Mondays with Bob Greene
STARS
Pablo Carreno Busta beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7 (6) 7-6 (1) 6-4 to win the Winston-Salem Open in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Agnieszka Radwanska beat Elina Svitolina 6-1 7-6 (3) to win the Connecticut Open in New Haven, Connecticut, USA
SAYING
“The game has changed.” – Rod Laver, noting he earned USD $16,000 for winning the US Open in 1969 and this year’s champion will pocket USD $3.5 million.
“I had the chance to say to everyone in the perfect moment in the perfect way. Of course it was a big moment – not just for the winning, but for everything.” – Flavia Pennetta, remembering a year ago when she shocked tennis winning the US Open then announcing she was retiring from the sport.
“It’s an amazing feeling. I worked very hard to be here and now I have to enjoy this moment.” – Pablo Carreno Busta, after beating fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut to win his first ATP World Tour singles title at the Winston-Salem Open.
“We know each other for a long time. Also our games kind of suit each other, so you have that confidence. I think it helped we got a couple first easy matches in terms of the way we played. We kind of found our rhythm almost immediately.” – Sania Mirza, explaining how she and Monica Niculescu won the Connecticut Open while teaming up for the first time in six years.
“Serena was the toughest I had to play. When she had to make a difference, she was there. She knew if she was facing match point she would still come back into the game. Her vision of the game also. She was really the best.” – Justine Henin, remembering his battles with Serena Williams.
“Her serve is the best in the history of women’s tennis. Her mental strength and the way she digs really deep to change the momentum is really impressive. She’s really powerful on the court. It makes it pretty difficult.” – Amelie Mauresmo, on Serena Williams.
STARS IN CONNECTICUT
The wild card worked out pretty well for Agnieszka Radwanska. The fourth-ranked Pole decided at the last moment to get some last-minute court time before the US Open. She worked the entire week and wound up with her 19th career title, her first Connecticut Open crown, by stopping Elina Svitolina in the final. “Thank you so much to the tournament director Anne (Worcester) for giving me that wild card,” Radwanska said. “I definitely appreciate it and I’ll be back next year for sure.” The top-seeded Pole rushed through the opening set in 29 minutes. After that, it became a little more difficult to shake off her Ukrainian opponent. Radwanska staved off three set points on her serve to send the second set into a tiebreak. In the extra session, Radwanska ripped off five straight points to close out her victory. The win also clinched the Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge for Radwanska, meaning she could double her earnings at the US Open.
SPANISH BATTLE
It was on hard court, not clay, but it was two Spaniards fighting for the title at the Winston-Salem Open. Pablo Carreno Busta overcame his countryman Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets to win his first ATP World Tour singles title. “To (beat) Roberto you have to fight because he’s a really tough player,” Carreno Busta said. “He’s a Spanish player like me. It’s not easy to play against another Spanish player.” It was the 25-year-old’s third final; he lost two clay court events. Bautista Agut, seeking his third title of the year, was up a break in the second set before Carreno Busta broke right back to 3-all. In the second-set tiebreak, Bautista Agut hit two double faults as his opponent leveled the match at a set apiece. “I didn’t play well when I was set and break up,” Bautista Agut said. “Tennis is like this, no? When you have the chance and you don’t (take) it, then you lose.”
Carreno Busta became the sixth first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season, joining Nick Kyrgios, Diego Schwartzman, Steve Johnson, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Paolo Lorenzi.
SUSPENDED
Three French players have been suspended by their federation for violating the federation and damaging “the image of tennis” by their behavior at the Rio Olympics. The French Tennis Federation (FFT) provisionally suspended Benoit Paire, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia. Paire was kicked off the French Olympic team for spending too much time away the athletes’ village, according to media reports. The two women were suspended for “strongly criticizing” the FFT following a mix-up over their clothing. The two, who won the French Open doubles title in June, said they had not been told they had to wear the same colored outfits for the women’s doubles event and had to change shortly before they lost their first-round match to Japan’s Misaki Doi and Eri Hozumi. A final decision on the suspensions will be made on Sept. 24.
