#315: "Miss Gauff"
Coco Gauff -- a child prodigy who built her career step by step -- grabs her first major title at 19 to cap a stunning turnaround this summer. She slays every question, embraces gratitude, thanks her haters, and will leave New York a superstar. Aryna Sabalenka ascends to world no. 1 for the first time, reaching the semifinals in every Slam this year, but couldn't stop Gauff in the final. The US Open leaves women's tennis in a truly exciting place, with a clear top tier and a number of women with diverse playing styles always a threat to win. We're also talking about the WTA Finals announcement, the second annual ball controversy, doubles, and Pegula's rich girl confidence.
0:30 Cori Dionne Gauff is the US Open champion! 7:15 The final: fighting back from a first set blowout 25:45 How we talk about male coaches in women’s tennis 31:15 Aryna’s disarming honesty 40:05 Madison zones for 70 minutes but comes up short against Sabalenka 48: Other notes from the second week: Ostapenko’s fitness should not be in doubt 53:20 Doubles: Dabrowski/Routliffe win the title and Townsend lit up the courts all week 59:35 The WTA Finals are where? 63:35 What is up with the US Open balls? 71:30 Speaking of haters
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 | Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis. |
Women's final
Jonathan: We’re underway in the women’s final. Sveta looked eager to get things started: first to shake the hands of the folks at net for the photo op, and first to get in position for the photo op itself. Accordingly, she got out to the early lead by breaking Madison in the first game. Right now, she’s up 4-2 after holding a long service game in which she saved two break points. Sveta has yet to reach 100 mph on her serve through three service games; instead she’s relying on her veteran wiles and creative instincts on court. To escape that last service game, she upped the topspin quotient on her groundies to draw errors from Madison who couldn’t resist going “hog wild,” as Venus termed it earlier this week.
James: Sveta is such a smart player. She has so many tools to work with, alternately using looping topspin, not-quite-moonballs, low slices, drop shots, everything. She’s seen it all out here and understands Madison’s weaknesses. Now this is not to say that Madison won’t turn it around and start clubbing the ball. Interestingly, though, Kuznetsova has never beaten -- or even won a set against -- Keys in their three meetings, all on hard courts.
Jonathan: Well look at you speaking things into existence! Madison breaks Sveta as she attempted to serve out the first set, held serve easily for 6-5, then broke again to close out the first set 7-5. It’s wild how quickly the tenor of this match has changed. Madison is exercising incredible patience out there and seems to be in total control.
Don’t look now, but Sveta has taken an early break to go up 2-1 in the second set. She called her coach down after the end of the first set, and being the veteran that she is, seems to have regrouped rather quickly. She finds herself in the exact same spot as the first set, serving for it at 5-4; let’s see how it goes this time.
James: And again, broken while serving for the set. Although it hasn’t seemed it this week, Sveta is not match tough, and it’s not crazy for her to blink in these tough moments. At the same time, Keys has managed to clean up her ground game in crucial moments. Madison’s mental game has been impressive during this match, as she has refused to panic after falling down breaks in both sets. By the way, I’ve just read that the on-court temperature is approaching the 120s Fahrenheit.
Jonathan: Ouch to the heat, and ouch to Sveta being broken while serving for the second set like she did when serving for the first. Luckily for her, it wasn’t a carbon copy of the first, in that she was able to hold serve at 5-6 and send the set into a tiebreak. Unluckily for her, Madison wins the tiebreak and the match 7-5 7-6(5).
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Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
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Svetlana Kuznetsova raises her arms to the crowd after beating #1 Barty to reach the finals in Cincinnati
Jonathan: Did you ever imagine we’d be talking about Svetlana Kuznetsova this far into the tournament? Her run this week in Cincy has been magical. She’s beaten four of the top 11 seeds: Sevastova, Stephens, Pliskova, and now top-seeded Barty in a comfortable, straight set affair in the semi-finals. We’ve said and written so many superlatives about her this week that I wonder what else there is to say.
