by Pete Bodo
One thing I’ve already learned from doing News of the Day posts is that news travels fast, at least during tennis-dense periods of the kind currently underway on the hard courts of the U.S. and Canada. Having missed the better part of two days’ action, looking at the draws, parsing the news articles, checking the schedules leaves me feeling overwhelmed. Where to start? More to the point, where to stop and what to leave out? But let’s give it a try.
—You can accuse Andy Roddick of certain shortcomings, but “lack of energy” has never been one of them. So the news that he pulled out of the Rogers Cup (Toronto) because he wasn’t feeling quite right—he hadn’t been feeling quite right from back when he lost to Gilles Simon at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic (Washington)—is a little disturbing. I don’t want to start any rumors here, and Roddick has issued no update on his condition. But mononucleosis (glandular fever) has been so common on the tour that it can almost be called “tennis player disease,” or could be called that if it were not already a euphemism for choking away matches. Roger Federer and Long John Isner, among others, had recent bouts of mono.
A few months ago, Isner told me about how he received support and advice on his own recovery from mono from Federer. That happened in Cincinnati last year, when Isner was just returning to the tour. He was a little freaked out because he was beginning to feel the symptoms (loss of energy) that he experienced before he was diagnosed with mono back in the spring.
So Craig Boynton, Isner’s coach, approached Severin Luthi, Federer’s Davis Cup coach and adviser, seeking advice. The following day, Federer found Isner engaged in a golf video game in the Cincy player lounge. “He came up and talked to me about it,” Isner recalled. “He told me to listen to my body. If I felt spent, I should have no qualms about pulling out or a tournament, or even in the middle of a match. ‘Don’t be afraid or ashamed to do it,’ Roger told me. And for him to take the time, that was pretty cool.”
One secret to Federer’s success and longevity: He loves the locker room culture. It’s not like the guy got his 10 majors and now wants to write dark rock-and-roll anthems, or challenge Hugo Boss as a designer of men’s suits.
—Francesca Schiavone crafted what might well be the best WTA story of the passing year at the French Open, where she emerged as champion. Since then, though, she’s experienced some rough sledding while undoubtedly still riding the emotional high of her great win at Roland Garros.
Schiavone’s loss in the Western and Southern Financial Group Women’s Open (Cincinnati) yesterday dropped her post-Roland Garros record to 1-5. Who cares? She’s a Grand Slam champion—perhaps the most unexpected female champ at a major since Iva Majoli beat Martina Hingis for the same title in 1997. That French title can’t ever be taken away, and these recent losses can’t possibly be remembered, at least not beyond, oh, next Wednesday. So it’s all good, right?
It will probably take something compelling to pull Schiavone out of the tailspin. It could be the U.S. Open, but it might also be—believe it or not—Fed Cup. You know what high morale that Italian squad has cultivated, and the fear of letting her teammates down may give Schiavone that extra bit of incentive she needs to shake her head and get it out of the clouds.
All this, of course, goes to show the emotional impact that a huge win can have. And Schiavone could not have had a bigger, less likely one. Now imagine being a Serena Williams, Roger Federer, or Rafael Nadal, routinely bringing home the bacon major after major, year after year, rarely suffering anything like a comparable letdown. It just increases your respect for the giants of the game.
—Things could be worse for Schiavone. She could be, oh, Elena Dementieva, the snakebit pro who’s established herself not just as the best player not to have won a Grand Slam title, but now also looks more and more like the best one destined to maybe never win one. You know that “jump the shark” theory, right? Well, you have to wonder if the semifinal Dementieva lost at Roland Garros isn’t her jumping-the-shark moment. Dementieva was in the midst of another teasing, tempting run at the French Open when she had to retire after losing the first-set tiebreaker to. . . Schiavone.
The unexpected pass to the final paved the way for Schiavone’s moment of glory; you might even say it allowed Schiavone to snatch a title that seemed destined to go to Dementieva. Remember, the other finalist turned out to be Slammin’ Sam Stosur, a erratic, unpredictable competitor also seeking her first major. The long-expected alignment of the stars seemed to be in the offing for Dementieva.
But Dementieva’s luck transcended the merely bad and now looks almost like a nasty blow delivered by the fates. She appears recovered from that left-calf strain that led her to abandon the French semi, but she won only one singles match (over Kimiko Date Krumm) in the two tournaments she’s played thus far this summer, The Bank of the West Classic (Stanford) and Cincinnati.
—And just a few minutes ago, David Nalbandian pummeled Robin Soderling to make the quarterfinals in Toronto. That brings suddenly resurgent Nalbandian’s winning streak to 11 matches—the best run of his career. We know what this guy can do when he gets a hot hand, so we’ll say it again: Unless Nalbandian’s game goes over a cliff in the next two weeks, he’s positioned to be a force at the final major of the year.
