ‘should have won, should have lost’ sort of thing. I think people would have been, ‘Well it’s expected. She’s Serena. What do you expect?’”
A lady determined to make her way back, that’s what. Even out of sorts, after only a month or two of training, Serena has the old mind-set. That’s why people like Tom Brady and Andre Iguodala don’t retire. They live to play. They play to win. Venus laughs at thoughts of her stepping aside.
“So it’s always disappointing to me to lose to anyone,” said Serena. “It doesn’t matter at any time, at any stage in my career. But you know, there’s always a silver lining. I have to look forward to the next match and the next time, and going forward and trying to do better.”
And not needing to play her older sister.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The question now, after he has been eliminated in the first round of only the second tournament he entered this year — a tournament he's won five times — is whether the problem is in Novak Djokovic’s elbow or his head. Or both.
Tennis is a tough game, physically, mentally. The pros fly literally around the world. There’s no true off-season. Worse, unlike, say baseball, there’s no DL, disabled list. So people keep trying to play instead of trying to recover.
Then, of course, if and when they do recover, is the no-less-important issue of preparation, You can hit dozens of practice shots, but once a match begins, well, let Djokovic describe his failing Sunday in the BNP Paribas tournament at Indian Wells.
“Very weird," he explained. “I just completely lost rhythm. For me, it felt like the first match I ever played on the tour.”
It was the first match against Taro Daniel, a qualifier who is ranked 109th. The first match after losing in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January. And, of course, the first loss to Daniel. The score was 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1, and it left Daniel as bewildered as, well, Djokovic.
“The Djokovic I know is like the Djokovic I have seen on TV, and he never misses a ball; he puts the ball wherever he wants,” said Daniel, who was born in New York. “Today, obviously he was missing a lot of balls, but even then you still have to beat him.”
Or let him beat himself.
We’re not talking just any opponent here. This is a man who a year and half ago dominated men’s tennis, winning in order the 2015 Wimbledon, 2016 U.S. Open, 2017 Australian and, not least since it’s on clay, the 2017 French Open. No one had held all four Grand Slams since the great Rod Laver in 1969. Then...
Was it the elbow? Was it rumored off-court problems? Was it a sense of no more worlds to conquer?, A year ago here at Indian Wells I asked Djokovic whether he relaxed after earning the French, which Roger Federer only won once, which John McEnroe and Pete Sampras never won. He conceded that was the case.
But in 12 months, missing time with the elbow injury, struggling in some matches, he has dropped from an uncatchable first in the ATP rankings to 10th. And now he’s gone one match into Indian Wells.
He had surgery on the elbow in the beginning of February — “a small medical intervention,” he described it. Perhaps more time is needed to heal. Perhaps like some ballplayers, Chuck Knoblauch, Steve Sax, Rick Ankiel come to mind, Djokovic, although not with the yips, is unable to make the shot he once made.
Djokovic is 30, and while Roger Federer, for one, sneers at age — he won the Australian a month and a half ago at 37 — everyone’s body is different. Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, all have fallen victim to wear and tear. The stars keep pushing themselves, traveling from Doha to Melbourne to, yes, Indian Wells, to please sponsors and to embellish their rankings. The other day, Federer said how much delight he felt to return to No. 1.
“It’s life, you know,” said Djokovic. “God always challenges you when you expect it the least.”
No cracks here that God has a poor backhand.
“Yeah, everything, nerves were there,” Djokovic said of his flaws against Daniel. “I made so many unforced errors that it was just one of those days where you are not able to find the rhythm from the baseline, especially from the backhand side.
“That has always been a rock-solid shot for me throughout my career. Just some inexplicable, uncharacteristic errors, but that’s I guess all part of those particular circumstances that I’m in at the moment.”
Djokovic said he had no expectations and just wanted to go out and see what would happen.
“I was not even supposed to be here,” he said, “because the surgery was only five, six weeks ago. But I recovered quickly and got myself ready. I’m sitting here talking after a lost match. It’s not something that I as an athlete want, but at the same time there is a reason everything happens in life.”
He just has to find the reason, and that never is easy.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Murphy’s Law? The contrived one that says anything that can go wrong will go wrong? It’s been drop-kicked out of site. Or rolled into the cup for a birdie. Or maybe served into the back court for an ace. If you’re running a sporting event this weekend, everything is going right.
