The tennis news (but not only) of the week: the show Kyrgios and a rocket-launcher

Aug 6, 2019, 12:00:00 AM

The tennis news (but not only) of the week: the show Kyrgios and a rocket-launcher
We Are Tennis by BNP Paribas brings you the best of the past week, on and off the courts, day after day. A week marked by Kyrgios’ masterclass, Murray’s resurrection, a rocket-launcher and an ex-first lady.

Monday, July 29th

Washington, Los Cabos in Mexico and Kitzbühel, in Austria, in men’s tennis. Washington as well, and San José for the women: this is the tennis program this week, with the best in the world getting ready for the traditional big August combo Montreal/Toronto and Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Open, where Andy Murray could make his return in the singles. Another great news this week: the Indian Davis Cup team agreed, despite tense international relations, to play in Pakistan. In other news, it was a very sad day for cycling fans: yes, it was the first day in three weeks without a Tour de France stage. Enough to focus on something else? On the environment, for instance: Greta Thunberg plans of crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing boat to reach the next summit on climate change. In Koweit, the climate was quite different: the local customs officer arrested an American man who was trying to bring home a rocket-launcher as a souvenir.
 


 

 

Tuesday, July 30th

The tennis performance of the day? By knocking out Khachanov in Washington, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated his first Top 20-ranked player in over two years. It was the end, however, for Eugenie Bouchard, who was defeated in less than an hour, and for the pair Kyrgios/Tsitsipas, who lost despite putting on a great show for the crowd. Meanwhile, Roger Federer got back to training, Del Potro started his physiotherapy sessions, and Alison van Uytvank and Greet Minnens, who are a couple in private, shared a very cute kiss after their first confrontation on the professional circuit, in Karlsruhe.
 



 


 

 

Wednesday, July 31st

Beat Kampfler, a Swiss emmental cheese producer, had the idea of playing different types of music to his cheeses. His conclusions? Hip-hop gives his cheeses a fruitier taste! Still with Switzerland and music: the fight between the two French rappers Booba, 42, and Kaaris, 39, will happen in Basel on November 30th. Speaking of veterans, Bethanie Mattek-Sands had a winning comeback on the circuit as she defeated the senior player of the women’s circuit, Venus Williams, in San José. The other results of the day: Thiem won his first-round match at home, in Kitzbühel, while Grigor Dimitrov put on quite a show in Los Cabos as he defeated Steve Johnson.
 


 

 

Thursday, August 1st

The president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro chose to go to the hairdresser rather than meet with the French president Emmanuel Macron. Who needed to be patient, just like his fellow countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who lost in Washington. Andy Murray, on his side, is getting back to top form in the doubles, alongside his brother, as they dominated a pair of specialists formed by Mahut and Roger-Vasselin. Fabio Fognini lost his title in Los Cabos, and Mattek-Sands lost in three sets against Carla Suarez Navarro. As for Cori Gauff, she made one of her dreams come true: it wasn’t winning a Grand Slam tournament, but meeting her idol Michelle Obama.
 


 

 

Friday, August 2nd

Their collaboration was not meant to last after Wimbledon, but Novak Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic have decided to carry on. While waiting to meet up against with the world number 1 in Cincinnati, Tsitsipas, Kyrgios and Medvedev have qualified for the semi-finals in Washington. In Kitzbühel, Thiem easily qualified for the final. But some very strange things happened in this second day of August: an American ice-cream maker offered a « hot-dog flavored ice-cream », a Frenchman called the police thinking that a rooster’s crow was in fact screams coming from his neighbor’s house, and Prince Harry took a private jet to go to a… summit on climate change in Sicily.
 


 

Saturday, August 3rd

There was a great show in the American capital: after teaming up with him in the doubles earlier this week, Kyrgios defeated his demons to produce one of his best-ever performance and knock out Tsitsipas to reach the final. But the United States were sadly affected by other troubles, with two mas shooting occurring in a 24h time-lapse in Texas in Ohio… Having no for of gun control is truly a plague. Dominic Thiem, on his side, won another title, the first since his triumph in Barcelona last spring, and this time at home, in Kitzbühel. In the other final of the day, Diego Schwartzman defeated Taylor Fritz in Los Cabos.
 



 

 

Sunday, August 4th

A regular reader of death notices, the New-Yorker Latonia Stewart was arrested for robbing the home of the deceased during their funerals. Far from there, in Hong-Kong, the revolt is carrying on with this time a global strike which is almost previously unseen in modern China’s history. Far from these important worries, Nick Kyrgios reminded everyone that he can be an amazing tennis player as he won the Washington Open after defeating Daniil Medvedev. In women’s tennis, Zheng Saisai triumphed in San José, and Jessica Pegula was crowned in Washington. Now, let’s look forward to the women’s tournament in Toronto, and the men’s tournament in Montreal.
 



 

 

By Régis Delanoë