Episode 135 of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast: available on iTunes, podbean.com, and all podcast apps
#135: The Good, the Bad, and the Tragic: US Open Preview f/ David Taylor and Kamau Murray
We sat down with the coaches of last year's US Open finalists, David Taylor (Keys) and Kamau Murray (Stephens). These very different coaches share their thoughts on navigating player personalities and what they see as the most important roles of a tennis coach. But first, we analyze the US Open draws: the stacked women's first quarter, which could see a Venus-Serena third round and a Simona-Serena fourth, but with much uncertainty for all. On the men's side, Nadal gets an easy-ish one, while Djokovic looms for Federer (or vice versa) in the quarters. We also take on FFT President Giudicelli's comments on Serena's catsuit, and why boycotting is not top of mind for us. 2:10 The tragic: the women's first quarter, which features 5 current or former no. 1s plus Kuznetsova 12:45 The good: Madison Keys' draw 21:15 Also good: defending champ Nadal gets a soft draw to the semis 32:50 The bad (depending on your position): Djokovic and Federer drawn to play in the quarters 38:10 Peng Shuai gets dinged by the Tennis Integrity Unit, Lendl joins the Zverev camp 42:50 French Federation president Giudicelli bans Serena's catsuit: the cultural battleground that is the black female body 51:30 Is this the least wide-open women's draw in a while? 56:20 Our interviews with David Taylor and Kamau Murray, coaches of last year's US Open finalists Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens 1:04:40 Kamau Murray's radical honesty
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Episodes 132, 133, and 134 of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast: available on iTunes, podbean.com, and all podcast apps
#132: Rogers Cup Wrap, Sascha Bajin Chat
Here in Cincinnati, we had the chance to sit down with Sascha Bajin, Naomi Osaka's coach and the former long-time hitting partner of Serena Williams. Sascha talks about his playful relationship with Naomi, his approach to coaching, and his recent social media tribulations. We're also recapping the Rogers Cup, which was highlighted by an incredible giant-killing run by Stefanos Tsitsipas and a superb women's final between Simona Halep and Sloane Stephens. 2:00 Catching up with Rogers Cup results: all about Stefanos 7:30 Denis & Sascha Z ruffle a few feathers - we attempt to move past the knee-jerk reaction 17:00 Rafa's run to the Rogers Cup title 19:30 Simona and Sloane put on a great show in Montreal women's final 26:00 Anything to say about the shot clock? Not really 29:00 Our conversation with Sascha Bajin, coach of Naomi Osaka 37:00 Sascha's trials and tribulations on social media: "I've been getting in so much trouble on Twitter" #133: Getting the Conversation Started: Creating a Safe Space to Come Out in Men’s Tennis You might have read what Roger Federer had to say about why there hasn't been an openly gay male tennis player in on the ATP Tour. Now, hear his words, along with those of Kevin Anderson, as both speak on what can be a tricky and challenging issue. Plus, our chat with Nick McCarvel about the upcoming event he's hosting (in partnership with No Challenges Remaining) to kick-start the conversation of "being queer and out in pro tennis," featuring the out retired player Brian Vahaly. 1:00 Talking about LGBTQ issues in tennis - why now? 6:25 Roger Federer speaks on the possibility of a male player coming out on the ATP Tour 14:20 Kevin Anderson expands on his previously stated support for LGBT athletes, and why he was compelled to speak in the first place 18:00 What are some of the barriers for an ATP player coming out? 24:50 Our chat with Nick McCarvel, host of the upcoming Open Playbook event with Brian Vahaly in NYC Open Playbook: Being Queer and Out in Pro Tennis - at Housing Works Bookstore, Soho, NY on August 23 Event benefits Housing Works and New York Junior Tennis & Learning #134: Kiki-ing Down the Door in Cincy The bad news: our time in Cincinnati has come to an end. The good news: we're back with another episode to recap an event that produced a stellar title run by Kiki Bertens and a full-circle performance from Novak Djokovic. After recapping the finals, we rehash some of the notable matches we saw over the past week and regale you with some stories/observations from around the grounds. We also pondered a few questions: is Stan back? Is Milos being usurped and replaced in Canadian media? Do fans really care about Nick Kyrgios' "antics?" 