College basketball needs no help, certainly. March Madness has arrived with the conference championships and then Selection Sunday. But it’s the individual sports that get buried this time of year. Unless...
Unless out of nowhere Serena Williams, in her comeback, has to play sister Venus in a third-round match of the BNP Paribas tournament. Unless Tiger Woods, in his comeback, enters the final round of the Valspar Championship a shot out of the lead.
This is a TV producer’s dream. Who doesn’t care? Who won’t watch? It’s as if we stepped back into time, when all you knew about golf was Tiger or about tennis the Williams sisters. A distant replay brought into 2018.
Never mind the purists. The late team owner and promoter Bill Veeck said if he had to depend on baseball fans for his financial support he’d be out of business by Mother’s Day. It’s the fringe crowd that makes our games what they are, who drive up the Nielsen ratings.
Can Venus, who will be 38 in June, knock off younger sister Serena, who’s returned to the game after what amounted to a 14-month maternity leave? Can Tiger, who missed the better part of two years with back troubles, earn a PGA Tour victory for the first time in four and a half years?
One event, the golf, is at Palm Harbor, Florida; the other, the tennis, is next door to Palm Desert, California, where the action Saturday night was delayed when rain moved in from Los Angeles, 125 miles away.
Venus, who hasn’t won this year — she was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open — was first on Stadium Court One, defeating Sorana Cirstea of Romania, 6-3, 6-4, and was very unemotional about the victory, especially when someone pointed out that she could meet Serena — which she will after Serena’s 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.
Yes, the irony of a Williams-Williams match at Indian Wells was unavoidable. In 2001, when they were supposed to play each other in a semifinal here, Venus withdrew four minutes before the match was to begin. The next day, when Serena faced Kim Clijsters in the final, the crowd booed her. Father Richard Williams said the booing was racist. Neither Williams returned to Indian Wells until Serena ended the boycott in 2015.
“I literally didn't even think about it,” said Serena, who is 36, and of course, as the world knows, mother of a seven-month-old daughter. “That's, you know, totally gone out of my mind. First of all, 17 years ago seems like forever ago. Yikes.
“I wish it were a little bit later (in the tournament) but just happy to still be in the tournament at this point. I would prefer to play someone else, anybody else, literally anybody else, but it has to happen now. So it is what it is.”
Which happens to be a popular phrase of Tiger Woods.
Venus always has been the more structured, more protective of the Williams sisters. And, just like Tiger, her interviews are not particularly newsworthy. Asked her mindset if indeed she was to play Serena, Venus said, “She’s playing really well and just honing her game.”
Even though at the time Serena had played only one match, two days earlier, since winning the Australian Open in January 2017 — her 23rd Grand Slam victory.
“Obviously I have to play better than her,” said Venus, “and see how the match goes.” The way the other 28 official matches between them have gone is 17 wins for Serena, 11 for Venus. From the 2002 French through 2003 Australian, they met in four straight Grand Slam finals, Serena winning all four.
The way the Williamses dominated women’s tennis was the way Tiger Woods, 79 victories, 14 majors, dominated men’s golf. They were the ones who kept us paying attention. On the weekend the clocks move forward — but golf and tennis, in a sense, have gone backward.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Subtle it wasn’t. Not when her husband paid for four billboards east of Palm Springs, one announcing “GREATEST MOMMA OF ALL TIME.” Not when she posted a video gushing, “My comeback is here.”
But successful it was, and in tennis, in sport, isn’t that what matters most?
Serena Williams, 23 times a Grand Slam winner, one time a mother — and that one time has kept her from playing on the WTA Tour for 14 months — made her comeback Thursday night at the BNP Paribas Open, defeating Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan, 7-5, 6-3.
“It was meant to be, coming on International Women’s Day,” said Williams, a feminist as well as a champion. Maybe so, but Serena struggled against a lady she had beaten twice and who is 53rd in the rankings.
“It definitely wasn’t easy,” Williams said post-match to a crowd that on a 68-degree evening maybe half-filled the 16,100-seat main stadium at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
“But it was good,” she said, adding, “I’m a little rusty.”
And like golfer Tiger Woods in this winter of comebacks, understandably so.
It’s one thing to drop off the tour for any length of time. It’s another to give birth, by Caesarian section, develop blood clots, and then need to take care of an infant daughter.
