Welcome to Monday's tennis information session. The Athletic Let me explain the story behind last week's court. The long-awaited Masters 1000 held its first week in Rome this week, with on-court stories matched by off-court drama. Novak Djokovic was sent off after being hit by a water bottle, Rafael Nadal took the next step in his comeback and the on-court scene was overshadowed by a strange referee.
So, is everyone hurting now?
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Are all these injuries signals or noise?
Friday lunchtimes in Rome and the Foro Italico felt like a doctor's office at one point, with a flurry of medical bulletins.
First, defending champion Elena Rybakina withdrew due to illness, resulting in a retirement from the first match of the day on the courts of Campo Centrale and Pietrangeli. The former is Lorenzo Musetti (virus), and the latter is Anna Brinkova (ankle).
Later that day, world No. 7 Casper Roode battled back problems in his loss to Miomir Kecmanovic, who suffered a similar injury and later said he took three different medications to ease the pain. Told.
At the Italian Open, men's favorites Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz withdrew due to poor health before the tournament started. Defending champion Daniil Medvedev arrived with a thigh problem. Elsewhere on Friday, Dominic Thiem announced he would retire at the end of the year, citing his long-standing wrist problems.
So does tennis have an injury problem?
This was a topic of discussion throughout the first week at Roma, with Daniel Collins, who benefited from Brinkova's departure, saying: The Athletic After the match, I realized that the situation was an industrial accident, given tennis's relentless schedule.
“It makes sense when you have so many tournaments back to back,” she said. “This is a physical sport and when people travel far and play a lot of games, injuries and illnesses occur.
“I'm not surprised. It's a long season and everyone is going to deal with injuries and illnesses during the season.”
A few days ago, Medvedev downplayed his absence, saying: “Injuries are generally coincidental, unless everyone has the same injury.”
Grigor Dimitrov, a relative veteran at 32 and ranked No. 10 in the world, took a different view. “More people are retiring in the last two-and-a-half years because the sport is more demanding.”
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Can Kerber and Osaka make a comeback (on clay)?
Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber are really good tennis players, and having children didn't change that.
That doesn't mean coming back is easy. Because tennis does not protect player rankings during maternity leave, women can find themselves at a disadvantage in the early rounds of tournaments and struggle to find wins when they are needed most. Osaka and Kerber have been dealing with that issue in recent months and are showing signs of their past Grand Slam wins, but they have also had periods of instability that could spell doom for their tennis in two out of three sets. Ta.
But in Rome, Kerber will be back at work for the round of 16 at the Masters 1000, where she will face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. For Kerber, who is only in her fifth month, reaching her second week is already considered a victory. About her comeback. She has career-best results on both grass and hard courts, and she's not a player any seed would want to play against this summer.
Osaka's coach, Wim Fissette, has set a goal of getting back into shape for this year's hard swing in North America, but Osaka is famously impatient and there are new questions about the red spot. . Rome was definitely her best week, with wins over Marta Kostyuk, one of the best players this year, and Daria Kasatkina, perhaps the smartest player in the world. Next up was 21-year-old Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen, who enjoyed a matchup and defeated the errant Osaka in straight sets.
The defeat does not waver Osaka's commitment to improving on a surface she doesn't normally like at all. Osaka lost early in Madrid and headed to Mallorca for training before Roma. “I watched some videos,” she said. “I saw Rafa. I saw Alcaraz. I watched 'Rublev' and it was very moving. He's hitting the ball so much that I thought, 'I don't want to have any regrets when I leave the court.' I did. I regretted not being able to take a full swing in Madrid. ”
Do you have any regrets? Sounds good.
Outside the tram: Should referees be part of the show?
The rise of electronic line calling (ELC) means referees are becoming an increasingly peripheral player in tennis.
Clay is a little different, with tournaments including the Italian Open still relying on jumping off the chair to inspect ball marks.
