Monday, September 10th
The world of tennis has split in two categories since the women’s final of the US Open, which was played on September 8th. On one side, people supporting Serena Williams have stood by her, as she accused the umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism. On the other side, some observers believe that the champion got upset at the decisions of the umpire, which were strict but fair, stating that the rulings forbid any player from communicating with their coach during matches. And wasn’t Naomi Osaka already dominating her opponent at that point? This case almost put the men’s final in the shade, as a reborn Novak Djokovic triumphed, and is now back on the podium of the ATP ranking, fifteen months after the start of his fall. Rafael Nadal remains the world number 1, and « would make a great candidate to become the president of Real Madrid », according to the current boss of the European champions. A subject which sparked many reactions in Spain, but certainly not as much as this poorly restored statue of the Virgin Mary in a chapel located in the Asturias, which ended up looking like something Andy Warhol would have done. Please, Spanish people, stop your grannies from making art…
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Tuesday, September 11th
« Of course, Djokovic can catch up on Nadal and Federer. » The prediction came from Juan Martin Del Potro, who is clearly impressed with « Nole »’s spectacular comeback this season. As for the next big battle between the three big dogs, we’ll have to wait a little longer. This week, the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is back and none of the three champions are there, as the world number 1 had to withdraw from the semi final between France and Spain. « I would have loved for Nadal to be here », said Yannick Noah, the French captain. In women’s tennis, it’s also a small week, with two minor WTA tournaments being played in Québec City and Hiroshima, with no major player taking part. It’s a good time to drop the remote control and get a bit of fresh air. Unless you’re American and living on the East coast, where hurricane Florence is slowly coming and it looks like a huge one…
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Wednesday, September 12th
In Quebec City, the top seed lost in the first round. Her name? Aryna Sabalenka, the current world number 20. It really is a slow week, isn’t it? In other news, Tsonga broke his silence and said that there « had been some positive things coming out from his break. » Not for his ranking, however, as he is now the world number 73. It’s still 131 spots higher than Dustin Brown. The fanciful German is on the decline (he’s 33 years-old), but can still please tennis fans once in a while, just like at the Szczecin Challenger tournament, with this wonderful lob hit with his racquet behind his back. Meanwhile, Jack Sock withdrew from the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and was replaced by Ryan Harrison, as the US prepared the face Marin Cilic and Borna Coric’s Croatia away.
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Thursday, September 13th
Naomi Osaka was greeted like a rock star for her return to Japan. Not far, South Korea and North Korea pushed their plan to warm up the relations between the two countries: they are now planning to open a common embassy on the border, the famous DMZ. Another surprise was seen, in a more futile domaine: the French captain Yannick Noah decided to play Benoît Paire instead of Richard Gasquet in the singles against Spain. The other selected player is Lucas Pouille, while Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut should play together in the doubles. At home, the French and Croatian are favorites to qualify for the final.
Friday, September 14th
The summer is coming to an end, but tourism was still a big topic on this Friday, September 14th. Space tourism, to be precise. SpaceX announced that they had found their first client for a trip around the moon. The cost of the flight? 250 000 dollars. Others who came as tourists were the Spanish and American tennis teams : they are already losing 0-2 against France and Croatia in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas semi-finals. It looks like we’ve already got our final… Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka is still making the most of her new status. On Ellen DeGeneres’ show, the Japanese spoke about the strange climate during her controversial final. « Serena told me that she was proud on me and that the crowd had nothing against me. » That’s the most important thing.
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Saturday, September 15th
He had just announced his retirement but Yannick Noah called him and asked him for one last favor. Julien Benneteau got his racquets out of his closet to win the doubles with his mate Nicolas Mahut against the pair formed by Lopez and Granollers. France will defend its title, and is now the main advocate against the Davis Cup’s new format. To find out who they will face, they’ll have to wait: another veteran, the American Mike Bryan, also extended his career and won the doubles in the other semi-final alongside Ryan Harrison. Croatia is now leading 2-1. In the women’s, here are the finals to be played on Sunday: Pauline Parmentier against Jessica Pegula in Quebec City, and Hsieh Su-wei against Amanda Anisimova in Hiroshima. In the rest of the world, the natural disasters are still destroying lives: Hurricane Florence left at least 13 dead in the USA, while typhoon Mangkhut killed at least 49 people in South East Asia.
Sunday, September 16th
Natural disasters are even worrying the NASA, as the administration announced its latest project: measuring the melting of the ice caps with a super-sized laser. In other news, the New York Times decided to study another subject: are Serena Williams’ comments on sexism in tennis justified? The daily paper analyzed 20 years of different umpires’ decisions and found out that men are three times more likely to be punished for breaking their racquets, insulting officials, or for any unsporting behavior in general. There were no such behavior showed in Quebec City or Hiroshima, where Pauline Parmentier and Hsieh Su-wei respectively triumphed. And in the end, Croatia qualified for the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas final, with a fifth match won by Borna Coric against Frances Tiafoe. France against Croatia in the final… it does sound familiar.
