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US Open Men’s Preview – Is the takeover on the cards?
I am hesitating to get too excited about a takeover at the top of men’s tennis. We’ve had some false starts such as Thiem winning the USO ’20 and Medvedev winning the USO ’21.
Alcaraz has proven to be a much surer thing. He backed up his USO ’22 title with the YE No.1 and Wimbledon ’23.
But with Djokovic also holding two slams and about to take over No.1 and winning their last match, it’s still his era. Alcaraz would need to defend his USO title to really say we’re entering Carlitos time now.
Djokovic’s win over him in Cincy adds some doubt as to whether Alcaraz is going to do just that.
If Alcaraz did win, though, the start of the Carlitos era would be undeniable – he’d have three of the last five slams, which starts to sound like dominance to me.
It’s hard to speculate much on what will happen before we see the draw, so I’ll update this when that’s out.
Okay-the draw is out. Here’s a breakdown of Djokovic and Alcaraz’s paths.
Alcaraz
r1 Koepfer
r2 Harris/Pella
r3 Evans (23)
r4 Norrie (16)
QF Sinner (6)
SF Medvedev (3)
Upset potential? Sinner could do it. He and Alcaraz had a great match last year. These two are tied at 3-3 in the h2h and this match will be one to watch.
Otherwise, it’s a pretty comfortable route to the final.
Djokovic
r1 Muller
r2 Zapatta Mirelles/ Quinn
r3 Djere (32)
r4 Auger-Aliassime (15)
QF Tsitsipas (7)
SF Rune (4) (Ruud, 5 lurking).
Upset potential? None. This is as good as a draw as it gets, particularly with Rune being injured.
Auger-Aliassime is there, but he has not been in good form at all. If he can somehow resurrect his career in the next two weeks, then that would be a match to enjoy.
Other contenders
The past few years it’s felt like a real waste of time speculating on this. And with Alcaraz and Djokovic being so far ahead of the rest, it still does. But, seeing as I’m doing this, here we go:
Sinner. He just won Montreal. He’s very much due a breakthrough at slams. He did make the Wimbledon semis, but it seemed like one step forward, two steps back.
He also quite enjoys beating Alcaraz. Goes into his shell a bit with Djokovic, though. And he’d likely have to get through both to win the tournament.
Draw: Faces Alcaraz in the quarters.
Has some interesting players in his section- RG quarterfinalist Etcheverry, Wawrinka, and Nishioaka. Potential second round match versus Sonego. Quite a hard draw for a top 8 seed.
Rune. He’s struggling with a back injury right now, but who knows what he can do. He’s a big match player and very talented.
Draw: Potential round 2 with Lehecka will be tough. Bublik in round 3 could be fascinating if Bublik is in the mood. In the fourth round, he could face Tommy Paul, the 14th seed.
Davidovich Fokina (21) is lurking, too. No tennis fan will complain if we get a repeat of their Wimbledon epic.
Ruud. He played great in the RG final and got precisely zero sets to show for it. His form going in isn’t great, but it wasn’t at RG, either. He’s made three of the last six slam finals and he shows up on clay and hard when there’s something on the line.
I doubt he’d win if he had to go through, say, Rune, Djokovic and Alcaraz. But I’d like to see it happen. Ruud is a great role model.
Draw: Seeded five, he has Rune in the quarters. That should be a lot of fun.
Wolf or Zhang in round 2 could be challenging. Wolf has the home crowd and likes playing at home and Zhang gave Ruud a tough time in Paris.
Korda in round 3 could be fascinating. And Tiafoe in round 4. These matches could all potentially be upsets. Ruud’s progress will be very intriguing and for the top seeds, his draw is arguably the toughest.
Medvedev. It’s funny that he’s the last player who came to my mind when making this list. Absolutely he could win. But Alcaraz seems to bug him.
Draw: Medvedev could face Coric in round 3 and his recent Canada conqueror de Minaur in round 4. Both are tough competitors and if he’s having one of his volatile days, it could be an early exit.
Tsitsipas. Hard to rule out the guy who’s made the other hard court slam final this year. Can be imperial on his day. He’s not playing with papa in his corner anymore, either. Less distraction and more focus should do him good. Though he doesn’t really ever bring it to New York.
Draw: Raonic in round 1 and potentially Eubanks, his Wimbledon upsetter, in round 4 is not the kindest draw for the ever vulnerable Greek.
