Tennis’ depth to be on display in S.J.
If you’re looking for a good reason behind Serena Williams’ futile pursuit of a hallowed record, pay close attention to the women’s tennis tour as it makes its annual stop in San Jose on Aug. 28. Perhaps some clarity will emerge.
It must be said that the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, in its third year on the San Jose State campus after a 20year run at Stanford, will be missing the world’s most soughtafter players: Williams, Naomi Osaka, No. 1 ranked Ash Barty and 17yearold sensation Coco Gauff. But it’s all about a vast expanse of talent in today’s game. When Serena won her 23rd major title four years ago, at the Australian Open, it seemed a foregone conclusion that she would break Margaret Court’s alltime record of 24. Shockingly, Williams is still stuck on 23.
Injuries and motherhood have compromised her training and schedule, and among the players who have knocked Williams out of Grand Slam events, six are ranked among the world’s top 10. And here’s a stunner: With three majors in the books, the 12 semifinal slots have been filled by 12 different players.
“There’s so much depth in this game now,” Williams said during the French Open. “It doesn’t matter if you’re playing in the first round or not. You really have to fight for every match and nothing comes easy.”
Consequently, it’s impossible to pick a favorite for the San Jose event. The most dangerous player could be one of the U.S. entries: 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, longtime tour mainstay Madison Keys (who lost that final to Stephens), No. 4 Sofia Kenin, 2019 Australian Open semifinalist Danielle Collins or Alison Riske, a twotime tour winner headed for the Olympics.
Among the international set, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open, Belgium’s Elise Mertens reached the 2018 Australian Open semifinals, and in what looms as a blessing for the tournament, Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu accepted a wildcard invitation. Just 18, Raducanu charmed this year’s Wimbledon audiences by reaching the fourth round before having to retire from her match against Ajla Tomljanovic with respiratory problems.
It could get tight
The Olympics tennis schedule runs through Aug. 1, and the Silicon Valley Classic field includes 11 women intending to compete, so it won’t be surprising to see late arrivals or withdrawals . ... Interesting names in the Qualifying draw: CoCo Vandeweghe, Caroline Garcia, Amanda Anisimova and Samantha Stosur . ... Aside from competing in the Olympics for Japan, Osaka will play the Montreal event — like San Jose, a U.S. Open warmup event — beginning Aug. 9 . ... The Open carries the spectacular attraction of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer each holding 20 major titles. The American men? Don’t ask. The current crop of U.S. men has zero Grand Slam titles (nor has anyone reached a major final), and no one ranked in the top 30.
What the Olympics are missing on the track with Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension: a muchanticipated showdown in the 100 meters against ShellyAnn FraserPryce, the twotime Olympic champ who posted a 10.63 at the Olympic Destiny Series in Kingston, Jamaica, last month. That’s the secondfastest time in history behind Florence Griffith Joyner’s 10.49 in 1988. Richardson ran a windaided 10.64 in the semifinals of the recent U.S. Olympic trials.
Wednesday night’s WNBA AllStar Game was such a good show, you couldn’t tell Team USA from the WNBA stars in terms of talent; the rosters could be interchangeable. It’s hard to believe there wasn’t room on the Olympic squad for Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale, who staged an electrifying performance in the WNBA’s 9385 win. Teammate Jonquel Jones, who was equally brilliant, gained Bosnian citizenship after playing abroad and competes for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team . ... Jones has a smooth, twisting body motion highly reminiscent of Kevin Durant’s when he has some space. “She reminds me of myself with her length and how she shoots the ball. I’m a big fan of her,” Durant said at the USA Basketball camp . ... Sabrina Ionescu was a highly interested spectator at the AllStar Game, and it seems likely she’ll be a participant someday. But such honors don’t come easily in a league so remarkably deep in size, toughness and exceptional skill. Deferring to her New York Liberty teammates, and not wholly recovered from her ankle surgery last November, Ionescu is averaging 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, already making it clear that she’s one of the two or three best passers in the league.
It’s hardly a new story, but the absence of Black major leaguers was noticeable Tuesday at the AllStar Game, where only Mookie Betts made the National League squad. (The Mets’ Taijaun Walker was added as a replacement.) In 1955, a time of widespread segregation in this country, there were seven Black ballplayers on the NL roster. By 1972, it was up to 11: Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Lee May, Joe Morgan, Willie Stargell, Lou Brock, Nate Colbert, Ferguson Jenkins, Al Oliver and Billy Williams .( Willie McCovey, selected the previous four years, broke his arm in April and struggled through the ’72 season.) ... The MLB Network stole Fox’s pregame thunder with an afternoon red carpetlike show, interviewing players as they arrived. Highlight: Brandon Crawford, his wife and four kids all dressed to the nines . ... Just when you reached a level of tolerance to Fox’s Joe Buck interviewing players during the game, the network decided to talk to someone while he was hitting. In case you missed it — this is no joke — Buck asked Xander Bogaerts “What’s comin’, what’s comin’?” about a second before a pitch was delivered. Bogaerts blurted out “fastball,” then struck out on a slider.
Equally unbelievable: After bombing horribly with those generic AllStar uniforms — yo, Rob Manfred, nobody loved them — we’ll get more of the same next year at Dodger Stadium. It’s all about sponsorship bucks, and Nike really blew it with this year’s designs, especially the allblue disasters with unreadable names. We’re thinking they really get creative next year with special team pajamas. Maybe those really silly ones with the squirrels chasing hippos.