By Matt Hill
The week after Wimbledon is usually a time that tennis fans and even players catch their breath and get ready for the North American summer hard court season and the heat and humidity of the United States. This year, though, is not one of those years. The Paris Olympics are sandwiched in-between Wimbledon and the US Open and they happen to be played at Roland Garros, meaning the Olympics will be on clay. Therefore, this week’s tournaments, really minus Newport on grass in Rhode Island, had added meaning and acted as tuneups for the clay season. A lot of players still skipped this week recovering from two grand slams, but there were several high profile players playing this week including the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal.
Nadal made a dream run to the finals of a 250 in Bastad and you may wonder what the big deal is on that. He had to win a four-hour quarterfinal against Mariano Navone 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 and then in the semis won another three-set battle over Duje Ajdukovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 which considering his injuries that he has had was truly remarkable for the 38-year-old. It was Nadal’s first final since Roland Garros in 2022.
Social media can be absolutely toxic and some of the comments that were made about Nadal this week, mainly from one certain fanbase were ruthless and honestly uncalled for. Nadal was not playing a 250 just to play a 250. He was getting prepared for the Olympics which is later this week (We will have an Olympic Preview later this week). It didn’t really take a lot of thought to realize why he was playing in Bastad. If he went to Hamburg to play the 500 event, good chance he is playing Alexander Zverev again and possibly out of the tournament early. Also, his friend Casper Ruud was playing this event and it allowed him to play a couple of rounds of doubles which was a treat for the fans. Ruud and Nadal honestly would have probably won the doubles if they had not pulled out so Rafa could focus on singles. (Yes, he was criticized for that too.) I think he definitely made the right decision to play in Bastad where it was more laid back and it was nice for a tournament that usually goes under the radar and probably will again to have one of the GOATS of the game play there.
The match with Navone was a classic clay court match. There were quite a few errors made by Nadal, but the way he fought in the match was exemplary. Navone was ahead 4-1 in the first set and this looked like it was going be an easy win for the Argentine, who is a clay court specialist and probably a top 10 or 15 player on clay. However, Nadal battled back and got the set to a tiebreak only for Navone to take it and it once again didn’t look good for the king of clay. However, this is Nadal we are talking about and he refused to give up and quit. In the second set, Nadal raced out to a 3-0 advantage but Navone bounced back and took a 5-4 lead. However Rafa once again showed that grit that we are used to seeing and at 5-5 he broke Navone and went on to win the second set 7-5. In the third set it started out all Nadal and he led 5-2, but credit Navone he never quit either and evened the set up at 5-5. It went down to the end, but when Nadal broke Navone was once in the 6-5 game, Rafa just serve it out and won a classic.
Why is this important? It is obvious Nadal is not the same player right now, but the fact he can win a match like and his semifinal against Ajdukovic shows he can still win when not playing his best. I realize Novak Djokovic is playing still at a pretty high level almost at his age, but there is no excuse for making fun of this man because he doesn’t have the abilities like he used to. I honestly did not expect Nadal to even finish this tournament and he did and that is progress. Yes, he lost to American college tennis product Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-2 in the final and credit to Borges he played a fabulous match, but the main goal here was preparing for the Olympics and I honestly believe he got all the match preparation he needed. He chose the right tournament and it was the perfect week for him. Yes, he was disappointed in the way he played but Rafa is a perfectionist. I think deep down inside he is happy with how this week. We will talk more about Rafa in our Olympic preview later this week.
MUCHOVA-ZHENG FINAL IN PALMERO HIGHLIGHTS A QUIET WEEK IN WTA CIRCLES
While most players decided to take the week off with no 500 event scheduled, a couple of WTA competitors took advantage of a rare opportunity to play in a WTA 250 and prepare for the Olympics. There is a clause that you cannot play a WTA 250 the week there is a WTA 500 if you are a top 20 player unless you are from that country or are the defending champion. However, there is nothing that says you can’t do it when there is no 500 event being contested. This led to a blockbuster final on Sunday between Quinwen Zheng and Karolina Muchova, won by Zheng 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Here in the United States, this massive final was very hard to find on television. Tennis Channel was contracted to show the Newport final being a US Tournament, placing the match on T2, which is on stream. I started this match covering it from a scorebug on Tennis.com but thanks to my friend Tennis Updates on Twitter/X, I was able to find how to download T2 and then was able to join the match midway through the first set. He pointed out that if Newport was not a US Tournament, this match would have been on regular Tennis Channel. Fortunately all was good and we were able to watch a very intriguing final.
The first set was full of breaks, five in the set combined. Zheng was able to get the one that counted at the very end and won the set 6-4. Muchova then bounced back as he backhand got stronger and she took the second set 6-4. The third set meanwhile, was all Zheng, she raced out 3-0 and never looked back in a 6-2 win.