Zverev. Oh dear. I hope not. But he is a great hard courter.
Draw: Could face Murray or Dimitrov in r3.
FAA. Has fallen off the cliff. But he’s capable of great things.
Draw: Could go out to Macdonald in round 1, could upset Djokovic in round 4. Who knows.
Fritz. We’ve seen crazier things. And it’s his home court.
Draw: Potentially Kecmanovic in round 2 and Musetti in round 4. The draw Gods were not kind to the home hope.
Well, as you can see from my last few picks, I’m beginning to stretch things now.
See you for my update once the draw is out.
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My top ten Wimbledon moments
- Steffi Graf defeating Monica Seles in the 1992 final
- Nalbandian reaching the 2002 final
- Andre Agassi winning the 1992 trophy
- Federer and Nadal 2008 final
- Capriati defeating Navaratilova in the 1992 QFs
- Roger Federer defeating Pete Sampras in 2001
- Ivo Karlovic defeating Lleyton Hewitt rd 1 2023
- Pat Rafter vs Andre Agassi SF 2000
- Rafa Nadal defeating Juan Martin del Potro QF 2018
- Marion Bartoli’s 2013 title run
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Alcaraz vs Djokovic match review RG 2023 SF
Djokovic (3) defeats Alcaraz (1) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
This match had plenty at stake. If Djokovic won, tennis was still in the Big 3 era. If Alcaraz won, then it was possible that a new era was in place (though we’d need Alcaraz or Ruud to lift the trophy – Zverev doing so, an unlikely event, I know, would leave us in a bit of limbo).
Djokovic was the underdog. He’d had a woeful clay court lead in and was seeded No.3. He’d also lost his last match versus Alcaraz, on clay, back in the Madrid semis 2022.
Alcaraz was the tournament favorite. He’d won Madrid and his early Rome loss had given him some much needed rest time for a player who has been both the computer No.1 and the ‘real no.1’ since Miami (tennis fans on social media just will not trust those computers!).
The likelihood of a good match was high. Djokovic turns it up for the slams and Alcaraz is still fresh on the game’s big stages.
Early on, the match delivered, too, a beautiful Djokovic volley earning him the match’s first break for 3-1. Djokovic winning the first set would be good for everyone. It gave hints of a contest and he’d have a decent chance to even win the match. Going a set or two down versus a player reaching his peak 17 years his junior was always going to be a tough ask. Mind, that is the kind of question the man thrives on.
Djokovic went on to take the set with a service winner. He did it in reasonable time, too-just under the hour.
In the second set, Alcaraz settled in. The Spaniard inched ahead to a 4-3 lead and Djokovic took an MTO. Alcaraz was not bothered by this. In fact, he stepped up a gear, winning a beautiful smash filled point on his way to his first break of the match.
The Spaniard failed to capitalize as Djokovic succeeded in breaking him, a backhand down the line winner on his second break point putting him back in the set.
That fight back seemed to sap him, Djokovic going down three break points. It was a momentary dip, however. The third seed fought off those break points and took the game.
After saving break points in his next service game, Alcaraz broke Djokovic to love to level the match at a set all after two hours and eleven minutes.
Djokovic had missed his chances late in that second set. A two sets to love lead is an altogether different prospect to a set all versus an Alcaraz who’d worked his way into the match, pulling through some difficult moments.
Djokovic took a toilet break, bringing on some whistling and booing. Again, Alcaraz didn’t care much for any interruptions. On the first point of the second set, he brought his rival in with a drop shot and hit the return into the open court for a winner. On game point Alcaraz, a sublime lob sealed a 1-0 lead, and for the first time the top seed led the match.
A game later, the set at 1-1, Alcaraz began cramping. Djokovic approached him on his side of he net to support him as Alcaraz struggled. Unable to take a medical time out, Alcaraz forfeited a game while he received treatment and Djokovic found himself up a break in the third. The crowd whistled what they thought of this rule.
The level of the match dropped down as abruptly as the contest had taken off. Alcaraz could barely run and Djokovic seemed distracted. The third seed won the next several games to take the set 6-1.
The match lost all its tension. A bored looking Djokovic fought with the crowd a little, the spectators not happy with his drop shotting Alcaraz. He got himself down break points so he could fight back and give a roar. Anything to get some energy going.
Djokovic broke for 2-0 as Alcaraz netted a routine backhand. The games racked up on Djokovic’s side of the score board. At 5-1, he served out for the set, and brought an end to what had become a frustrating contest.