But all is well, for Serena; for daughter Alexis Olympia, now some seven months old; and for father Alexis Ohanion, Sr., founder of the social news website Reddit, who a few weeks ago created the billboards along Interstate 10 dedicated to his bride.
Tennis and golf are built on stars, the rich and famous. And as his return has boosted galleries and TV ratings, there’s nobody more famous in men’s golf than Tiger, even at age 43. There’s nobody more famous in women’s tennis than Serena, age 36.
In America, at least, nobody comes close to Serena, as a winner, a fan favorite and an attraction. When you’re known by just one name, as is Serena, or Tiger, you’re queen or king of the hill, top of the heap.
Serena needed no extra promotion coming into this match, which was preceded by a glamorized exhibition (on ESPN, naturally) and a team competition in which Serena linked with her 37-year old sister, Venus.
When you get as many stories in People magazine as you do in Sports Illustrated, there’s no question why her return was major news, especially in the California desert, which with all the movie folk seems like just another part of Hollywood, 140 miles to the west.
Serena won the Australian Open in January 2017, eight weeks pregnant at the time, as she and we found out. Then she was told to give up competitive tennis until after the baby was born. She did that.
Diyas, 24, served to open the match against Williams, and both women held serve until it was 5-5. You heard a few plaintive wails from the less-expensive seats on high — “Come on, Serena; let’s go Serena.” And finally in the 11th game, Serena broke serve for a 6-5 lead.
After that, Williams settled down.
“It’s so hard when you haven’t been playing matches,” said Williams after the victory — long after, having showered and dressed.
She said she almost cried before the match having to leave her daughter and go on court. “But playing at night made it easier, because I knew she was sleeping.”
Early on, it seemed Serena was sleeping. On the contrary, she was adjusting. The moves, the responses developed over the years, had to be relearned.
“It’s totally expected,” she said. “I’m not going to be where I want to be.”
Where she wants to be presumably is where she was. Time takes its toll, certainly, yet the triumphs of Roger Federer, at 39, show that age no longer is the barrier it used to be.
“I felt I had nothing to lose,” she said of the return. “I didn’t feel the stress I had felt. I was just happy to be here, like when I was young and just starting on Tour. Just excited to be here.”
As tennis, and all of sport, is to have her here.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — So Jack Sock, who was discussing dinner with Bill Gates and, oh yes, Roger Federer — those tennis people live life — was asked when an American player, such as Sock, actually might win a Grand Slam tournament, the way Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi used to do.
“So you want to talk tennis now?” Sock said rhetorically — and somewhat disappointedly. He was having such a grand time discussing forecasts of the future provided by Gates, the Microsoft guy, and teasing when someone asked about the forecasts: “I can’t give that away.”
The real issue at the moment — now and forever — is the future of men’s tennis in America. The U.S. ladies, certainly, are in fine shape, literally as well as metaphorically.
Sloane Stephens won the 2017 U.S. Open, and if an American can win only one of the four majors, that’s the one. Thursday night, Serena Williams, who’s won them all, again and again, returns to WTA competition here at the BNP Paribas tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden
But no American male has won a Slam tournament since 2003, 15 years if you’re counting. That was Andy Roddick, who is from Nebraska. As is Sock. You never suspected the heart of U.S. men’s tennis was in the heartland of America, did you? Cornfields and forehands.
Down here, it’s cactus and streets named for celebrities, starting with Bob Hope Drive and Frank Sinatra Drive. Gerald Ford has his roadway. Tennis? Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain, who’s won the French Open and Wimbledon, walked the red carpet at the Academy Awards Sunday night 130 miles up the road in Hollywood. According to one story she “turned heads in a black asymmetrical gown and had many asking, ‘Who is Garbiñe Muguruza?’”
Until the end of last year, the question from the casual sports fan might have been: who is Jack Sock? Then he won three titles, qualified for the ATP Championships (for which he was unprepared) and coming in at No. 9 was the first U.S. man to end the year in the top ten since Roddick in 2010, seven years earlier, a lifetime in tennis.
You would think Sock would be excited. He was, with an asterisk. He had his late summer and fall all organized, and then, wham, he had fly to London to be one of the eight singles contestants in the Nitto ATP Finals, which is sort of like the sport’s March Madness in November.
The next thing he knew, he was in the Australian Open this January. If not for long, losing in the first round. Around the world, and plop.
