By Dick Stockton | Wednesday, September 12, 2018
What does Rafael Nadal's hard-court future hold?
Photo credit: US Open Facebook
NEW YORK—Former world No. 8 and Garden City, New York native Dick Stockton has played or watched every one of the 50 US Opens.
A two-time US Open quarterfinalist, Stockton defeated world No. 1 Bjorn Borg en route to the 1977 US Open quarterfinals at Forest Hills the year before the tournament moved to its present Flushing Meadows home.
Dick Stockton shares his views on the 2018 US Open with Tennis Now here.
What a final major of the year!
The embers are still burning in Arthur Ashe Stadium and throughout the tennis world after a searing, surprising and historic US Open.
Watch: 18 Takeaways From 2018 US Open
Tennis has been on the front pages of sports sections all around the world the last couple of days, but, unfortunately, our game is being reported there for all the wrong reasons.
After what happened during the second set of the women’s singles final, the game we all love so much is probably the laughing stock of the sports world for some right now.
So, I guess I should start my recap with my thoughts about Naomi Osaka's 6-2, 6-4 victory over Serena Williams in the women's final, right?
Actually, I think I will save that for last.
After Wimbledon, I said that, in my humble opinion, Novak Djokovic was now the man to beat at the US Open.
Guess I was right (I’m not being so humble right now!).
The second week for the men was kind of weird with Roger Federer losing in the fourth round to John Millman.
Everyone was gearing up for a Djokovic vs. Federer quarterfinal rematch of the Cincinnati final. That, unfortunately for the fans, just wasn’t meant to be.
And then world No. 1 Rafael Nadal was forced to retire against Juan Martin del Potro after losing the first two sets in their semifinal clash.
I don’t see how Nadal’s knees are ever going to hold up on the hard courts if he has to play a couple of really long matches along the way, as he did this year.
So, del Potro came through the top half of the draw to meet Djokovic, who came through the bottom half. Djokovic continued his winning ways with a very convincing victory in the final.
This was his third US Open title, his second major victory in a row and his 14th major overall, tying him with Pete Sampras for third place on the all-time Grand Slam championships list. When he had elbow surgery back in February, who could have ever predicted such a quick return to this level? Djokovic is already back up to No. 3 in the world with his sights set on regaining the top spot.
What an amazing comeback for Novak Djokovic!!
What is going on with the men’s doubles events at the major championships?
At Wimbledon, the men play best-of-five sets throughout. At the other three majors, they play best-of-three sets throughout.
What is the logic behind that?
Play best-of-three through the quarterfinals, if you want, but at least play best-of-five in the last two rounds. Add some excitement to these matches.
Mike Bryan and Jack Sock won their second major in a row with a less-than-thrilling 6-3, 6-1 victory in the finals.
They deserve to be congratulated for winning, but REALLY? It must have been the shortest final in Open history and was probably witnessed by 20,000 empty seats.
Speaking of comebacks, how about Bethanie Mattek-Sands?
Remember that horrible knee injury that she suffered at Wimbledon last year? Not only is she back, too, but she teamed with Jamie Murray to win the US Open mixed doubles title.
What a great and inspiring comeback story!!
As good a tennis player as she is, she happens to be an even better broadcaster. She’s a breath of fresh air in the booth, something that is definitely needed.
American CoCo Vandeweghe teamed with Australian Ashleigh Barty to win the women’s doubles title. CoCo reached the singles semifinals last year, but has had a disappointing 2018.
Maybe this win will light a fire under her and give her the confidence she needs to get her singles game going again. She has the ability to be a real threat in at least three of the four majors (not too sure about Paris), and it would be nice to see her find that passion again.
OK, I guess it’s time to chat about the women’s singles final between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, whom my wife calls Serena 2.0.
You’ve probably heard more about the second set of this match than you ever dreamed possible. Therefore, I’m not going to go into too much detail about it.
I will just give you some bullet points that reflect my take on what turned out to be one of the ugliest US Open scenarios of all time:
1. Coach Patrick Mouratoglou was definitely sending hand signals to Serena. Whether she saw them or not is immaterial. He even admitted after the match that he was doing so. His defense that everybody does it is really weak. Patrick, you got caught with your hands in the cookie jar, and the rest of that disaster is on you!
2. Contrary to what she wants to be, Serena Williams' behavior in the final proved that she is no role model to her daughter or to anyone else.
3. Naomi Osaka is one great tennis player.
4. Naomi Osaka knows how to keep her cool.
5. Naomi Osaka was the much better player on the day, and she deserved to win.
A few questions to ponder:
1. What does Rafael Nadal’s future hold, especially in best-of five set matches on hard courts?
2. Why was Naomi Osaka the only one to apologize after the final, and what did she do that caused her to feel the need to do so?
3. Will the “no coaching” rule be changed? I hope not.
How about this for a solution: if an umpire determines that coaching is taking place, he will give the player a private warning about it. It is up to the player to then advise his/her box about the matter, knowing that the next incident of coaching will result in a code violation.
While we’re at it, let’s do away with the on-court coaching on the WTA Tour.
Players need to figure things out by themselves; that is one of the beauties of this game.
Besides, if you’ve ever seen replays of the coaching visits to the court, the women aren’t listening half the time anyway, kind of like us guys at home!
Dick Stockton
A final thought: as players walk onto the Centre Court at Wimbledon, they pass below a sign that has a line from Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem “IF”; the sign reads: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same…”
Another line from that poem reads: “If you can keep your head when All about you are losing theirs…”
That, my friends, fits the 2018 US Open women’s singles champion Naomi Osaka to a T.
Until next time...