A match that had changed in less time than it takes to pound a forehand may end up changing tennis for the next season or two. Djokovic was always the favorite to win the upcoming Wimbledon and be the first to win #23. He’s also the pick to beat Ruud or Zverev in the final so it could be #24 he has engraved into his shoes or jacket if (well, when) he lifts the trophy in July. Then, he’d compete for the Calendar Year Grand Slam. Next up, a confident Djokovic would be heading down under. And so it could go on…and on.
We were close to the new era emerging. Had Alcaraz won, we’d have had two of the last three slams featuring non Big 2 players. One or two non Big 2 holding two of the last three slams. Finally, we’d have broken free, to some degree, of this long and seemingly never-ending hold the Big 3 have on the game.
Alas, it’s not to be. Of course, anything could happen. Ruud or Zverev could win the final. But tennis is a sport where anything doesn’t really happen. The same things, instead, do.
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Life after the Big 2
Predictably, Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open 2023. I won’t bog you down with the numbers, stats, etc. Most likely, in a few months, we’ll see more history made when Rafa Nadal lifts up the RG trophy. Then Djokovic will win Wimbledon. And so it goes on. But this can’t continue forever, this Big 2 slam domination.
We’ll get some relief at the USO, at least. In the last few years, we’ve had Thiem (2020), Medvedev (2021) and Alcaraz (2022) winning in New York.
Of course, some fans can’t get enough of the Big 2 winning slams. But for those of us who are a little Big 2ed out, when can we expect some real change? And by change I mean not just someone different winning the USO, but 3 of 4 slams going to the next generations (and some of them are not so ‘next’ anymore).
1st, let’s look at the list of likely contenders. I’m going to group them.
Group 1: Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Thiem.
Group 2: Alcaraz, Sinner, FAA, Ruud.
Group 1 have suffered a similar, but kinder, fate as the generation who came before them, led by Nishikori, Dimitrov and Raonic. Group 1 have fared better, with 2 slams between them and Medvedev reaching no.1.
However, it might already be too late to add more prizes and feats to their list. Alcaraz has already won a slam and has reached No.1 and shown he can beat both of the Big 2. And Sinner and co. don’t seem that bothered by group 1 and have racked up wins against them.
Let’s look at the different scenarios of life after big 2:
Alcaraz becomes the dominant player and takes over at the top. He has a Sampras 93-96 or Federer 04-07 type streak. This could happen now, with him dethroning the Big 2 or after they retire.
The chances of this taking place now seem low. Alcaraz seems to be suffering with injuries and has failed to build on his USO momentum or keep hold of his no.1 ranking. Most likely is that he’ll have the Sampras 91-92 and Djokovic 09-10 type sophomore slump before getting his potential ATG career going full strength.
Group 2 split the spoils. If Alcaraz’s injuries do impede him from becoming dominant, this could be the scenario taking place. Again, it seems a case of this happening later rather than sooner. Sinner is still showing issues with closing out big matches; FAA is inconsistent, and Ruud seems to lack the firepower to beat his mightier opponents.
As a group, they lack the bite that’s needed to take down the Big 2 at slams right now. However, with the big 2 out the way, it seems plausible that they could share the slams between them. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses, are a fairly balanced group, and crucially they all have that fatal flaw they can all take advantage of be it mental, physical or game wise.
Group 1 have a reboot and claim what’s theirs. They are, after all, only aged 25-27 (Thiem is 29, struggling to come back, and it’s over for him, probably). But the other players in this group are still in their prime, even if it’s at the tail end of it. Unfortunately for them, if we factor in the Big 2 still winning for another couple of seasons (or even longer), they would be nearer 30 by the time they got their chance. In that scenario, it’s more likely that the younger and by then more experienced Sinner and friends would be better placed to take over.
I know it’s a fashionable idea that players can extend their primes into their 30s, but we don’t know if that is true for non big 3 players as of yet. It shouldn’t be taken for granted that Medvedev and co. will experience such a second, or even, as in the case of the Big 2, third, wind.
When the Big 2 finally leave the stage, both groups 1 and 2 fight over the slams. Let’s accept that neither group 1 or group 2 are going to be healthy or in form enough to usurp the big 2 anytime soon. But, once the Big 2 step down, these two groups might end up fighting amongst themselves for the game’s big prizes.