“That day I flew home from Melbourne,” said Sock, who lives in Kansas City, “and I was in the gym. For four weeks, I was trying to get my mind straight again.”
Success, or the result of success, had socked the 25-year-old Sock.
“I had no expectation of being in London,” he said. “I had to redo my schedule. I had no idea of what was going on. I had some commitments, traveling a lot in the off-season, things that in hindsight I wouldn’t have scheduled. But you live and learn.
“I took time off after Australia. Home in my own bed for more than two days. I feel a lot more confident now.”
To be invited to take part in the Federer-Gates exhibition and dinner, the money from the sellout crowd at SAP Arena in San Jose, $2.5 million, going to Federer’s African educational fund, verifies Sock’s new status.
He’s the so-called heir apparent in U.S. tennis, a designation he accepts with a cringe.
“It’s enjoyable when you don’t talk about it,” he said. “I understand every time you talk about this. There’s such a rich history of American tennis, the fans here are used to somebody winning a Slam or at least competing for a Slam. Obviously there hasn’t been anyone at that level quite yet
“We’re doing our best. But there are a couple of guys, one named Federer, another named (Rafael) Nadal and another named (Novak) Djokovic. So it’s not the easiest thing to weasel your way in there in and win.”
Which is why a Grand Slam means so much.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The battles are over now. Donald Young against the tennis establishment. Against himself. And on Tuesday, with the temperature reaching 96 degrees, against favored Louis Pouille.
For the first time, Young was into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Not for the first time, a career that was too full of potential, of obscenities, of second-guessing, brought forth that most agonizing of phrases in sport: Oh what might have been.
Let us say this, at age 27, too late to reach the heights but not too late to achieve satisfaction, Young, who was going to be the Tiger Woods of tennis, a young black man who was the No. 1 ranked junior in the world — not just the U.S. — apparently has found contentment.
No more letters loaded with profanities castigating the United States Tennis Association, the organization that governs tennis in this country and that six years ago a frustrated Young felt was governing his life.
No more winless streaks, as in 2012 when Young went 17 matches without a victory.
No more questions from the media on why and how the kid who was labeled a prodigy, coached by his mother, a teaching professional, didn’t live up to expectations, ours as much as his.
Pouille is 15th in the world rankings, an upset winner last summer over Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open. Young is 60th. When Young blasted out in the second set Tuesday, then allowed a 5-0 lead in the third to start getting away, the result could have been predictable.
Instead, it was unforgettable.
Young was a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 winner. This after a surprising triumph in the previous match over Sam Querrey, who won the Acapulco Open a few days back and had stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round of last year’s Wimbledon.
“My hand was shaking quite a bit toward the end,” said Young of the situation against Pouille, “but I was happy to pull through. The other guy had more (total) points, but I’m winning.”
And he’s smiling, unburdened by what others thought, an individual at peace with himself, loving where he is finally and loving what he does. That certainly is a change from the painful times six and seven years ago when the USTA wanted him under its control and his mother, Ilona, and Young refused to accede.
Maybe it’s the same thing now with the Ball brothers, the basketball players whose father calls the shots as his sons follow his directions, at least off the court. For Young the instruction also came on the court, and there was a conflict.
He dashed off a tweet, with no swear words deleted, that said the “USTA screwed me for the last time.” That was in 2011, when Young should have been at his peak as a tennis player, although in retrospect he may have peaked at age 15.
Young was moved up to face older, stronger athletes. He lost matches. Surely he also lost his confidence.
“Yeah,” he said, when asked if he would change the early years looking back. “At the time it seemed right. Now, knowing, I wouldn’t take away all of it, but ... I wouldn’t blame anybody. It was a first time. There were a few decisions. They thought I would do well at a faster pace. Hindsight is 100 percent.“
Young wished he had other Americans of his age to compete against and develop friendships, as Taylor Fritz and Francis Tiafoe have now. He was alone. And he was African-American in a sport that was predominately white.
“The kids now, they’re playing each other,” said Young. “They have a chance to get their feet wet. A great group of guys. It’s a different generation. They trash talk each other, say anything and get away with it.”
But if there was bitterness, it has gone with the years and matches.
“You live for days like this,” said Young, responding to a question. “It’s my job. I love it. When I’m gone two, three days I miss it. What else better could I do?”
