MEN’S SINGLES WRAP-UP
It was a miraculous run to the final for an aging Novak Djokovic, but Carlos Alcaraz at age 21 has already put himself in the same conversation with some of the game’s greats. The Spainard joined the likes of Laver, Borg, Nadal, Federer and the man he beat on Sunday Djokovic to win Wimbledon and Roland Garros in the same season in a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 beatdown on Centre Court Sunday afternoon in the Wimbledon men’s singles final. The victory was the fourth grand slam for Alcaraz at just age 21 and everything said about this young man has come true. It was also the beginning of a super day for Alcaraz and Spain as Alcaraz, a big football fan, later watched Spain defeat England in the Euros to win the championship. Life can’t get much better right now for the Spainard.
Meanwhile for Djokovic, I don’t really think his fans should be that upset. Coming off a knee injury that usually requires six to eight weeks of downtime, it was an amazing accomplishment to recover that quickly after being injured at Roland Garros to then reaching the final of Wimbledon. I honestly thought he would skip Wimbledon to focus on the Olympics even before the injury so he proved everyone wrong on that one. As someone told me this week, bet against Djokovic at your own peril.
On this day, Alcaraz was the one that looked like the legend. The only time Alcaraz was threatened was during the third set when he lost his serve at 5-4 with three match points on his serve and the set went to a tiebreak where on the fourth match point, he was able to finish the job and put his name among the immortals as players who has won both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. At age 21, he already has a Hall-of-Fame career in the books and now he is trying to set himself up as one of the all-time greats. There was a lot of concern coming into Roland Garros about Jannik Sinner maybe overtaking tennis after winning the Australian Open, but Alcaraz has won the three biggest events since the Australian Open with the two slams and Indian Wells. He definitely looks like the leader of the next-gen crew.
It probably needs to be pointed out that Djokovic received a walkover against Alex De Minuar in the quarters because of a leg injury which he would have been a favorite in that match but still definitely helped his cause. There was also the fourth round match with Holger Rune where the crowd was chanting Rune’s name and Djokovic took offense saying they were booing him. This prompted Djokovic to ridicule the fans in the press conference, saying “Have a Goooooooood night. Rune did tell Djokovic they were saying his name, but Djokovic used it for motivation in a 6-3 6-4 6-2 blowout.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, was very sluggish in his first week, even being taken to five sets by Frances Tiafoe, but when the second week rolled around it was absolutely a complete 180. In a four-set win over Danil Medvedev, Alcaraz overcame a strong first set by the Russian to put on a clinic in the last three sets. This was when I knew he was going to win Wimbledon. He was in a zone and he didn’t get out of it on Sunday. Four slams at this age are unreal and now he will go to the Olympics and then the US Open trying to complete one of the best summers in tennis history. Alcaraz definitely had one of the best days of his life on Sunday and it looks like he has many more ahead.
WOMEN’S SINGLES RECAP
Barbora Krejcikova was already a grand slam champion in singles, doubles and mixed and probably a sure-fire Hall of Famer heading into her match with Jasmine Paolini on Saturday for the Wimbledon title, but she went ahead and added her biggest prize of them all, a Wimbledon singles crown. Krejcikova rallied from a poor second set en route to a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory in the most compelling women’s grand slam final this year. There had been some clunkers this year in grand slam finals and it looked more of the same when Krejcikova won the first set easily in almost no time. However, you could never count out the heart of Paolini, a 28-year-old Italian who looks a lot younger than her age but plays with such heart and is always smiling on the court. Paolini was in her second straight grand slam final having lost to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros last month. There it was obvious she had no realistic shot, but in this match, it was pretty much 50-50 coming in if not a slight favorite nod to Paolini. This was her chance and in the second set, she arrived and this became a match as it was tied up at one set all.
Krejcikova has had a very rough season so far, only winning three matches in 2024 heading into Wimbledon. However, everything clicked the last two weeks and her semifinal victory over Elena Rybakina showed us once again what she was capable of. Then on Saturday she pulled it off again. On serve 3-3 in the third set, Paolini was broken in a memorable game that went back and forth. This was all Krejcikova needed as she held serve twice and took the title.
There has been some discussion this week in tennis circles about whether Krejcikova is a Hall-of-Famer. I say a definite first ballot in my opinion. Her singles record is not that impressive, but she has two slams and a career slam in women’s doubles not to mention two mixed doubles titles. I definitely think she is a no-brainier for the Hall of Fame. Andy Roddick is in it with one slam and Pam Shriver is in it basically off a doubles career. The Hall of Fame Committee does take heavy weight on doubles. I think she would probably be in without it, but with it I say definitely she has to be in. Most people would give anything to have her career and I do believe she will be in Newport very close after retirement.
