Mailbag: Early Storylines from the 2021 Australian Open

Wednesday is Mailbag day. A few thoughts + Q&A through three days of play at the 2021 Australian Open….All the while marveling: it’s amazing how much less you sweat when you have to get your own damn towels.

1) It’s remarkable that this event is happening. Tennis Australia took a considerable risk—an underarm serve down set point?—when it decided to stage this event, landmines be damned, public backlash be damned. From the logistical challenges, to the government resistance, to the unpredictably of the ruthless opponent that is COVID…there were plenty of why-are-we-undertaking-this? moments. It took a lot of cooperation, more than a little luck, and virtually no sleep on the organizers’ part…but here we are. It looks increasingly like tennis will have survived the pandemic missing only one (insured) major.

2) Let’s take a moment to celebrate this golden age, this embarrassment of riches. Yes, we’re talking about the Big Three and Serena all playing at once. But we are also talking about the elite excellence of the men’s side coupled with the competitiveness of the women’s. Two players on the men’s side have won 37 majors. The other 126 players in the draw have won a combined five (three for 35-year-old Stan Wawrinka; once apiece for Dominic Thiem and the fading Marin Cilic.) If neither Djokovic nor Nadal nor Thiem wins the title, it will be a considerable upset. The smart money says it will be Djokovic, which will give him NINE titles here, more singles trophies than Federer has won at Wimbledon.

On the other hand, the women’s draw is delightfully saturated with contenders. Serena is going for history. Ash Barty is the top seed. Iga Swiatek may have a new racket but the same swagger she showed winning the previous major. Naomi Osaka, the 2019 champ, won the previous hardcourt major. Garbine Muguruza barely lost games for her first four matches of the year. Oh, yes, there is the defending champion and 2020 Player of the Year, Sonia Kenin. Fans win either way. You want historical excellence? Check. You want a wide open any-given-Saturday field? We got that, too.

3) One specific player who’s stuck out….For the second time in her career, 24-year-old Ash Barty went nearly a year without playing. The first time, she returned from an interval of self-discovery (and cricket) and became the No. 1 player in the world. Recently, she stayed in Australia during COVID, declining to defend her French Open title. Again, she looked no worse for the wear. She took the first event she played in the tune-up. In her first-round match she won 6-0, 6-0, taking 50 of the 60 points played. (Perspective: win 52% of the points played over the course of a season and you’re ranked in the top 10.) Everyone had a good laugh at the beer meme, but there’s probably a deeper lesson here. Balancing your life can help your tennis.

4) These are dark times for college tennis, which, too often lately, has gotten the budgetary axe when athletic departments need to cut non-revenue sports. Someone ought to direct these athletic directors to the majors. Fifteen former college players were in the singles draw, not least UCLA’s Jennifer Brady, the 22 seed, who has quietly become a formidable top player.

5) As predicted, the “hard quarantine” has exacted a price. That is, the players who—through no fault of their own; without advance warning—seem to be struggling. Angie Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Bianca Andreescu. Fourteen days in isolation, without being able to practice, is brutal. It’s impossible to know how much of a defeat is attributable to this confinement. We obviously can’t handicap the match to account for this. (One coach jokingly suggested that all these players be gifted a game each set against no quarantine opponents.) But for the sake of competitive fairness, it’s a pity so many players are disadvantaged like this.

Some Q/A for the changeover…

Mailbag

Have a question or comment for Jon? Email him at jon_wertheim@yahoo.com or tweet him @jon_wertheim.

Jon, we heard about the difficulty it took for players to get to Australia, the charters and different flights from all over the world. Well, how the heck are the players leaving Australia? Are they just free to go?
—Charles G.

• The short answer: yes. Australia is happy to see you go! You’re now another country’s concern. I have heard some complications. A) It’s not so easy getting flights out. B) If you are an Australian player, are you inclined to leave, knowing that upon return, you’re subject to 14 days quarantine. C) In the time since players have departed, some countries have toughened protocol for returning citizens. But yes, players can leave and there will not be chartered return flights.

First, I admit that I don’t care for Nick Kyrgios. But I do genuinely wonder why he stays in tennis instead of trying basketball. It’s plainly obvious that he doesn’t enjoy tennis as much, especially the daily events of the tennis tour. He said he didn’t even miss tennis during COVID lockdown. (Even eternal intermediate players like me miss tennis after a few weeks!) He clearly LOVES basketball. He even practices tennis in a basketball jersey. He may be not tall enough as a basketball player but he’s extremely athletic and there are plenty of great basketball players at his height. He’s still young enough to take a leap to try to see how good he can be in basketball. He can try NBL in Australia without leaving his home. He may not be as successful in basketball as in tennis but he would be immensely happier. Life is too short to toil in sports he doesn’t care for just because he can make enough money with his talent alone. After a few years of trying and he decides to come back to tennis, a la Ash Barty, he can do that without ever wondering what if I had tried my true passion. How do you think?
–Aki from Seattle

• Quick story: during his NBA career, much was made of Michael Jordan’s love of golf. He spoke openly about how much he wanted to play on the senior tour. Could he perhaps transfer that genius—all that hand/eye magic and touch and mental acuity—to a new sport?