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The bicep is the clue, the left one, so much bigger than the right, stretching the sleeve of Rafael Nadal’s post-match T-shirt. Tennis players, like blacksmiths, pound with one arm, hour after hour, day after day, season after season.
The serve, the forehand, all done with Nadal’s left. The two-handed backhand doesn’t make much difference. There’s an imbalance between the two arms, as there is for anyone who’s spent a lifetime in the sport.
Nadal is 30 now, old — veteran of more than 1,000 pro matches over 14 years, and winner of 14 Grand Slams — and yet in today’s world of improved diet and exercise techniques, he is young.
Roger Federer, beating Nadal in the final, won the Australian Open a month and a half ago at 35. And Nadal, apparently free of one injury after another, said, “I am playing at a very high level.” That includes his 6-3, 6-2, win Sunday in the BNP Paribas Open over an Argentinean named Guido Pella.
The great ones just keep playing: Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray — yes, great, even though Murray, the No. 1 seed, No. 1 in the world rankings, was upset Saturday night by Vasek Pospisil.
Playing against the other stars. Playing against themselves.
Tennis is their life, as well as their job. Tennis is what they do, what Rafa Nadal does, until someday he won’t be able to do it any longer.
They are competitors. They are globetrotters. Starting in December, Nadal has been in Dubai, Australia, Mexico and now the California desert. It beats being trapped in an office cubicle, especially when you’re able to beat most of your opponents.
Is it unusual that in tennis, as in golf, fans cheer for the favorite, not the underdog? They want Federer to win, Nadal to win. When that happens the paying customers are satisfied they got what they expected, what they wanted. “Hey, saw Djokovic break serve.”
Hard to know what the players want other than good facilities (the Tennis Garden at Indian Wells is one of the finest), good health and an effective game. They are nomads, facing the same people across the net or in the media rooms, trying to get a little more topspin, trying to do a little less explaining. Not that they don’t understand what comes with the territory.
Most of the better players, no matter if they’re from Switzerland, Serbia or Shanghai, speak English impressively. Nadal, however, used translators for his first several years. He has picked up the language, although with a strong accent, and sometimes his thoughts as well as his words are confusing to the listener.
To his credit, what Nadal, along with others of his skill level, has learned is he must deal with all sorts of questions from the press, some professional, some personal, some stupid.
On Sunday, after Nadal said he thought he played a solid match against the 166th-ranked Pella — “For a few moments I played well; for a few moments I played less well” — he was asked where the sport would be in the future. Would the men all be 6-foot-5? Would there be limits on racquets?
Nadal doesn’t want a serve and volley game, but one in which shots go back and forth, long rallies. “People can think it’s because it helps me, but I am talking about the sport overall, no? ... I think good points, if we want to maintain a good show for the people.”
With his frantic movements and his wicked forehands, Nadal presents an exceptional show. He’s a scrambler, a battler, not as graceful as Federer but arguably more exciting to watch.
“In Melbourne,” he said, meaning the Australian Open, “I played some great matches. In Acapulco (where he lost in the final to Sam Querrey) I played well. In Brisbane (before the Australian) I played well. In Abu Dhabi (Dubai, the end of December) I played great.
“Four events I played at a very high level. Very happy the way I started the season. Now there is another opportunity.”
An opportunity to continue flexing his muscles.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The little sister — is it fair to describe Serena Williams that way? — withdrew a few days earlier because of an injury. And now, despite chants on her behalf from the crowd, it seemed Venus Williams was also out of here, a second-round loser in the BNP Paribas Open.
Venus was crushed in the first set, and after first falling behind 4-1 in the second set she was facing match point, as well as facing a competitor she knows all too well, Jelena Jankovic.
“There’s a lot of history out here with us,” Venus would say later And on this Saturday, when the temperature reached 92 degrees, Williams would create more, rallying for a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory.
She’s always had the determination and now, three months from her 37th birthday, Venus still has the game.
Two California girls, in a way, Venus, born and raised in Compton, the tough suburb of Los Angeles, and Jankovic, the Serb who with her winnings and endorsements built a 20,000-square-foot home in Rancho Santa Fe, where Phil Mickelson resides, west of the San Jacinto miles from this desert locale, near the Pacific Ocean.
This is the first big tournament every year following the Australian Open, with both men and women in competition, like the four Grand Slams.