2:30 Kiki Bertens takes out four top 10 players to win Cincinnati 11:30 Simona Halep and Darren Cahill audio: looking at Simona's evolution as a player and Darren's as a coach 17:00 Serena-Petra in Round 2 ... the tantalizing rivalry that never really was 24:00 Djokovic beats Federer to complete his Masters set: MasterBlaster 31:35 Other men's matches: Stanley vs. Roger, battle of Canadian no. 1s, Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov 36:45 The undeniable star power of Nick Kyrgios 41:55 Thanks to USTA Midwest for the USTA Pride Event at the Western & Southern Open 44:00 Stories from around the grounds: ball thievery, Alexis Ohanian flying under the radar, watching Coric & Fuscovics 52:35 Marin Cilic provides your moment of zen
Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In the The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
JONATHAN: I don’t know about you, but I thought for sure I’d get at least a couple of days after returning from Cincinnati before jumping back into the tennis fray. Nope, no such luck: the tennis news and off-the-court stuff just kept on coming today! Let’s start with Stefanos Tsitsipas and the now deleted Nick Kyrgios tweet.
JAMES: Nicholas. We just talked about how he covers up his sensitivity with anger and aggression, but this was just straight up high school bullying. Jock vs. nerd is my least favorite dynamic. Stefanos tweeted a characteristically whimsical, earnest tweet about New York City, and Nick quoted it with “da fuq.” He deleted it quickly. Nick snapping at reporters and being generally surly is one thing; picking on younger players for absolutely no reason is just ugly.
JN: He could have been joking. Perhaps we are just too far out of touch with how “the kids” use social media these days. Regardless, this is something to keep an eye on; Stefanos seems to march to the beat of his own drum, and perhaps some of the other young #NextGen folks don’t really know what to make of him just yet. As you said, it reeks of high school nonsense.
We also learned today that Serena will be bumped up from her #26 ranking to the 17 seed at the U.S. Open. Sounds about right, no? JR: The USTA watched the wreckage of the seeding debates at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and said, “Not today, Satan.” Partly due to circumstance and partly due to good PR, they were able to stay above the fray, announcing back in June that they would alter their seeding policy so as not to penalize women returning from maternity leave. This pre-emptive strike was a public relations slam dunk: it allowed them to assert their moral high ground by championing social justice and squelch any debate that could dominate the pre-US Open news cycle, as it did before the French and Wimbledon. As far as the actual seeding, I think they made a smart choice. This time around, the tournament benefits from the fact that Serena is already ranked within the top 32, so seeding her won't displace another player. Giving her a top 16 seed would have guaranteed Serena not to face a top 16 player before the fourth round. At #17, she will face a 9-16 seed in the third round. I would like to see her higher, because I think she can beat many in the top 16, but for now let’s all just move on and stop talking about it.  On a sweltering Sunday in Mason, Ohio, Kiki Bertens outhit and outlasted world number one Simona Halep to win her first hardcourt title. Both women came into this final riding high on a string of impressive results: Bertens had beaten nine top 10 players on the season, adding #2 Wozniacki, #5 Svitolina, and #8 Kvitova to her list just this week. Halep, the reigning French Open champion, worked through the draw without much trouble, save for her opener against Tomljanovic. Halep entered Cincinnati as the Rogers Cup champion after cementing her number one status against Sloane Stephens in a grueling final last week. This week, Halep was gunning to become the first woman since Evonne Goolagong in 1973 to win Canada and Cincinnati in the same year. Halep swept through the first set doing much of what she did yesterday against Aryna Sabalenka: smacking her forehand deep, using her movement as a weapon, and looking to move forward and finish points whenever she could. Halep landed 92% of her first serves in the opener, compared to just 43% from Bertens. While she protected her own serve, Halep also created two break chances against her