DOUBLES RECAP
While singles gets the majority of air time and attention on Center Court during the fortnight, Championship weekend puts doubles in the spotlight and did the men’s doubles final ever produce and it gave us a classic. The team of Henri Patten and Harry Heliovaara won 6-7(7) 7-6(8) 7-6(11-9) in a match that will never be forgotten. The team of Patten and Heliovaara were unseeded and were the ultimate underdogs against the Australians. Patten is a product of American college tennis at a small school in the North Carolina mountains called UNC-Asheville, not to be confused with the more famous UNC-Chapel Hill. Patten and Heliovarra were behind in the third set tiebreak, but managed to rally back led by a crazy good forehand by Patten and then they closed it out. Patten used to work Wimbledon as a statistician, now he is a champion. Heliovarra cried his eyes out as this means so much to a team that at this level is playing paycheck by paycheck. It was a tremendous story and one I am glad was covered by the TV networks.
In other doubles action this weekend, Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend won the women’s doubles title 7-6, 7-6. It was Townsend’s first doubles title as Siniakova completed the Roland Garros/Wimbledon double, combining forces with Coco Gauff at Roland Garros. In the mixed, the team of Hsieh-Zielinski won 6-4, 6-4 over Olmos and Gonzales.
THE TENNIS WORLD LOOKS AHEAD TO PARIS AS OLYMPIC TUNE UP TOURNAMENTS START THIS WEEK
The golden summer of tennis (other for some tournaments in the United States, moves back to the European Clay as everyone turns their attention to Paris and the Olympics which begin in just over a week and half from now. Normally, this time of the season would basically be keyword for vacation for the top players, but with a very rare clay court Olympics, the first since Barcelona in 1992, on the docket these tournaments known as the ski resort tournaments have added meaning and much more importance on the calendar. Mainly, this week’s tournaments on the men’s and women’s side (mostly men) are doubling as tune ups for the Paris Olympics. Looking at these events, it is very unusual to see some of the names that are on the list. Yes, Casper Ruud loves this part of the year more than any other including playing an event in Scandanavia in Sweeden near his home in Norway. However, there are names like Rafael Nadal who have not played this portion of the schedules in nearly two decades involved this season. Ruud is actually entered next week in Kitzbühel that actually ends the day the Olympic tennis starts so I assume he will have to ask for a Sunday start in Paris.
The summer clay season will be short. It will be two weeks long and then it will be time for the start of the Olympics. We will preview the actual Olympics when the draw comes out next week probably toward the end of the week, Now lets look at the clay tournaments, starting with the men.
MEN
The action begins on Monday with a 250 in Bastad, a 500 in Hamburg and a 250 in Gstaad. The Bastad tournament seems to be the big one this week with Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and of course the king of clay Rafael Nadal all competing. The field drops off some after those three but still for a 250 after Wimbledon it is very strong. Jannik Sinner pulled out after his loss at Wimbledon according to the tournament website. I don’t think that was a big surprise considering how Sinner manages his schedule. Another highlight of the tournament happens on Monday as Nadal and Ruud will play doubles together. It should be a treat for the fans and also gives Nadal some doubles experience heading into the Olympics where he is scheduled to play with Alcaraz. As was mentioned earlier, Ruud loves these tournaments and he would honestly be my pick to win this week. I think Nadal is just looking for a few matches heading into Paris. I think he is wanting to just peak at the Olympics.
In Hamburg, there are two headlining names in this tournament, Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune, both of whom are coming off disappointing losses at the All-England Club. Zverev is the defending champion in singles, winning at the Tokyo games in 2021. As far as Hamburg goes, this is a home tournament for Zverev, the second in a month for him. Rune had the convincing loss to Djokovic at Wimbledon but has switched focus to Paris and the summer games. Fransisco Cerendulo is also in the field and has a great shot to play spoiler in this tournament.
The final ATP event this week is in Gstaad, Switzerland in another small resort town in Europe. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Ugo Humbert and Felix Auger Aliassime are the top 20 players in the field. Tsitsipas is in a slump right now while Humbert and Aliassime are having revivals to their careers this year. Thomas Etcheverry, a very solid clay court player, is also in the field.
Looking at the Olympic week tournaments, Ruud is headlining in Kitzbühel. It will be interesting to see if he makes the finals in Bastad if he pulls out because that it is a lot of tennis heading into one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Knowing Casper, he will almost certainly play both and the Olympics. He loves this time of year and he will take advantage of it. Matteo Berrettini rolled through the grass in Stuttgart a few weeks ago and he is in the field in Kitzbühel. Defending champion Sebastian Baez is back and also adding to a very strong field are Nicholas Jarry and hometown hero Dominic Thiem.
Also, next week, there will be a 250 in Umag right before the Olympics. Rublev is the headliner here, who is actually taking a pass on the Olympics but is playing both weeks in the European clay season. Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti is playing in this tournament in an event that has heavy Italian attendance. 2023 finalist and future Hall of Famer Stan Wawrinka is in the field as well.
WOMEN
The headliner in Palmero is Quinwen Zheng, the Australian Open finalist. Really not a lot of star power after her in this tournament and Zheng actually took a last minute wild card as a late entry. The women are using this time as a rest and most will go to Paris without a warm up. In Budapest, Diana Shniader is the top seed in a tournament that has been decimated by withdrawals. Next week, the week of the Olympics, There will be tournaments in Iasi, Romania and Prague.