Back in 2001, when the world was different, and people less understanding or forgiving, the Williams sisters were to meet in a semi here at Indian Wells.
The day before, Elena Dementieva accused the girls’ father, Richard, of deciding who would win family matches — she later said it was a joke — and when Venus pulled out four minutes before the scheduled start the crowd was outraged.
Boos filled the stadium. Two days later, when Serena defeated Kim Clijsters, the derision continued. Richard Williams said the predominantly white crowd booing his African-American daughters was pure racism. The Williams sisters refused to enter the event, not yet known as the BNP, year after year. Finally in 2015, Serena, after soul-searching and many discussions, returned, and then last year Venus did, to the delight of the tournament and the fans.
The spectators, thinking Venus was done Saturday, started chanting and applauding rhythmically, as if they were at a football game, “Let’s go Vee-nus. Let’s go Vee-nus.”
She went. And in their 13th meeting of a rivalry that began in 2005 and was even at six wins apiece, Williams found her game. Jankovic, once No, 1 but never a Grand Slam winner, lost hers. And the match.
“At match point she was off to the side,” the 32-year-old Jankovic said of Venus, “and all I had to was hit it. It was a big mistake, a bad error. I’m still nervous after coming back from injuries last year. Venus played well. I had my chances.”
In any sport, particularly tennis, one must take advantage of those chances. They come so infrequently that when squandered — particularly against a champion such as Venus, who was in the final of the Australian two months ago, losing to Serena — a victory turns into defeat.
“Venus is a great champion,” said Jankovic, “She plays so well.”
In her first tournament since Australia, Venus started slowly, to be kind. In the desert, dry and hot, balls fly farther than in more lush, humid areas. Williams was spraying shots long and wide.
“That’s why they have a second set,” said Williams, who then forced a third, appropriately ending that the match with a service ace.
“I think the biggest takeaway from the Australian for me,” said Venus, “was just even more confidence. That's the biggest takeaway. I definitely look forward, like, all right, I want to build on that and continue to play well and to just improve my game, which is what I worked on.
“So I'm not necessarily living in the past. It just makes me more excited for the future.”
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The Joker, they call him, and there were times that Novak Djokovic — yes, the “D” is silent — with his skill at mimicry could make us laugh. But now, after a year when triumph was muted by disappointment, he sees life and tennis from a different view.
Once at the top, of course, as the line goes in the musical Evita, it’s a long, long way to fall. Djokovic didn’t tumble that far, but not only did he fail to win either of last two Grand Slam tournaments, after winning the previous four in succession, he dropped from the No. 1 ranking to behind Andy Murray.
Progression worked against him. A great start, an unsatisfying finish. Four straight Grand Slam victories, beginning with the 2015 Wimbledon and climaxing with the 2016 French Open, his first win there.
Satisfaction worked against him. Asked if after the French he subconsciously relaxed, Djokovic unhesitatingly answered, “Yes.”
And why not? Since the start of the Open era in tennis, April 1968, only four men had won each of the four Slams: Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Now this agile Serb had become the fifth.
“It was the crowning achievement for me,” said a candid Djokovic. “The French was a priority, but it took a lot of emotion out of me.”
He was sitting in the interview room Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open, the defending champ, seemingly relaxed, unquestionably honest — with himself and the media. It was hot outside, 91 degrees in this desert community some 15 miles southeast of Palm Springs, but inside the air conditioning was working its magic.
“Generally, I see myself in perspective from the end of last season,” said Djokovic. He will be 30 in May, and despite the struggles after the French, relatively speaking — a third-round loss at Wimbledon, a finals loss at the U.S. Open, a quick departure from the Rio Olympics — he was still considered the man to beat.
“I feel much better in terms of my game from the mental side, than I was some months ago,” he said.
The pressure never ceases, pressure to advance when you’re young, pressure to persist as you become established.
“No doubt there’s pressure,” agreed Djokovic. “It’s part of the work. It means we’re doing something that is worthy and has value.
“Something that I always dreamed of doing on such a high level. Certainly as one of the top players, one of favorites to win a Grand Slam, you put pressure on yourself.”
Until winning the French, until making history.
The years and the service returns and the forehands caught up with him. It was as if he said, “Phew. That’s over.” But in the competitive world of tennis, it’s never over until as long as you’re on the court, especially when you have a reputation to enhance.