opponent, and capitalized on both. Bertens said about the first set, “I had to run too much on the court, and she's, like, really good at that. So I was, like, Okay, there is only one chance and you have to play a little bit more aggressive, go a little bit more for your returns and for your serve.” In the second set, Bertens started to do just that. Halep immediately fell behind 1-4, as her opponent started playing with more purpose, pinning Halep far behind the baseline and finishing with deft drop shots. Halep’s first response was to call for coach Darren Cahill, after which she reeled off three straight games. One of the critical moments of the match came at 4-4; Halep earned a break chance on Bertens’ serve with a stunning, 26-shot rally. But, Halep failed to capitalize on the momentum shift, and after a long, grueling game, Bertens held for 5-4. Bertens -- even through a few bouts of frustration -- kept the pressure on, swiping away any Halep momentum with big serving and consistently deep groundstrokes. In the tiebreak, Bertens was the clear aggressor (for better or worse); with the aggression came more mistakes, leading to a match point for Halep at 6-5. But, a steely Bertens wiped it away with a huge serve-forehand combination that caught Simona stretching to her backhand side. As was the case yesterday when she lost the first set against Petra Kvitova, once Bertens troubleshooted her way through the second set, she was able to roll with the momentum through the third. The pair traded breaks to begin the set, but the Dutchwoman quickly took control. With Halep showing signs of fatigue after the first game, Bertens needed only to hold her nerve and serve, eventually closing out the biggest title of her career with an ace. A pair of historic achievements loom on the horizon after today’s play at the 2018 Western and Southern Open. Simona Halep aims to become the first woman since Evonne Goolagong in 1973 to win the Canadian Open and Cincinnati in the same summer. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic gets another crack at completing his career haul at Masters 1000 events; he has been unsuccessful in five prior Cincinnati finals, and needs to win tomorrow to own all nine Masters crowns. Semifinals day in Cincinnati began with Kiki Bertens taking out Petra Kvitova in three sets in sweltering humidity. Kvitova managed to grab the first set, but appeared to struggle with fatigue as the match wore on. Bertens’ serving was key: she finished the match with 10 aces, winning 77% of her first serve points. Afterward, in press, Bertens credited her improved tactics for her success on hardcourt, in particular imposing herself in the first two to three shots of every point. While she excels in the heavier, slower conditions on clay, her more aggressive play has earned her key wins on grass (Pliskova, Venus) and hardcourt (Pliskova, Kvitova, Wozniacki, Svitolina) this season. When asked if she was surprised by any of these non-clay results, Bertens said: “Raemon [Sluiter] when we flew to the States, was like, ‘Yeah, maybe you can just play a final in one of these weeks.’ I was, like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ But I was not really believing it.” She added that although she’s playing well, she doesn’t believe that she’s playing her best tennis. If this isn’t her best tennis, it certainly is her best season: she moves into her first hardcourt final with huge momentum and a stunning nine victories over top 10 opponents this year. Her opponent in the final will be world number one, Simona Halep. Last week’s winner in Montreal aims to grab back-to-back Premier 5 titles. Halep has made the final in Cincinnati three out of the past four seasons, and with the win today, joins two-time champion Serena Williams as the only women in the Open Era to make the final three times. After a tough, rain-delayed, three-set opener against Ajla Tomljanovic, Halep has since dispatched Ash Barty, Lesia Tsurenko, and now Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. With no rain interruptions on Friday, the Cincinnati tennis draws were caught up to speed and the men’s and women’s semifinals set for championship weekend. Good thing the rain stayed away too, as Halep, Wawrinka, Federer, Del Potro, Goffin, Cilic, Djokovic, and Svitolina all had to play two matches to get rid of the backlog. Earlier in the day we recapped the remaining Round of 16 matches. Here we will take a look at how those quarterfinal matches panned out.