This is the ideal narrative. Group 1 finally getting their chance, but now having to contend with group 2. And by this time, we might get a group 3 coming along.
So, what’s my final prediction? Djokovic will win AO and Wimbledon for a couple of more seasons. Nadal will win RG this year. Maybe not next year. The USO is anyone’s guess, but whoever wins it won’t necessarily build on it in the long term.
So, in 2025 we should start to see life after the Big 2. And it’ll be on the Big 2’s terms, naturally. And I think we’ll get the two groups fighting each other for the prizes. It’ll be unpredictable. It’ll be a mess.
I’m already counting down the days…
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Day 1 Men’s upsets
I’d say possible upsets are:
Lehecka over Coric
Lajovic over Shapovalov
Garin over Korda
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Australian Open 2023 men’s Preview
Alcaraz’s withdrawal means we don’t get the excitement of seeing if a men’s player can win the USO as his debut slam and then follow it up for the first time with an AO title.
So, what excitement could we get?
That depends on who you’re a fan of I guess. Djokovic fans must be in heaven right now. Their player is getting the full redemption narrative with Nick Kyrgios supporting him with their Friday night exhibition and Craig Tiley asking fans to refrain from jeering the fourth seed.
Djokovic got a nice draw, too. Really nice.
Djokovic’s draw from 3r: Dimitrov/Busta/Rune or Kyrgios/Ruud (with 8th seed Fritz lurking)/ Nadal.
As an idealist, I do think Dimitrov could be tricky and then there’s Busta who’s not afraid of Djokovic. Rune in the quarters could be tought too.
However, as a realist, Djokovic has to be the favorite. Yes, some of these players could bother him, but they’re unproven at doing it to him at this elite level. (Okay, Rune beat him in the Paris-Bercy final, but this is five sets and a slam). Unless we count with the help of divine interference like Busta got at the 2020 USO.
Some help from the tennis Gods might come to these players anyway. There has been talk of a Djokovic hamstring injury, but we’ve been here before with the Serbian and his ailments and let’s hope his opponents don’t get psyched out.
If you’re a Nadal fan, you could be in for some ride. Since his USO loss to Tiafoe, he’s 1-6. He got an okay draw, not as easy as some and not that great for a top seed.
Nadal’s draw from r3: Nishioka/ Tiafoe/ Medvedev/ Tsitsipas/ Ruud.
His winning would be a surprise, but then again, last year he managed to sneak one up on us, and he could do it again. We’ll be a lot more informed after his first round with Jack Draper. That’s one of the trickier first round matches you could get right now with Draper just breaking into the top forty.
Elsewhere, fans of the next gen will be hoping for Sinner, FAA and Ruud to make something happen. They all have the potential and I’ll be following their paths in later posts. Next Gen have started to deliver now with Alcaraz being no.1 and the USO champ so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle themselves in this first slam of 2023.
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Juan Martin del Potro retires and boy will the gentle giant be missed.
Photo courtesy of wikipedia commons. The night of Juan Martin del Potro’s 2009 USO Open final happened to be the morning I was starting my new job as a university tutor in Istanbul. Did I skip the match so I could go to work nice and fresh? Like hell I did! I stayed up until 6 am watching del Potro win the title versus Roger Federer at the tender age of 20. I didn’t have internet, either, so I sat up in an internet cafe cheering him on and drinking coffee. The next day at work training, in a room with 80 other tutors, I smiled away like a highly caffeinated love struck zombie.
del Potro’s win that New York Summer’s night promised so much to me. Back then, Federer and Nadal had been going at it for four years, and it was time for some new blood to win slams. del Potro, aged 20, reminded me of Safin who came along and beat Sampras at the Open in ’00. He had a lot of belief and so much talent, and that forehand.
That forehand. Swoon. No shot has given me so much pleasure. I’ve been fortunate to see it live. Going up the line, cross court, hit on the run, and the most beautiful of all, struck, in position, timed to perfection, the most brutal, beautiful shot in tennis.
del Potro’s career didn’t quite work out how we fans wished, or how he wished. His wrist issues started not long after that US Open win and who knows how things would have panned out if he had rested it and not played the 2010 Australian Open. The Argentinian had eight surgeries in total, four on his wrists. But it’s not my place to dwell on the what ifs- it’s my place to celebrate what he did achieve.