SINGAPORE-BOUND
The world’s top-two ranked players – Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, are the first two to qualify for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore. Williams has won the title five times but missed last year’s event with an injury. Kerber, who won her first Grand Slam tournament title at the Australian Open in January and was a finalist at Wimbledon in July, will be making her fourth appearance in the special event which is reserved for the top eight-ranked players of the year.
STRANGE TRIP
Great Britain’s Laura Robson had a premonition that she would receive a wild card entry into the US Open. But her friends convinced her to take a planned Italian vacation when she finished playing an ITF Challenger in Landisville, Pennsylvania, USA, where she won both the singles and doubles. So off to Italy she goes. “We landed in Italy at 9 a.m., went to Vesuvius and a little bit of Pompeii and went straight back to the airport,” she said. “I dropped my friends off at the villa and I was thee maybe seven hours. I was panicking a bit, but my main priority was just to get back to London and then take the next flight here” to New York City after receiving the wild card into qualifying. Robson won all three of her matches in straight sets to earn a spot in the main draw where her first-round opponent was another Brit, Naomi Broady.
SERBIAN FUND RAISER
Jovana Jaksic may not be playing in the women’s singles main draw at the US Open this year, but she has given of herself to New York City’s Serbian community. Jaksic lost to eventual Nadia Podoroska in the second round of qualifying. But she took time to help raise money for Manhattan’s Serbian Church of St. Sava. The church, which suffered a four-alarm fire several months ago, held a benefit at the New Yok Athletic Club to raise money to rebuild. “My Serbian friends organized an auction for raising money to rebuild the church,” Jaksic told WTA Insider. “I was part of it and grateful to be so because I really believe in God. What happened, it was terrible to see the church burn down. But they did an amazing job organizing. I was really thankful to be invited and part of it.”
STAYING HOME
Six men and three women have withdrawn from the US Open. Pulling out of the men’s draw were Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, Ernests Gulbis, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Tommy Robredo and Dmitry Tursunov.
Withdrawing from the women’s field were Sloane Stephens, Margarita Gasparyan and Galina Voskoboeva.
SMART PAIRING
Playing together for the first time in six years, Sania Mirza and Monica Niculescu came away from New Haven, Connecticut, USA., with the doubles title. The two beat Kateryna Bondarenko and Chuang Chia-Jung in the Connecticut Open final. It was the first time the two had teamed up since 2010. “I asked Sania in Cincinnati,” Niculescu said about getting together again. “I had an idea maybe she wants to play here. I ask her. When she said yes, I was so excited. It seems we won the tournament, so I’m happy I asked her.” Despite their success, they won’t be together for the US Open. “I play with Barbora Strycova,” Mirza said. “I play with Vania King,” Niculescu added. “That’s why I said I hope it’s not the last time we going to play together.”
SURPRISED
Justine Henin admits she is surprised by the consistent longevity of the career of Serena Williams. Although she has won just Wimbledon going into the year’s final Grand Slam tournament, Williams has been in all three finals, losing the Australian Open to Angelique Kerber and the French Open to Garbiñe Muguruza. Henin, twice the US Open winner, lost to Williams in the Belgium’s final Grand Slam final, the Australian Open in 2010. “I have so many memories against Serena,” said Henin. “It was always a tough challenge because she was the best I played for sure. At the moment she is still at her best after so many years. The consistency of Serena has brought a lot of good things to the game.”
SUPER EVENT
Five of the greatest players in tennis history – Rod Laver, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe – joined forces to announce a new event. Between them the five have won 60 Grand Slam tournament titles – and since Federer and Nadal are still playing, they could add to that total. Scheduled to be played in late September 2017 will be the Laver Cup, a three-day competition pitting Europe against the rest of the world, playing both singles and doubles. There will be six players on each team, four slots on each side based on ranking with the other two selected as “captain’s choices.” Borg will captain the Europe squad, while McEnroe will lead the “Rest of the World.” Since the Big Four, who have ruled tennis for the last decade, all come from Europe – Federer from Switzerland, Nadal from Spain, Novak Djokovic from Serbia and Andy Murray from Great Britain – Borg’s team appears to be stacked. However, McEnroe pledged the inaugural event “is going to be a lot more competitive that it may appear at the moment.” The first Laver Cup will be held in Prague, Czech Republic.