“I don’t regret things in my life,” said Djokovic, who has won 12 Slams, fourth highest behind Federer, 18, and Nadal and Pete Sampras, 14 each.
“But maybe I should have taken a long break after the French to recharge emotionally. It didn’t happen. I just kept going.”
Not very far in results but, Djokovic said, a considerable distance in his mind.
“It was a lesson to be learned,” he said. “I think those four to five months the second part of 2016 were very important to me, for my growth as a player, as a human being.
“Particularly after the U.S. Open. Then I had those couple months where I wasn't myself on the court. Now I'm at the better place and I believe that I'm headed in the right direction."
Djokovic is in the tough part of the draw at Indian Wells, a tournament he’s won five times previously. In his bottom quarter are Federer, a four-time winner, Nadal, a two-time champ, and Nick Kyrgios.
“I haven't had too many draws like that," Djokovic said. "It's quite amazing to see that many quality players are in one quarter.”
You might say it’s no Djoke.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The words went straight to the heart and — no less important in today’s sporting world — the television ratings. “Sadly, I have to withdraw from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open,” said Serena Williams in a statement.
Of course it was in a statement. That’s the way stars dole out bad news these days. In a statement, or in the case of Tiger Woods, on his web site. As little direct contact as possible.
So we accept it. The way Serena has to accept her knee problems.
The way people in charge of the BNP tennis event have to accept the reality that the world’s No. 1 women’s player will not be entering what is the sport’s first big event since the Australian Open, which Serena won, defeating older sister Venus in a historic final.
The way that golf people accept that Tiger Woods is battling the same difficulties as Serena, relative old age leading to constant ailments that never heal.
There's nobody to blame. There are injuries in every sport, as we’re all too aware with Kevin Durant. “Next man up” is the litany. The trouble in individual sports, dependent on stars and personalities, sports without team loyalty, is there may not be a “next” man or woman.
There’s only one Serena. Only one Tiger.
The older you get, the more you’re injured. The fact is undeniable. The years of swinging a tennis racquet or golf club take their toll.
Tiger was different, special. He brought non-golfers to golf, attracted a new, expanded following, crossed ethnic and social barriers.
It wasn’t the game itself that proved fascinating. Some didn’t know a birdie from a bogey. But they knew Tiger.
Knew he was winning, knew he was spectacular, knew he was unique.
Now Tiger, 41, after two back surgeries, rehab and painful attempts at playing, is idled in Florida.
Three weeks ago in the Genesis Open, the former Los Angeles Open, an event benefitting the Tiger Woods Foundation, an event for which Woods was the unofficial host, he was ordered by his doctor not even to appear at Riviera Country Club to address the media but to stay horizontal. That’s serious.
Serena’s condition, the left knee that bothered her at the U.S. Open last summer, seems less critical. However, Williams is 35 and has had knee troubles in the past. That she waited until two days ago to announce her withdrawal from the BNP Paribas is somewhat bewildering. Did she think the knee would heal in a few days when she hadn’t played in a tournament since the Australian at the end of January?
Indian Wells already was missing Victoria Azarenka, on maternity leave; Maria Sharapova, who has one month left in her 15-month suspension for taking a drug banned by the WTA but available in her native Russia; and two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, recovering from stab wounds inflicted during a robbery of her apartment in the Czech Republic just before Christmas.
The advice in these situations from some is not to write about those who aren’t in a tournament but those who are. Yet Serena and Sharapova truly are bigger than their sport, just as Tiger is in his. They can’t be ignored.
People who wouldn’t cross the street, or the base line, to watch tennis would very happily choose to see Williams. Or Sharapova.
Even in team sports it’s all about the individual, about Tom Brady or Steph Curry or Alex Ovechkin, the stars who make the money and the headlines, which certainly describes Serena.
Bill Veeck, the late team owner and promoter, used to say if you had to depend on baseball fans for support “you’d be out of business by Mother’s Day.” You’d better bring in the curious, the outsiders.
Veeck did it with gimmicks, sending a midget, Eddie Gaedel, to bat for the St. Louis Browns, holding disco night with the Chicago White Sox.
Tennis has to rely on famous players. In America, maybe the world, there’s no woman tennis player as famous, and successful, as Serena Williams. She’ll be missed.