When he came back, he always delivered. He had many wins over the big 3, won plenty of titles, was a top five regular and gave us that 2018 Wimbledon last eight match versus Nadal and that 2018 run to the USO final. That 2018 Indian Wells final win over Federer is probably my greatest ATP 1000 match of all time.
More than anything, he graced us with his smile, his gentleness and his humility. Tennis players don’t have to give their best qualities to us, but he shared his tennis and his self with us in equally generous measures.
I’ll never forget when, in the trophy ceremony after that 2009 US Open win, the MC tried to take the mic off him after deciding del Potro had had his say for the night. del Potro took it back and spoke in Spanish, his eyes wet with tears and his face flushed with the brilliance of his tennis that night. That gentle tenacity and fight never left him.
del Potro; we love you. Keep in touch!
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How to save time when choosing the right tennis academy?
Everyone who travels a bit knows platforms such as Booking or Skyscanner, where you can search for available dates, easily compare prices and book accommodation or flights through the website in one go. Now, this kind of service is available to tennis players and their parents when choosing a tennis academy.
We have had an interesting chat with Stanislav Nemecek, the founder of tennis-academies.com, who aims to offer tennis players and their parents an easy way to pick the most suitable tennis program.
Hi Stan, how did you come up with this idea to set up a booking platform for camps and programs in tennis academies?
Hi. There were a couple of factors that influenced me but let me pinpoint two of them. The first was a brief meeting with Rafa Nadal back in 2016 during my vacation in Mallorca. I just casually asked in a tennis shop if they had any autographed merchandise and the shop assistant told me that Rafa might just be training a few kilometres from there – in the place where his tennis academy is located today. I didn’t hesitate, jumped in the rented car, went to the academy and, after a while, Rafa really did come on court. I watched his training for over 3 hours and it kind of inspired me to go for my own dreams and take my chances when they occur.From then on, I just couldn´t get rid of the thought of doing some kind of project with tennis academies. But, it wasn´t until 2020, when a concrete idea crystallized in my head. The IT company I work for, we had been developing an online comparison site in the field of energy and insurance, so a business very far away from the world of sports. So the second important moment came when I was driving to work one morning and thinking about this project when I remembered my ambition about tennis academies. Suddenly it all came together and I asked myself something along the lines of: “Is there any website which would compare programs of various tennis academies?”.
And what did you find out?
That there was no satisfactory online solution on the market. Just a few websites attempted, I would say, to do something similar, but the technical condition of those sites was poor and did not really allow users to compare a higher number of academies in different countries. Moreover, the prices and dates of tennis camps were usually not published and only available on request, which in itself prevents any basic comparison.Knowing that, I teamed up with my former colleague and a friend of mine, who is an expert on data solutions and tracing, and we performed a deep research of more than 250 tennis academies in Europe.
There are that many tennis academies just in Europe?
Yes and no. The word “academy” has become extensively overused in the past decade, partly because it sounds more cool than a “club”. But in fact, a lot of facilities do not meet the basic requirements of what we would expect from a tennis academy.So how do we differentiate a club from a real tennis academy?
A tennis academy, in our view, should meet at least the following conditions:- It should offer both short-term and long-term tennis programs, not just individual lessons.
- On-court tennis training is supplemented by the services of fitness coach, physiotherapy, mental training and ideally also nutritionist.
- The academy offers accommodation and boarding options included in the price of programs, be it on-site or very close in a partnering hotel.
- The coaches are able to communicate in English so that the academy can accept tennis players from all around the world.
- Language courses or school enrolment options for the kids are a big plus.
These are basically the criteria we have used to filter out the academies we would like to cooperate with.
To make it clear, I do not have anything against clubs and I consider them absolutely essential for the development of tennis players. I myself have been a member of my hometown tennis club for more than 30 years. But there is a fine line between what we call a club and what is already an academy and I feel like this line has been a bit blurred in the past couple of years.
So why do you think there is a need for a comparison site for tennis academies when people can book directly with them?
If the players or their parents don’t have any past experience with tennis academies or a close reference, they need to start searching for an academy which suits their needs based on:- Location
- Age and level of the player
- Price
- Available date
Without the comparison website, this used to be a quest itself since price lists are often non-public and websites are structured differently, which makes it super hard to find detailed information about particular programs, available dates and included services. We solve that by having the same structure of information for all tennis academies, putting different offers in a standardized format.
To sum it up, we significantly save the time needed to choose the most suitable academy and we are happy to give personalized advice to each tennis player or parent who comes to us. Our effort is also to ensure continuity in the players development, so we always discuss the objectives with parents.