James: Luckily she’s always giving us more. Svetlana has said that nothing surprises her anymore, she’s seen it all in tennis. Surely there’s something just a tad surprising about this week? At 34, this is the first time she’s beaten three top 10 players in one tournament. She dismantled the #1 seeded Barty in the semis, dictating play throughout the match. Kuznetsova looked at Barty’s variety and said, “I can do that.” It was an utterly comprehensive match from Sveta, even if Barty was not at her best. Ash didn’t have a great day on serve (and an abysmal one on return), batting slightly over .500 on first and second serve points won; lots of that can be credited to Kuznetsova’s elite return game. Ash was sure to heap praise on the “legend” Kuznetsova in press, saying that there wasn’t much she could do when Svetlana was dominating like that.
Jonathan: We’ve got a bit of a lull in the day as we sit here overlooking the first men’s semifinal and waiting for Sveta’s press conference. Goffin just took the first set from Gasquet 6-3, never really looking bothered at all. Back to Sveta, she will play the winner of the Keys-Kenin second semi-final. Who do you think would be a preferred matchup for her?
James: I have no idea. I know who my preferred winner is: Madison Keys. Sveta has hung with big hitters her entire career (I mean, she’s no slouch in that department either). She certainly wouldn’t be cowed by either the moment or Madison’s massive ground game. However, if Madison is hitting off both wings like she did last night, good luck to literally anyone in her path. The big “if” with Madison is accuracy. As far as Kenin, if I’m being completely honest, I’ve watched very little of her so far. But her run over the past two weeks is one of those that sometimes presages a massive career. Two wins over two different world no. 1s in less than two weeks.
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Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
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James: We’re fresh off the Grandstand, watching Svetlana Kuznetsova gut out yet another 3-set win in terrible midday heat. Today, her victim was #3 Karolina Pliskova, who was to my mind as good a bet as anyone to win this tournament. She’s had a great year, having won three titles already. She was also the 2016 champ here in Cincinnati. But the conditions, coupled with Kuznetsova’s relentlessness, proved too much for Pliskova, and she went out rather meekly in the third set. Sveta’s moment is on point this week; she’s scrambling around the baseline, sliding, and twisting in all directions to reach balls. Not only that, she hit 30 winners today and broke Karolina three times.
After the second-set tiebreak -- which Kuznetsova bossed or Pliskova threw away, depending on your perspective -- the heat rule allowed the players to take a much needed 10-minute break. The temperatures are only going to get worse this weekend. This is expected in Cincinnati in August, but unlike the past few years, there have been very little clouds and rain as a respite from the heat. Jonathan, what did you make of that match, and how to explain Kuznetsova’s remarkable tournament so far?
Jonathan: Since we didn’t have a #TBSDiary for yesterday’s play, I feel compelled to mention that Sveta came into this match on the heels of totally dismantling Sloane Stephens 6-1 6-2. I asked her afterward if she was surprised by how easily she was able to get by Sloane given how competitive her previous two matches were. Her response: no. LOL. For Sveta, she’s seen it all at this point and she just cahhhhhn’t be surprised by anything on a tennis court anymore.
That said, I was a bit surprised by the result today, especially after Sveta got off to such a slow start. Pliskova was blitzing her through five games, and it looked like it could be over in a flash. But, like she did against Yastremska, Kuznetsova eventually got used to the pace and started to dictate play more and more. It was a wily, veteran performance. There may be a bit of magic for Sveta here in Cincy this week. She gets to play Ash Barty for the first time in the semis.
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 | Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.to edit. |
James: The heat finally hit us in earnest today, and Next Gen said “I'm good, luv. Enjoy.” Upsets abounded -- although not all of these were technically upsets based on the rankings -- with Sharapova falling to #2 Barty, and Azarenka going out to the rising Donna Vekic. Even Shapovalov losing to Pouille wasn’t technically an upset, despite the always ample news coverage of Shapo making it seem like his fortunes should be trending higher. One Next Gen-er who did prevail was Andrey Rublev, who is emerging from a wicked slump and beat Stan Wawrinka today.