By Art Spander
Palm Springs Life
Hollywood figured it out almost as soon as there were movies: Fame sells.
You didn’t need actors who knew Shakespeare — not that it wasn’t acceptable — but actors and actresses who were known. The two worst words for box office weren’t “No talent,” but “Who’s he?” The same thing for golf and tennis.
Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — He once beat Roger Federer, and that was three years ago when Federer still was near the top of his game. Nobody had heard of Federico Delbonis until then. He was 22, trying to work his way up the rankings, a no-name from Argentina.
Few have heard of him since. Then, whoosh, Delbonis struck again. Handled the serves and psyche Monday of the man ranked No. 2 in the world, Andy Murray. This plot of desert land 15 miles east of Palm Springs seems as alien to Murray as the surface of the moon.
“It’s just the conditions here,” said Murray. He didn’t mean the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where the annual BNP Paribas Open is held annually. He meant the Coachella Valley, where the sun shines — the high temperature was 79 — the wind blows, there are a zillion swimming pools and maybe a half-zillion golf courses. Most visitors are enthralled.
But not Murray, who fell 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3) to Delbonis, ranked 51 slots below him.
“I think a lot of the results I have had here over the years,” said a slightly perplexed Murray, “suggest I haven’t played my best here.”
He’s a Scot, but he once trained in Spain and spends a great deal of time in Miami, where the tennis tours go next. The dry air here, the slower courts, Murray contends, affect his game of booming serves. The man won Wimbledon, in 2013, the first British male in 75 years to be a champion at the All England Club. But it’s apparent he won’t be a champion here.
“I got into winning position,” said Murray, who had a 4-1 lead in the third set, “and didn’t take it. I think one of the reasons is because I didn’t serve like I should serve.
“I have the capability to serve 135 mph, but my first serve speed would have been 100, 105. I didn’t feel comfortable going for my serve. I felt like every time I went for it, I missed it. I didn’t have control of that shot at all.”
And so in his first tournament (other than Davis Cup team competition) since reaching the finals of the Australian Open, the 26-year-old Murray places only two matches.
Delbonis grew up on clay, and while there are hard courts at Indian Wells, they are not as slick or fast as, say, Flushing Meadows or certainly the grass at Wimbledon. “I feel good,” said Delbonis, “the surface is not too fast. For me, I can slice in that kind of court.”
He certainly sliced up Murray. It’s like facing a knuckleball or slow-curve pitcher when you like to hit fastballs. And no matter what you try, you still can’t make solid contact.
“I made adjustments,” said Murray. “For one, I stopped going for my first serve. I tried to get a higher percentage of serves in, which maybe was not the best decision. I did manage to get myself into a winning position. Also I started returning from way farther back ... I think with the return it worked. The serve didn’t work so much.”
In any sport, it’s a question of forcing the other player or team to play your game. Delbonis did just that. Murray’s backhand is strength, along with the serve. Delbonis went to Andy’s forehand. There’s so much that goes into tennis, as there is into football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer. Keep the opponent off balance.
“Yes, of course,” Delbonis agreed when asked if his strategy was to play to Murray’s forehand. These guys have coaches who scout as well as teach. They know the other guy’s weaknesses, not that they’re always able to take advantage.
“I know his backhand is pretty good,” Delbonis said of Murray, “when he’s quiet in one side. I know I have to play, hit harder to his forehand to get a good hit or a good position on the court, to be aggressive or to move it to him, because it is one of the keys to get a good point.”
Murray, who had played outdoors for five weeks until arriving at Indian Wells, said he did not underestimate Delbonis. “I thought he moved better than what I thought,” said Murray.
If that sounds a bit confused, well, after another tough day in the desert, so is Andy Murray. Again.
By Art Spander
Palm Springs Life
She’s the world No. 1, as the public address announcer bellowed several times before the first shot and after the last, and although not outwardly arrogant, the 34-year-old Williams well understands her place in the sport, indeed in all of sports.
When she was asked if, not having competed in an event since a finals loss at the Australian Open the end of January, she wasn’t tournament-ready, returned with, “I’m tournament-ready. I have been playing professional tennis for over 20 years. Yeah, if I’m not tournament-ready now, then I’m never going to be. It’s time to think of other jobs. Maybe I can become a reporter.”
Copyright 2016 Desert Publications. All rights reserved.