Another goal of our project is to show tennis players and their parents that quality tennis programs and academies are available not only in Spain, France or Italy, but also in countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Switzerland, Belgium or even Norway. Tennis has a great tradition and success in many European countries so why stick with just two or three countries?
How hard has it been to persuade international tennis academies to join your project?
The beginnings are hard in every business but I guess I was really determined to get it going once I validated there is a certain hole in the market. I tried to make the most of my experience both from web development and tennis, being around the sport from my early childhood and having the chance to play my part in organizing teams on the ATP Tour, Fed Cup or Laver Cup events.From the selection of tennis academies we had from our research, I approached some of those who complied with our criteria and explained our plans. I guess it was crucial when we partnered with Juan Carlos Ferrero Equelite Academy, which is one the most renowned tennis academies in the world and, after that, others followed as they saw we really meant business.
You mentioned Juan Carlos Ferrero. Do you feel like it is a trend for professional tennis players to start an academy?
Yes, I believe so. We are currently partnering with four academies which are associated with the names of former or current professional players (Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Dominika Cibulkova and Karolina Pliskova). The roles of these pros in the organization vary from academy to academy but it is always nice and inspiring to see your idols around the courts passing on their knowledge to young tennis players.But even academies without big names in their logo do a splendid job of nurturing tennis talents. When I see how involved on a daily basis are the directors of Barcelona Tennis Academy or HDN Academy, I can definitely imagine sending my daughter there for a tennis program when she is older.
To conclude what you have told us so far, what would be your suggestion to the parents of young tennis players who consider sending a child to a sports camp at a tennis academy?
Don’t settle for putting your child in the first tennis academy you come across. Research the possibilities, compare the services and require fast and open communication from the tennis academy as thoroughly as when choosing a school for a child. After all, even a tennis program abroad should be a great life lesson. So, when parents need to be directed to the most suitable tennis academy, they can contact us at info@tennis-academies.com. -
Rafa-Medvedev, Barty-Collins Australian Open finals set.
It says it all that we call Rafa by his first name. Few players achieve that, and he has earned it.
Who knows if the other three finalists will get to be known on first name terms. Though, I do hear Barty often referred to as Ash.
Medvedev could get there. He seems to be leading the pack of the next in line coming up behind the big 3.
Collins is the newest name on the Grand slam finalists roll call. She reached her first one beating Swiatek in straight sets. It was a mightily impressive and stoic display. Collins said she was so focused during the match that when she won, her celebration was so low key because she was still thinking about her tactics.
Barty also got through in straights, beating Keys.
In the men’s, both Nadal and Medvedev (I will call Nadal by his surname for reasons of equality) got through in four sets. Nadal beat Berrettini and Medvedev defeated Tsitsipas. Both winners were convincing ones and their pretty swift progress to the final means both should be as fresh as any finalist can be.
Tsitsipas almost managed to get through the event with little controversy. But, in his semi-final exit, he once again hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. This time, it was his father coaching him, which Medvedev animatedly complained about in an exchange with the umpire, whom Medvedev oddly called a ‘small cat.’ The tournament though was not treating the Tsistispas coaching issue like a harmless creature. They went to great lengths to put an end to it by getting Greek umpire Eva Asderaki to stand in the player’s entrance beneath the Tsitsipas coaching team and signal to the chair umpire when coaching did take place.
It always says a lot when these stories take up more room than the match, but all the semi finals were a bit of a letdown. Not to take away from the achievement of the players, but this was not a round which will stay in the memory for longer than a couple of hours.
The finals might be different, mind.
Barty vs Collins
Great contrast in styles; two very down to earth and likeable players; one is a home player with the crowd behind her and the other is a real fighter who gets steelier the bigger the occasion. Of the two, it would seem Barty might be the likelier to freeze, and so we could get an upset here.
Nadal vs Medvedev.
Nadal getting 21 after losing his last four finals here would be a huge story. Nadal generally has had Medvedev’s number in their careers. But they are very different stages now, with Nadal out for the last six months and Medvedev winning his first slam. Neither man is playing that well, but they are doing what champs do, winning while not at their best. If neither can raise their game for the final, this match will be up for grabs. Things might get messy, and very, very entertaining. I think Medvedev is the favorite here, but I would not be surprised for Nadal’s coolness and perspective to be the decider.
Tennis from a fan's point of view
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