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September 1, 2022,
The US Open tournament is very consistent.
You can set your clock to it.
Especially in the first round where the most matches are played.
Careers will rise and other’s stars are in decline. Setting. Downward.
Sunrise is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning.
Although the Sun appears to “rise” from the horizon, it is actually the Earth’s motion that causes the Sun to appear. The illusion of a moving Sun results from Earth observers being in a rotating reference frame.
When a tennis player’s career is on the rise, there is no illusion.
Iga Swiatek’s career is not only rising, it is soaring. The world’s current number one recently finished a sizzling hot streak of winning 37 matches in a row in 2022.
In the first round of the 2022 Open, she easily took care of business against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, 6-3, 6-0.
That will keep your sun ascending but at this stage, for Iga’s sun to keep rising, she needs to make a deep run here and possibly win it all. Why?
To date, she has not won a Slam on the hard courts, Australian or United States. Yes, winning the French, on clay, is a significant milestone.
At Wimbledon 2022, Ms. Świątek won her first and second round matches before losing to Alizé Cornet in straight sets in round three.
This ended her 37 match win streak, the longest such streak in the 21st century.
That is amazing, a statistic you need to take a moment to savor and think about.
We won’t diminish it in any way, but; yes there is a but. It’s like in the NFL, being 17-0 during the regular season, for say, three seasons, but getting knocked out in the first round of the playoffs each time. Your team set amazing records but time and history will remember the winners of the Super Bowl.
Even if they set no records to get there.
As long as they win it.
Time will remember the winners of the Australian and US Open more than any other tournaments.
Poland’s Iga really needs to win the US Open to truly be considered one of the greats and as her sun is clearly rising, this would be the best time to do it.
America’s Jessica Pegula is playing fantastic tennis.
Since we have followed her career, she played in her first Grand Slam in 2015, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she began to make her move.
Currently lodged in as the world’s number 8, she easily took care of business in the first round, solidly dispatching of Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-2.
We are fascinated by Jessica in the sense, can a billionaire’s daughter, with business ventures of her own, be hungry enough to become a great player, which would include winning the US Open at least once.
This will be a tall order for Jessica.
Her sun is rising. Now would be the time to do it.
Like Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who won it all in 2021, without dropping a set throughout the entire tournament.
She was the darling of the tennis world. Many in the press wondered if she could be the next great one.
Then came the gossip and unsettling news about coaching changes.
She was also busy being featured on the front cover of numerous women’s magazines. Lots of them. Seemed to really enjoy that type of limelight.
However, that type of light won’t keep your sun rising.
Not shockingly, against a gritty veteran like France’s Alize Cornet, Emma got flattened in the first round, 6-3, 6-3.
Last year she didn’t drop a set. This year she couldn’t win one.
With losses like that, there is usually good news and bad news.
Here, with Emma, it is all bad. Why?
Because she had so many points to defend, in 2021, winning in the qualifiers and the main draw, her ranking could plummet from 12 to right around 80.
And you know what that means? Right?
At the next Grand Slam, she may face Iga Swiatek in the first round.
If you don’t believe us, please ask Madison Keys, who had to claw her way back up to her current ranking of number 20, after taking a steep fall following her 2017 final appearance at the US Open.
You could also ask Sloane Stephens and Naomi Osaka, once highly ranked and currently not.
It’s all about the draw.
Why did Naomi have to face Danielle Collins, a hard hitting 2022 Australian Open finalist, in the first round? Because her ranking had fallen to 44. Previously, when she was number one, Naomi would face lower ranked players in the first round which gave her a chance to make a deep run and work some of the kinks out.
Facing a highly ranked lawnmower in the first round, your kinks will get you cut, like freshly mowed grass.
Naomi is already out. In the first round, losing to Ms. Collins 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
It really wasn’t as close as the score indicated. From what we saw, Danielle yelled, screamed and bullied Naomi all over the court. She out hit her and out hustled her, winning some incredible shots that appeared to go out, but amazingly and unexpectedly dropped in.
She clearly wanted it more.
For over two years, Naomi ruled with an iron fist until she had her emotional problems.
From what we read, she indicated that winning was no longer fun and losing was horrible.
Makes sense but if you want to keep your sun rising, when you are the best, you need to get beyond that. Winning is pressure. Winning is hard. You have a target on your back.
On the road to historic greatness winning is necessary. Not always fun.
You have to decide what you want. While you are the best. Once that window closes and you are no longer the best, and your rankings have dropped, how long will it take you to get back to the top?
Better to fight through the emotions while you are still the best.
There are always two sides to that coin.
Taking a break may make you temporarily feel better.
The operative word is temporarily.
But, what if you fight through your emotional pain and keep winning? Won’t that make you a better champion in the long run? You will learn how to fight through the mental and emotional breakdowns, the deep lows, and get better and tougher for it.
Just ask Serena.
Who has had a bullseye on her back for decades. She gets everyone’s best. Fiercely.
It’s about the long term.
Sometimes you have to be down in the valley before you truly appreciate the view from the top of the mountain.
During 2022, after Naomi’s layoff, she indicated she wanted to get back near the top, possibly by the end of the year.
That’s not going to happen.
Not this year.
After her loss to Danielle, the camera followed Naomi into the locker room where she was lying flat on her back, with a towel over her face, in what appeared to be deep distress, being consoled by her camp.
We are huge Naomi fans, not only for what she does on the court but also for how she placed herself at risk to help others off the court.
That is why she is under our microscope.
Will we ever see the great Naomi again? Now, she just appears to give up too easy. As though she is afraid to feel pain. Stress. She clearly is as skilled as Danielle but not remotely as tough. When the big points came, Danielle was gritty and Naomi seemed too kitty.
The irony is that previously Naomi had defeated Danielle three matches in a row. In straight sets.
When she was once great.
When her sun was rising.
~ ~ ~
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