SETTING RECORDS
When Venus Williams steps onto the court at this year’s US Open, she will set the women’s record for most Grand Slam main draw appearances in the Open Era. This would be the 72nd Grand Slam tournament in which Williams has played, snapping the record she shared with American Amy Frazier. Martina Navratilova is third with 67, followed by the “other” Williams, Serena, who will be playing in her 65th major. That also means Serena is second among active players to her older sister.
Neither Williams sister leads the women in playing in consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. That distinction goes to Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, who is competing in her 52nd straight main draw at a major. Japan’s Ai Sugiyama holds the record for consecutive appearances, playing in 62 straight majors. Italy’s Francesca Schiavone played in 61 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments before losing in qualifying at the Australian Open in January.
STRANGE FIGURING
Serena Williams has dominated the women’s game in the past several years, yet is in danger of losing her number one ranking at the US Open, even though the American has reached the title match in the first three Grand Slam tournaments played in 2016. Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who won the Australian Open, reached the Wimbledon final and lost in the first round at Roland Garros, can supplant Williams atop the rankings at the US Open. Williams needs to reach at least the semifinal to stay number one. If Kerber reaches the quarterfinals, then Serena must reach the final to hold onto the number one ranking. If Williams should win her 23rd Grand Slam tournament title, she would remain number one no matter what else happens.
Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza, who beat Williams in the French Open final, and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska also mathematically have shots at moving into the number one spot at the end of the US Open.
STRING OF SLAMS
Feliciano Lopez of Spain is in second place for consecutive Grand Slam tournament men’s singles main draws with 59. Roger Federer’s record streak of 65 ended earlier this year when he didn’t play the French Open. Federer also pulled out of the US Open because of a knee injury.
STEPPING UP
There are 10 former US Open junior boys’ champions in this year’s draw: Taylor Fritz, Borna Coric, Jack Sock, Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dimitov, Ricardas Berankis, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Muller. However, since the junior tournament began in 1973, only Stefan Edberg, Andy Roddick and Murray have won both the boys’ and men’s singles titles.
SET FOR OPEN
Two former University of Michigan players have earned a spot in the US Open mixed doubles main draw. Emina Bektas and Evan King qualified for the year’s final Grand Slam tournament b winning the US Open National Playoffs – Mixed Doubles Championship held at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. The pair finished their run by edging fellow Americans Malcolm Harrison and Sanaz Marand 7-5 4-6 10-8 (match tiebreak). They began their journey by winning the USTA Northern sectional qualifying tournament. A 2013 University of Michigan graduate, King has won five Futures singles titles, three of which have come on the USTA Pro Circuit. He is ranked 365th in the world. Bektas graduated from Michigan in 2015 and has a WTA doubles ranking of 527. She has won two International Tennis Federation (ITF) Pro Circuit doubles titles this ear.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
New Haven: Sania Mirza and Monica Niculescu beat Kateryna Bondarenko and Chuang Chia-Jung 7-5, 6-4
Winston-Salem: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Henri Kontinen beat Andre Begemann and Leander Paes 4-6 7-6 (6) 10-8 (match tiebreak)
SURFING
New Haven: www.ctopen.org
Winston-Salem: www.winstonsalemopen.com/
New York: www.usopen.org
Genova: www.atpgenova.com/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
MEN and WOMEN
US Open, New York, New York, USA, hard
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
MEN and WOMEN
US Open Tennis Championships, New York, New York, USA, hard (second week)
MEN
$119,195 Aon Open, Genova, Italy, clay