He plays some pro-am event in Las Vegas. I remember that at one point, he was tied with Maury Povich, the talk show host. Why do I bring this up? Nick Kyrgios may dream of the NBA. But it is just that. A wild dream. He is closer to getting an MBA than making the NBA.

Your larger point, though, is a good one. Maybe he needs to sabbatical a la Barty to gauge his passion for tennis. Or maybe he is resigned—like many people—to clock in for a pursuit that never seems like more than a job, well-paying as it is. It’s a pity he denigrates tennis. It’s a pity he is so cavalier about his talent. But you can’t fake passion.

There's been virtually no mention of Andreescu in the AO contender talk but she's surely earned her place in the “ignore her at your peril” category. How's she looking? What do you think of her chances?
—Claire, Ottawa

• I think most of us had her on the B-list of contenders. It’s hard to go all-in on a player who went 463 days without a sanctioned match. (And then withdrew from the tune-up the week before the Australian Open…after getting out of hard quarantine compounded by the fact her coach had tested positive for COVID.) In her first round, Andreescu looked relatively sharp, dropping a set but steadying to beat fellow-escu Mihaela Buzarnescu. She then was completely outplayed in the second by Hsieh Su-wei.

Interesting to me: without her playing a match, she has changed image and scanned more profound than “swagger.” Read this piece, for instance, from Tumaini Carayol.

I hope this finds you and yours well. Apologies if you have already addressed these topics.

1. Line calls at the AO... In my opinion, the 100% electronic line calling is awesome. Is there any reason (other than maintaining employment of line judges) that all Slams shouldn't implement this functionality?

2. Attendance at the AO... where are the people? If I could've gotten into Australia, this was the year to get a good seat.
—Jenny

• I’ll write about this more in the wrap, but COVID has accelerated a lot of trends already afoot. Automation is one example. And, yes, it’s getting increasingly hard to lobby for less accuracy. “Retraining” is one of those words that induces eyerolls, but you would like to think the tennis economy can find places for these workers who have been loyal, honorable and devoted to the sport.

Where are the people? I’ve heard different theories. The tournament’s spin: the crowds are divided into three groups so the attendance looks deceptively sparse. Also, it’s late in the season and no longer the Aussie summer. I had a reader (no spin) say that Melbournians are still wary of taking unnecessary risks, such as attending large gatherings.

Second day of the Aussie. Am I the only person completely disgusted with the sports gambling all over the TC coverage? And: Et tu, Brute?
—Jennifer Loyd

• It’s a fair question. My response: sports wagering is either legal or there is a bill pending in 47 of 50 states. It’s here. It’s here to stay. It’s part of the sports experience for millions.

Is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova the most successful and accomplished women's singles player who's never been in the top 10? And what gives?
—Chris

• Iga Swiatek has never been in the top 10. Same for Elise Mertens, Anett Kontaveit, Petra Martic….But, yes, it’s surprising that Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova—a three-time Aussie Open quarterfinalist—has peaked at No. 13. You wouldn’t call her career a disappointment. But she put together one of the truly great junior great careers—one she has never replicated as a pro. On Monday, she lost her first match to Naomi Osaka, the penalty/peril for not being seeded.

While the tennis world's eyes have turned to Australia, I would like to commend the USTA for its efforts to spark innovation and grow the game that we all love. I recently competed in the USTA New England Innovation Challenge, a competition that aimed to create new experiences for tennis players and reimagine current offerings to strengthen tennis (in New England). My team ended up winning with a proposal to use tennis as a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) learning tool to combat the summer and COVID "slide" and expose more kids to the game. You can watch our 90-second pitch here.

The really exciting part is that USTA New England has promised to implement our concept. Hopefully there will be some programs in New England's cities this summer that combine tennis and STEAM education. We did some initial ideating around lessons, but I'd like to pose a challenge to your readers, one that will ultimately help the USTA put our proposal into action. How can tennis be used as a STEAM learning tool?
—Taylor Witkin, Medford, Mass.

• Love it. Thanks.

Shots, Miscellany

• The Grand Slam Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Ugo Valensi as its new Executive Director, effective 1 March 2021. The Grand Slam Board is the representative body of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis – the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, The Championships, Wimbledon, and the US Open – and is comprised of the Chairs and Chief Executives of the four Grand Slams and the President of the International Tennis Federation.

As Executive Director, Mr Valensi will be a strategic relationship leader for the Grand Slams as they move forward with ambition in the ever-changing sports, media and entertainment landscape. Partnering with each Grand Slam’s own teams, his remit will include developing an overall strategy for the Grand Slams, helping to drive greater collaboration between the principal bodies in tennis to ensure that tennis is a healthy, thriving sport, and engagement with the wider global tennis stakeholder community.