chris fowler Archives - World Tennis Magazine

by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The Carlos Alcaraz victory at the 2022 U.S. Open will go down in history in many ways – it was his first of many projected major titles, he did it at age 19, the second youngest ever at the U.S. Open and ascended him to being the youngest No. 1 of all time on the ATP computer, and for his long and late night efforts to reach the final.

With only minutes after Alcaraz fell flat on his back as the new champion after his 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 final-round win over Norway’s Casper Ruud, the ESPN threesome of John and Patrick McEnroe and play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler instantly put the Alcaraz achievement into context.

“What we’ve seen is extraordinary,” said Fowler. “You’ve seen a legend be built on Labor Day week in New York City. The journey to get here. I hope you were around for this week. If you weren’t, it was down a break to (Marin) Cilic in the fifth set, the past champion here, dug out of that. The (Jannik) Sinner match was just… I call it transformative. I think it was an amazing display of tennis at a new level. You got a chance to see that. (Frances) Tiafoe put up a tremendous fight. (Casper) Ruud pushed back hard today. So he had to earn it against a bunch of young guys and a veteran, a past champion here.”

Patrick McEnroe then commentated, “There’s no doubt he had to do it the hard way. And when you look at the fact that he’s going to become No. 1 in the world, I mean that’s incredible to do that at this age. But he’s done it because he’s got the most titles of anyone on tour, two Masters events as well. 51 wins this year. That’s also the most… He’s just got so much flare for the game. And he is also got a lot of personality. He loves being out there. Being close up, as I was lucky enough to be during this match, you could see even when he made some of those misses, he just said, “Okay, no problem.” Looked up to his box. And you mentioned it in the middle of the match, which I thought was really insightful, right on the money, he doesn’t look to the box, he’s got it within himself. He actually looks to them and says, “Don’t worry, I got this. I got this covered.” And that was what he showed in all those matches that you talked about, even when he was under pressure, had to deal with adversity, just kept coming back.

Continued Fowler, “No teen has won a major since (Rafa) Nadal did it in 2005. Often they’re compared because from the same country, and he’s just a little bit older than Pete Sampras was, who was the only teenager before him to when a title at the U,S. Open. And again, the first teenager to reach No. 1in the world. Ruud will sit there at No. 2. How long will he hold No. 1? We’ll talk about why there might be an asterisk about No. 1 (due to Wimbledon not receiving ATP ranking points) that’s debatable. The result today, his performance in the Open is not.”

Just a few minutes earlier, just a few moments after Alcaraz has won the match, Fowler described him as “more than a prodigy, perhaps a truly special one. Perhaps the first of many, many, many majors.”

“I would be amazed if that’s not the case,” countered John McEnroe, calling the Alcaraz title run “a superhuman effort.”

“(He’s) masterful of so many levels,” added Fowler. “The firepower is obvious. That’s what’s won him fans, but all the subtle things that you and Patrick (McEnroe) throughout this run have talked about. The management of the moment, the tactical acumen, the variety in his game.”

“He’s got absolutely everything,” countered McEnroe. “It’s hard to imagine anyone mentally as tough as him and, this isn’t hyperbole, one of the fastest… court covers, speed demons you’ll ever see on a tennis court.”

“It’s about health and if you can manage that,” countered Fowler. “The sky is the limit.”

By Randy Walker

Unknown tennis player Lukas Rosol, the No. 100 ranked player in the world, posted one of the most shocking upsets in major tennis history Thursday, shell-shocking No.2 seed and two-time champion Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon.

Rosol battered winners from all corners of the court in a pristine example of fearless, go-for-broke tennis in his 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 upset on Centre Court.

In the fifth set of the gripping upset – which was played after a 40-minute delay to close the Centre Court roof in order to finish the match under the lights – the 26-year old Czech fired 20 winners, including seven aces against only two errors. When serving for the massive upset, Rosol closed out the match at love, firing a forehand winner then two aces on the last three points. He hit 22 aces in the match and won 83 percent of points when he got his first serve in.

“I can’t believe what I just witnessed,” said John McEnroe on ESPN2. Countered ESPN2’s Chris Fowler, “Nadal has never had a more stunning loss.”

“I never expected anything like this, Rosol said post-match with the BBC. “I am speechless. It was my best match ever. It means so much to me.”

Rosol, from the Czech city of Brno, had never won a match at Wimbledon prior to his first-round win over Ivan Dodig of Croatia. The last five years at Wimbledon, Rosol had lost in the first round of QUALIFYING for The Championships. His first-ever grass court match win came only last week at the ATP event in Eastbourne.

By contrast, Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion, is fresh off winning his 11^th career major singles title at the French Open two-and-a-half weeks ago– tying him with Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg for fourth all-time in men’s tennis history, behind only Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Roy Emerson. His loss to the No. 100-ranked opponent marked the lowest-ranking of any player he had ever lost to a major tennis tournament. It equaled his earliest Wimbledon lost since he was defeated by Gilles Muller in the second round in 2005.

“When the match started, I said it was David versus Goliath and look who stepped up,” said McEnroe. “It was an inspirational performance and it makes you realize that’s why you play the game. You never know what is going to happen. That is why they play the game.”

Of Nadal, Rosol said to the BBC, “He is a superstar. I am sorry for him. I played unbelievable today.”

“At the end of the day, he had more energy than Rafael Nadal,” said Fowler. “He challenged him every step of the way and stepped up like nobody could have imagined.”

“It was remarkable display of fearless tennis from Rosol,” said Patrick McEnroe, also on ESPN2. “He just went for it and it went in.”

Patrick McEnroe went on the characterize the upset as a “monumental shift” for the tournament as it opens up the bottom half of the men’s draw for someone to come through and reach the Wimbledon final other than Novak Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. The key benefactor is likely Britain’s Andy Murray, the No. 4 seed who is in Nadal’s half of the draw, who is attempting to become the first British men’s champion at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. No. 5 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 10 seed Mardy Fish also have an opening to sneak into the men’s semifinals on the bottom half. Also lurking as an outsider in the bottom half of the draw is three-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, seeded No. 30. Defending champion Djokovic is seeded No. 1 and in the top have of the draw, where he could meet Federer, the No. 3 seed and six-time champion, in the semifinals.

Patrick McEnroe went on to describe the loss for Nadal as merely a “hiccup.”