Though it was a great win for Zheng, I thought this week was especially important for Muchova. Coming off an injury it was very encouraging and I think she is going to be a factor at the Olympics and the US Open. I really like Muchova and here demeanor on the court. I think it was good for her confidence.to have a week like this.
RECAP OF THIS WEEK’S TENNIS NEWS
MEN
Hamburg: Arthur Fils defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (1). If not for Nadal, this would have been our lead story. Fils pulled off an underhand serve in the third set which angered Zverev in his home country and he confronted Fils and went to his side of the court in a changeover. Fils won the match and then there was a frosty handshake at the end. It looked like they made up in the trophy ceremony. Seems to be a lot of drama with Zverev matches, but we will leave that alone.
Gstaad: Matteo Berrettini defeated Quentin Halys 6-3, 6-1. Total domination for the Italian and he continues his comeback from injuries.
Newport: Marcos Giron defeats Alex Michelsen 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-5. In an All-American battle, Giron takes the final Newport tournament as a regular tour event. The tournament will become a challenger next year.
WOMEN
Budapest: Diana Shniader defeated Aliaksandra Sansovich 6-4, 6-4. Shniader is a player to keep an eye on as the former N.C. State star is rising up the rankings.
HALL OF FAME CEREMONY
Leander Paes, Vijay Amritraj and Richard Evans were inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday in Newport, Rhode Island. Amritraj was inducted for his work as an amassador for the game in places where it was not accessible. He was also the United Nations Ambassador of Peace. Paes joins Amritraj as the first players from Asia to be inducted. Paes won 18 slam titles combined in mixed and men’s doubles. It was definitely a special night for India and great they went together. Evans has covered the sport as a journalist since the 1960s and is definitely someone as a journalist I admire and appreciate.
NORTH AMERICAN HARDCOURT SEASON GETTING STARTED WITH ATLANTA AND WASHINGTON TOURNAMENTS
It is a dilemma the United States summer hardcourt tournaments have every four years and players have to choose whether winning Olympic gold is more important than valuable ATP points that honestly could affect your seeding in majors. While a lot of the top ten players went to Paris, American players especially had to decide whether to go to Paris or play a swing that they look forward to every year and risk being called unpatriotic. A lot of those Americans chose to play in the United States. On the women’s side. It wasn’t as big of a deal as Madison Keys was the only one who qualified who chose not to play, leaving her spot for Emma Navarro, who is probably a bigger threat to medal on clay anyway. The men, though, was total chaos. Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe are both entered in Atlanta and Sebastian Korda will join them in Washington the following week.
Looking at the Atlanta Open, this is the last year of this tournament that has a long history as it started in Indianapolis as the US Hardcourt Championships and moved to Atlanta in 2009. The tournament has been played at the Atlantic Station Shopping mall over the last decade right in the heart of the city and there was always a debate about whether this tournament should be held there or in one of the quieter clubs like the Atlantic Athletic Club. Unfortunately, due to the addition of expanded Masters 1000 in Canada and Cincinnati, there simply wasn’t room on the calendar for a small tournament in Atlanta.
Since this is the last Atlanta Open, this event looks like it is going to go out in style with Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Denis Shapovalov highlight what should be plenty of entertainment and flash. Shelton, an Atlanta native and Tiafoe, passed up the Olympics to play in the event on their favorite surface hardcourt.
The only combined 500 in the United States is Washington and even despite the Olympics taking away players like Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz, this is still a very strong field for one of the biggest events of the summer in the United States. On the women’s side, it is highlighted by Aryna Sabalenka who has decided to focus on winning that US Open title that eluded her last year. Definitely her presence helps to alleviate the sting of Gauff’s absence. Also in the field is Ons Jabeur, who did not want to go from grass to clay to hard so she took a pass on the Olympics. Emma Raducanu is also in the field along with Daria Kasatkina and Victoria Azarenka.
On the men’s side Shelton and Tiafoe will come over from Atlanta and just like Atlanta is a home tournament for Shelton (Even though he went to the University of Florida so he is not exactly beloved by Georgia fans), Tiafoe is from DC so this is home for him and he feels a lot of pressure playing there but is always a crowd favorite. Grigor Dimitrov, always a threat in a slam, is competing in this tournament along with Sebastian Korda.
It is going to be a makeshift Washington tournament but you have to give the tournament organizers credit for making lemonade and out of lemons. This is the best they could have done and it should be an outstanding tournament.
OLYMPIC PREVIEW OUT LATER THIS WEEK
It is almost time for the Paris Olympics to start and www.bearshoopsaces.wordpress/com and www.qualityshottennis.com have you covered with our Olympic Preview. We will go through the draw and talk about it like we do the majors. You will not want to miss it will be out after the draw is made. Also, there will be no blog next week because of the Olympics.