Alexander Zverev kept intact his winless record in Cincinnati, losing to Serbian teenager Miomir Kecmanovic in 3 sets. (To be fair, Kecmanovic was an Indian Wells quarterfinalist this year, and is coming off a great win against Felix Auger-Aliassime this week.) Zverev’s terrible record here becomes more surprising the more you think about it, especially knowing that he’s won titles in humid Montreal and Washington, D.C.
Jonathan: I was COOKED today. I spent so much time in the direct sun on Court 10, my happy place. I was determined to get a tan, and it’s my absolute favourite court; hopefully the sun screen I applied will leave me in good shape come tomorrow. But, wow, the CARNAGE! I started with a very wild Azarenka on Court 10 vs Donna Vekic. I had high hopes of a rematch of Auckland with Venus Williams, but alas it’s not to be. Vika looks to be in great shape, but she’s been suffering from a serious case of overhitting in the last few months. To Vekic’s credit, she was solid from the jump. I was super impressed with her first serve and how she was able to place it wherever she wanted.
As it stands now, we will get Venus vs Vekic tomorrow (not before 1pm) on Center Court. They’ve played once before, three years ago at Wimbledon, with Venus winning in three sets. Where did you start your day?
James: I too started with Azarenka-Vekic, though after waiting outside the court through a seven-deuce game I was tempted to bolt. Vekic was simply too solid and too strong on serve for Azarenka. Vika is back with Wim Fissette, but I have to wonder what level we can expect from her going forward.
I bounced around all day, checking out Kuznetsova and Ostapenko’s practices, a few games of Wawrinka losing to Rublev, and a bit of Barty-Sharapova. I quite enjoyed the first set of Osaka-Sasnovich, which was on my favourite Cincinnati court: the Grandstand. It’s not fancy; it’s utilitarian, it’s usually easy to find a seat, and there are a lot of short corner rows that allow you to sit alone (lol). Naomi was scratchy in that first set, looking alternately brilliant and wildly inaccurate. She and Sasnovich both hit some beautiful serves, and also hit plenty of groundstrokes that flew out by feet rather than inches. Sasnovich was close to snatching the first, did take the second, and managed to stretch the new world #1 to over 2 hours in the heat.
Osaka watches as she is passed at net by Sasnovich.
Now there’s one marathon match in particular I know we both want to talk about … any ideas, Jonathan?
Jonathan: Ahhhhhh!!!! Svetlana Kuznetsova, visa in tow, has beaten Vekic (last week in Toronto), Sevastova, and now Yastremska since being given her wings to fly again on the WTA Tour. I’ve seen Sveta play so many times on Court 10 over the years, and it’s almost always something really good. Today was no different. It was also my first live viewing of Dayana Yastremska, who has oodles of power. It was the first time Sveta played her, and she looked to be thrown off and on the back foot by the Ukrainian’s power game in the first set. Sveta being Sveta, she saved two match points in the second set, eventually prevailing over a hobbled Yastremska in the end. By the latter stages of the third set, Sveta was ripping winners all over the place, and it was a sight for sore and sun-drunk eyes. We hope to maaaaaybe interview her tomorrow, which would be a full circle kind of moment, as she was one of the very first guests on The Body Serve way back when.
Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
James: We were all ready to finish this evening watching Serena’s opener, but we’ve just received the news of her withdrawal, basically at the same time as the rest of the world. The skies then immediately opened and poured down a near-whiteout, interrupting Roger Federer’s opener with Juan Ignacio Londero. Western New York homegirl Jessica Pegula will take Serena’s spot and face Zarina Diyas in tonight’s second match. I can’t say Serena’s withdrawal is a shock, but we were all optimistic once we saw her practicing on-site this morning.
The fortunes of the elder Williams sister, however, have suddenly turned brighter. Venus had been struggling mightily throughout the past few months, losing in the first round in her last three tournaments. (In the last two, the caliber of her vanquishers rang alarm bells, especially Bethanie Mattek-Sands in her return to singles after many months). Today, Venus was crisp, clever, and strong in taking out Cincinnati defending champ Kiki Bertens. Jonathan, you’ve written a piece on Venus tonight -- would you care to add a bit of color?