Aryna Sabalenka stunned Madison Keys and the Cincinnati spectators with her display of all-out power tennis. Sabalenka earned an early break and never once took her foot off the gas. She saved break points with aces, hit a 99 mph second serve ace, and smacked winners at will throughout the match. Keys strikes the ball so beautifully, and hit her fair share of gorgeous groundstrokes, but she struggled to put two or more points together at a time. The word that comes to mind watching Sabalenka play is audacity: the audacity to attempt such a high and consistent level of baseline power tennis, hitting winners from tough positions, knowing when to pull the trigger, and taking it to an American player so thoroughly on Center Court. And to finally, finally win a match in straight sets. Last night, she told reporters that she would “feel calm and fight, like always, and try to show people my best tennis.” That she certainly did. Tomorrow, she will have to do the same to get past the world number one, Simona Halep, who beat Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets. Petra Kvitova didn’t exactly steamroll her way into the semifinals, slogging her way through a 2 hour, 42 minute match against Belgian Elise Mertens. This is the same Elise Mertens who caused Sloane Stephens to explode with frustration over relentless defense. Kvitova diagnosed her performance thusly: “I was the second player on the court, which I didn't want. I didn’t really serve well, but luckily, I did have a good second serve.” Kvitova managed to strike her forehand well as the third set wore on, and it earns her a spot in the semis against Kiki Bertens, who took out the fifth seeded Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-3 on the Grandstand. Milos Raonic put up a fight against Novak Djokovic, snatching the second set on the strength of 10 aces. It feels like Raonic is close to putting it together again after this week, having played a calm, confident match Thursday against Canadian usurper Denis Shapovalov. Raonic strung together good wins at both Indian Wells and Stuttgart, and he’s showing again this week that he is well positioned to beat the best players in the world, even if he blinked against Djokovic in the first and third sets.
The Western and Southern Open owes a debt to the weather gods today as the start of play was delayed only briefly, allowing for the completion of all the round of 16 matches during the day session. Yesterday, we wrote how the rain wreaked havoc on the proceedings, leaving the majority of the field needing to win two singles matches today in order to proceed to the semifinals. The quarterfinal matchups should have been decided after yesterday’s play, but the consistent rain delays resulted in 9 of the 16 would-be quarterfinalists needing to win two matches today to advance to the semifinals. Del Potro and Kyrgios started the day on the Grandstand. In a match full of blazing serves and unreachable forehands, the two men split tiebreak sets before Del Potro ran away with the third set and the match. Although Kyrgios was defending runner-up points here, a tight loss to Del Potro is nothing be ashamed of. The Aussie seemed more engaged and willing to scramble compared to his first two matches here. It’s remarkable just how much the crowd gives to Kyrgios. On such an intimate court, you can hear and feel the Cincinnati fans pulling hard for Nick to recover from mental lapses. It’s a collective therapy session. It’s obvious that something sets Nick apart from nearly every other player in tennis, and I think it has something to do with his vulnerability and openness, which he often veils with anger and indifference. It’s clear that the crowd is fascinated by him. While Kyrgios and del Potro got things started on the Grandstand, Simona Halep opened Center Court play against Ash Barty. After being on the losing end of a tight first set, one where she was able to trouble the world number one, Barty broke for 2-0 lead in the 2nd set. But, just like the first set when she broke for an early 3-1 lead, Barty gave the break right back to Halep, and never recovered. Halep, not so fresh off her win in Montreal last week, advanced 7-5 6-4 to the quarterfinals, where she will play Lesia Tsurenko later today. Stan Wawrinka followed Kyrgios and del Potro on the Grandstand, taking on and taking out Marton Fucsovics in straight sets. Wawrinka, vanquisher of Schwartzman in the first round and Nishikori easily in the second, looks well on his way back to top form after struggling in his return from knee surgery. Fucsovics displayed a variety of crisp, aesthetically pleasing shots in the match, but never really threatened to push Wawrinka outside his comfort zone. With Federer’s 6-1 7-6 win over Leonardo Mayer, the Mason, Ohio faithful will be treated to a 24th all-Swiss meeting between Federer and Wawrinka. The fact that both men will be playing their second match of the day might mitigate the lopsided 20-3 head-to-head in Federer’s favour.
Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In the The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
JONATHAN: Today was a frustrating day of rain delays. The first major weather problem started yesterday, but it bled into Thursday, with the tournament desperate to finish second and third round matches. The day began shortly after 3pm with Halep up 4-3 in the third set against Tomljanovic, a match suspended the night before owing to rain. Halep, scheduled second on in the night session, wasted no time in taking the third 6-3. Good thing too, as shortly after she completed the win, the rain returned to interrupt play again. We were on Court 10 for Shapovalov and Raonic, the battle of the old and new guard of Canadian tennis. Once match started for the day, Shapovalov managed to play only three points on serve before they were ushered off the court again. It was a bit of revenge for the oft-injured Raonic, who lost in straight sets to Shapovalov in Madrid earlier this year. Raonic saved set point on Shapovalov’s serve in the first set tiebreak before going on to win 7-6 6-4. Raonic regains the top Canadian ranking on Monday after Shapovalov was only able to reach the last 16 while trying to defend his semifinal points in Toronto last week. With Raonic having zero points to defend at the U.S. Open, this match could ensure that he will keep Shapovalov at bay in the battle for Canadian supremacy for some time. JR: That first set was extremely tight. Raonic couldn’t get a backhand over the net. I don’t know how many he missed, but only the slice was working. As usual, the serve got him through; he hit 9 aces in the first set to Denis’ one. Raonic also received medical treatment twice during the first set. But it only came down to two key errors from Shapovalov in the tiebreak, and Milos snatched that set and, with less fanfare, the match. Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In the The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.  Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova should be -- or perhaps, could be -- the premier rivalry of women’s tennis in the 2010s. Serena is, well, Serena, owner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles and the most feared first serve in women’s tennis history. Petra’s game can peak at such a deliriously high level that competitors have called her “unplayable,” especially at Wimbledon. A sustained rivalry between the two could be the platonic ideal of women’s power tennis, but they have met only seven times, with Williams winning five. JAMES: We’ve been uncommonly lucky with these night sessions at Cincinnati so far: Djokovic and Serena on Monday, and Federer and Serena-Petra on Tuesday. My thoughts are still somewhat scattered from the excellent Serena-Petra match last night, partly because it’s a shame one of these women had to go out so early in the draw. But, the fact remains that this rivalry is more about what could have been than what has been. Serena and Petra have met only seven times, with Serena winning five. We’ve seen classics between Venus and Petra, especially at 2014 Wimbledon, but it’s rare that Serena and Petra’s paths have crossed when both are peaking. Everything about this matchup excites me: the righty vs. lefty serves, each woman’s fierce return game, the depth and pace of their groundstrokes, and the basic fact that their peak tennis is nearly unplayable for the rest of the field. Their rivalry could have been the apotheosis of women’s power tennis. What do you think, Jonathan, too dramatic? JONATHAN: Serena and Petra are arguably the two premier power players of the last ten years, and their individual command performances tower over the rest of the WTA’s. There’s a sense that when each is at the absolute peak of her powers, nobody can stop her. So, it’s surprising that last night’s match was only their seventh meeting, and disappointing that when they have met, they’ve rarely been able to summon their best against each other at the same time. Last night’s performance wasn’t a course correction for that, but it was at least the second time in their would-be rivalry that they played three sets. None of the three sets went beyond nine games, with each woman taking control of a set and not ceding ground; most of the tension within each set happened early, and once the winner of that set was able to withstand the other’s charge, it was smoother sailing. JR: There were moments in last night’s match when they shone at the same time, especially the third game of the second set. With Petra serving, Serena reached three break points. Petra's response? Ace, ace, ace, and then another ace just for fun on a non-break point. But Serena kept digging in, finally realizing that Petra was serving out wide almost every time, on both the deuce and ad sides. Serena smacked a crosscourt forehand for a blazing winner to set up a fourth break point. On her fifth, she punished the exact same serve with the exact same crosscourt forehand to break Kvitova’s serve and announce her presence in this match. From there, the second set was entertaining and the Cincinnati crowd became fully invested. Serena continued to crush returns throughout the set, securing a second break to go up 5-2. JN: I find it amusing when folks imply that Serena was missing a trick by “allowing” Petra those aces out wide and not anticipating it as her go-to move. With that angle on a perfectly struck Petra serve out wide to the backhand, there really isn’t much room to get to it without leaving yourself absurdly exposed to the serve down the tee. It is a convenient part of that narrative, though, that it was a short-angled backhand return winner on a wide serve to Serena’s backhand that broke Petra for a second time, allowing Serena to close out the second set 6-2. Where these two are most interesting against each other is when they find themselves embroiled in long rallies. Towards the back end of the match, it looked like Serena was thriving more in those situations. In press, she said: “I feel like I did better in the longer points, but I feel like she kept it short more than me.” In fact, Serena said that she was looking forward to the longer rallies, something that isn’t necessarily always the case.
Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In the The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
JAMES: Monday at the Western & Southern Open has been packed with tennis and player press appearances. Organizers pulled off a rather surprising night session: Serena-Gavrilova followed by Djokovic-Johnson, an early-week billing made possible by the two legends’ currently depressed rankings. No less than Stan Wawrinka was relegated to the Grandstand, getting a 3-set win over 12-seed Diego Schwartzman. It seems like the real Stan is starting to show. Serena was back to business with a straightforward win over Aussie Daria Gavrilova. Jonathan, what did you think Serena did well tonight? JONATHAN: What didn’t she do well tonight? We saw her on the practice court looking assured and in good spirits before the match, and it translated to a comprehensive win over Gavrilova. Her serve was impeccable, with good mix of speed and placement. For me, it was her movement that was most impressive: Gavrilova was unable to disrupt her as Serena changed direction, running laterally and towards the net in ways we haven’t seen since her comeback. JR: It’s funny that her first serve percentage was only 44 percent, because it didn’t feel that way watching the match. Serena wasn’t broken, and she protected her second serve well; in fact, Gavrilova created only one break chance the entire match. A lot of the technical things were just working well for Serena tonight. As you said, the movement was encouraging, but even more impressive was her anticipation, sensing where Gavrilova would hit. This allowed her to get to balls with plenty of time to create her signature angles. JN: This was a totally different Serena from the one we saw in San Jose two weeks ago, when she suffered the worst loss of her career against Johanna Konta. Whatever concerns onlookers may have had for Serena’s US Open Series should be put to rest after a performance like tonight’s. Serena posted to social media shortly after that loss that she was struggling with “post-partum emotions” and other personal issues, struggling to balance motherhood and tennis. Perhaps that loss is now put into proper perspective? JR: Yeah, I think it’s impossible for us to understand what any new mother is going through, especially one whose life has undergone so much change. A new marriage, a new baby, the immense pressure to stop breastfeeding and return to dominating tennis -- it’s a lot, and to me, the only surprising thing about it so far is that Serena has been open and vulnerable about her feelings. We’ll see what happens against Petra Kvitova tomorrow, but for tonight, Serena has silenced some doubters. Elsewhere on the grounds, Frances Tiafoe served for the match against Denis Shapovalov, having broken him to go up 5-4 in the third set. Denis broke Tiafoe easily, and then reeled off the next 2 games to take the match. Tiafoe reached the round of 16 last year after taking out Sascha Zverev in the previous round. JN: After Tiafoe’s heroics here last year against Zverev, he was unable to replicate, and capitalize on the crowd support to close out the match. When he broke Shapovalov to lead 5-4 in the final set, Tiafoe roared on his way to the changeover, beckoning the crowd to get on their feet and up the ante. Unfortunately for him, Shapovalov didn’t wallow and came right back like the burgeoning professional he is. A tough tough loss for Frances, but a mettle-building one for Denis. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed that one; it seemed like they appreciated the hype surrounding Shapovalov and weren’t too mad about their own player losing. 
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