During a close final set between British world No. 67 Dan Evans and local favorite Fabio Fognini on Thursday night, Fognini scooped a forehand drive volley short and wide. The linesman in charge of the singles sideline initially held out his arm and declared the player out. Hawkeye's evidence showed it was out. Referee Mohamed Rahyani insisted otherwise.
“I couldn't see my mark. The ball didn't hit the fucking line,” Evans said.
Rahiani claimed during his argument that the linesman had declared the ball in, but that appears not to have been the case. The incident came a year after Evans' compatriot Andy Murray had a similar altercation with Rahiani against the same opponent at the same tournament.
A back-and-forth battle ensued, and Evans was given a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Some might argue that this is no coincidence at all. Rahiani is happy to participate in matches, but sometimes he goes too far, as he did six years ago when he gave Nick Kyrgios a pep talk during a match and was subsequently suspended by the ATP. In Rome, there was a surreal scene in which Lahyani was mobbed by spectators in the grounds of the Forum Italico. Umpires are not generally respected in this way, and at last year's tournament, Djokovic tasked them with the task, asking during an argument over a score call, “What's the drama?'' “We're not acting here. Are you there?” he asked.
Perhaps this will be a thing of the past once the ELC fully takes over (the ATP says it plans to introduce the technology at all clay court tournaments next year) and referees will be put under even more pressure. For some, it's a step forward. For others, further proof of sanitizing tennis.
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Why did so many people think someone threw a bottle at Djokovic?
There are several reasons why there was widespread speculation on Friday night that Djokovic was hit intentionally rather than accidentally hit by a water bottle.
The first is that the original footage looks like that.
The second, and more obvious, reason is that there didn't seem to be anything particularly outlandish about someone hating Djokovic enough to throw a bottle at him. And perhaps these preconceptions explain why so many, not just his most ardent fans, but also tennis social media aggregators, celebrities, and even Boris Becker, have inferred from the jump that it was intentional. Maybe there is.
Djokovic's pros and cons are well-documented, with many supporters and his incredible list of accomplishments belying his vast number of detractors. Without further litigation, this animosity originally stemmed from his rivalry with widely beloved Nadal and Roger Federer.
It has become even more intense in recent years.
He probably surpassed both in terms of accomplishments, even with relatively little publicity. Although he has always emphasized that his decision not to take the coronavirus vaccine was a personal choice, it has drawn criticism and unwittingly positioned him among groups who believe his choice is a victory over the establishment. It has become a billboard.
There were other controversies. At last year's Australian Open, his father was photographed with supporters of President Vladimir Putin. In the first week of last year's French Open, he wrote to television cameras after violent clashes in Kosovo, saying, “Kosovo is Serbia's (heart symbol),” in the midst of the fighting plaguing the Balkans. I placed myself again. For nearly 1,000 years, it has been accused of aligning with fascism and philosophies that lead to ethnic cleansing.
Djokovic said both were misunderstood.
Fortunately, Djokovic was not attacked on Friday and downplayed the incident the next day, arriving at the Foro Italico wearing a bicycle helmet before losing to Alejandro Tabilo.
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This week's no shot
Club players around the world, does this look familiar?
I left it on purpose, @dTiagoMonteiro 😉#IBI24 pic.twitter.com/dEzRP3Mk8N
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 8, 2024
shot of the week
World club players: yes this Does it look familiar?
Oh he wasn't… 😱@dTiagoMonteiro One of the shots of the week in Rome.#IBI24 pic.twitter.com/4WB864fuZS
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 10, 2024
Recommended reading:
📅 Coming soon
🎾 ATP:
📍Rome, Italian Open (1000) Week 2, ft. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alejandro Tabilo, Thiago Monteiro, Grigor Dimitrov
📺 UK: Sky Sports. United States: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV
🎾 WTA:
📍Rome, Italian Open (1000) Week 2, ft. Iga Swiatek, Arina Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff.
📺 UK: Sky Sports.US: Tennis Channel
As the tour continues, let us know in the comments what you noticed this week.
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt, Alex Pantling, Dan Isitene/Getty Images)