Jonathan: The tennis Venus displayed in the first set should put all those fears to rest. I can’t recall the last time Venus looked that good on a tennis court. Dare I say I saw shades of 2017 Venus during today’s match against the defending champion? Even when she fell behind 0-4 in the second set, she immediately got both breaks back and threatened to get things done in straight sets. However, Bertens showed her class and didn’t make things easy for Venus. What was really cool to witness was the crowd throwing everything behind Venus, willing her to the finish line. We KNOW the fraught history of the Williamses playing on home soil in the past, so this is always lovely to see. Anyway, you can read my piece here.
THE BODY SERVE: It appeared that many aspects of your game were working well today. Is there something in particular you were pleased about?
VENUS WILLIAMS: Yeah, I just tried not to go too big, because I can go so big and I have a lot of power, and it’s not always easy to control. So I’m trying to play smart instead of going … hog wild. Which is extremely easy to do.
Venus was the highlight of our day, but we got things started on the Grandstand with Frances Tiafoe (surprisingly?) taking out Monfils in straight sets. What made it even more surprising was the fact he was able to do it after falling behind 1-4 in the first set while being completely outplayed.
James: Frances’ first few games were atrocious; he could barely find the court. As the set progressed, though, his volleys suddenly started landing, his groundstrokes started touching lines, and frankly, his opponent choked a few times. Monfils held four set points in the tiebreak, but Tiafoe found a way to gut it out. A question you asked in press elicited an interesting response from Frances; his volleys clearly weren’t working early in the match, but he decided to keep returning to the well because he knew it was the right play. Eventually, it worked, and his entire game seemed to follow.
THE BODY SERVE. You seemed to struggle a little bit with your short game at the beginning of the first set, missing some balls at the net. But then you persisted and that was probably, looked to me, one of the reasons why you were able to pull that first set back in your favor.
FRANCES TIAFOE: Yeah.
THE BODY SERVE. Was that something you have been working on, giving you the confidence to keep doing it when it's not going so well?
FRANCES TIAFOE: It was tough. Just not easy, especially when you get passed a couple times when you came forward off some good approaches. Yeah, I dumped some volleys early. It was a game plan. You've got to stick to it. You can live and die by it. At least you know it's the right play.
Yeah, it was tough. I mean, just trying to be a little too fancy there in the beginning rather than just kind of being boring and taking care of the volley. Yeah, I was able to do that throughout the match better and better.
By Jonathan Newman
MASON, Ohio -- Venus Williams was the first woman into the third round at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati when she defeated the defending champion, Kiki Bertens, 6-3 3-6 7-6 on Tuesday afternoon. For the seven-time Slam champion, the win was just her second over a top-10 ranked opponent all season, and signaled that the American was rounding into form at the right time ahead of the U.S. Open.
Still, Williams was hesitant to place too much importance on the win, even though she entered Cincinnati having lost three consecutive first round matches.
“It was just a second round, though,” Williams said. “For me, it's just round by round. I have a third round to play. To be honest, every player I play plays amazing. She was no less than that.”
Her opponent, world no. 5 Kiki Bertens, was the defending champion at the Western and Southern Open. The two had played two prior matches, both eventually decided in three sets. Today was no different. Williams raced to an early lead, playing as good a set of tennis as she has all year to secure the first set 6-3. Bertens, for her part, found a groove at the start of the second, sprinting to a 4-0 lead before Williams recouped both breaks to get back on serve at 3-4. The pair was destined to play another three-set match, as Bertens broke back immediately before taking the set 6-3.
Venus Williams on the run during her 2nd round win over Kiki Bertens
Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
Jonathan: Wow, we've been so negligent in keeping TBS Diary alive in the past year, but we are BACK from Cincinnati to regale you with some of our initial observations from the tournament. What is the thing that has stuck out most for you so far, James?
James: Aside from the loss of Piada, one of the only healthy options is the food court? The return of Andy Murray to singles, brief though it was, captured a lot of attention in the first day or two. On a smaller scale, 2-time major champ and 2017 Cincinnati semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova has gotten her visa issues sorted, and has returned to singles after a long layoff. She's looked great against Anastasia Sevastova. At the risk of objectifying her, Sveta looks to be in excellent shape; plus, her finesse and touch haven't deserted her. You love to see it.
Jonathan: What I DON'T love to see, James, is you not following directions: I asked for the ONE thing that has stuck out for you so far! But, I take your point about Svetlana; we are both currently on Court 3 as we write this piece in Google Docs, and, for how little tennis she's played this year, Kuznetsova looks great. Unfortunately for Andy Murray, he was unable to get by Richard Gasquet today, losing in straight sets. But, considering where Andy was at the Australian Open this year, that he was able to give a good account of himself in his singles return, AND remain pain free, is a massive victory in and of itself. He didn't look too bad on Court either!
James: I think Andy will see any singles play this summer as a positive. He was moving fairly well, fighting for breaks -- not really getting them -- but the match was encouraging, because he says he's playing pain-free.
At the US Open, he has decided not to play singles, but will play doubles and mixed doubles. Any guesses who he'll play mixed with?
Jonathan: I feel like you're baiting me into saying SerAndy, and honestly, Serena would have to be the frontrunner UNLESS Venus puts her foot down and requires her to double up with her instead.
Speaking of the elder Williams, Venus turned in arguably her best performance of the summer today, besting Lauren Davis in straight sets. Venus hadn't won a match since mid-June when she lost in the quarterfinals in Birmingham, subsequently losing three consecutive first round matches to Coco Gauf, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Carla Suarez Navarro. But today, against an opponent she was 3-0 H2H, Venus served up more aces than double faults, was consistently in the 110 mph range on the first serve, and even reached 118 mph at one point.
James: Aside from the loss of Piada, one of the only healthy options is the food court? The return of Andy Murray to singles, brief though it was, captured a lot of attention in the first day or two. On a smaller scale, 2-time major champ and 2017 Cincinnati semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova has gotten her visa issues sorted, and has returned to singles after a long layoff. She's looked great against Anastasia Sevastova. At the risk of objectifying her, Sveta looks to be in excellent shape; plus, her finesse and touch haven't deserted her. You love to see it.
Jonathan: What I DON'T love to see, James, is you not following directions: I asked for the ONE thing that has stuck out for you so far! But, I take your point about Svetlana; we are both currently on Court 3 as we write this piece in Google Docs, and, for how little tennis she's played this year, Kuznetsova looks great. Unfortunately for Andy Murray, he was unable to get by Richard Gasquet today, losing in straight sets. But, considering where Andy was at the Australian Open this year, that he was able to give a good account of himself in his singles return, AND remain pain free, is a massive victory in and of itself. He didn't look too bad on Court either!
James: I think Andy will see any singles play this summer as a positive. He was moving fairly well, fighting for breaks -- not really getting them -- but the match was encouraging, because he says he's playing pain-free.
At the US Open, he has decided not to play singles, but will play doubles and mixed doubles. Any guesses who he'll play mixed with?
Jonathan: I feel like you're baiting me into saying SerAndy, and honestly, Serena would have to be the frontrunner UNLESS Venus puts her foot down and requires her to double up with her instead.
Speaking of the elder Williams, Venus turned in arguably her best performance of the summer today, besting Lauren Davis in straight sets. Venus hadn't won a match since mid-June when she lost in the quarterfinals in Birmingham, subsequently losing three consecutive first round matches to Coco Gauf, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Carla Suarez Navarro. But today, against an opponent she was 3-0 H2H, Venus served up more aces than double faults, was consistently in the 110 mph range on the first serve, and even reached 118 mph at one point.
Venus Williams practicing at the Aviva Center in Toronto last week.
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