FOR THE LOVE OF SHARAPOVA AND DOGS

IN the month associated with love – both reciprocal and unrequited – the face that has launched so many products and sold thousands of seats, Maria Sharapova, will be leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake. The five-time Grand Slam champion and former WTA No 1, after being plagued by a succession of shoulder injuries, has finally announced she is quitting tennis. Whilst I do wish most of these Hall of Famers would quit while ahead, instead of when being reduced to humiliation in first round crushing defeats, I understand the logic of reincarnating yourself post a drug ban and erasing the stigma attached to cheating, and the Russian has certainly managed that. She will be remembered more for her stunning good looks, over and above her ferocious ground strokes and as much as she will be sorely missed – her piercing shriek will not. That said it is a sad day for tennis, when an icon of such magnitude walks away from the game. With major icon, Roger Federer, temporarily out of the fray, the World No 1 and 2 are having a field day: Rafa Nadal is heading for a hat-trick in the finals of Acapulco, where the one man who might have stopped him in his tracks, defending champion Nick Kyrgios, had to retire mid-match in round one. The Australian having been the darling of the Latino crowd in 2019, was booed on this occasion. Whilst I agree with Federer, that no player has any business taking to the court in the knowledge they cannot finish a match, I feel for Kyrgios. Having withdrawn last week, at the onset of Delray Beach Open with the same wrist injury, he felt a certain obligation, as defending champion, to take to the court, to try not to let his Mexican fans down. His good intentions – which I believe they were – backfired badly. Unfortunately he typically reacted: “No wonder the Mexicans don’t produce any good tennis players, when they behave so badly!” Let’s just say from the Australian perspective, the pot is calling the kettle black and where there is smoke, there is usually fire. He has Indian Wells at which to redeem himself. Meanwhile fiery, young Taylor Fritz has been flying the American flag high and after dramatically beating compatriot John Isner from a set and 2-4, 0-40 deficit in the Acapulco semis, found himself – for the first time ever – face to face with Nadal in the finals today. As the underdog, who can afford to go for broke, Fritz’s chances of toppling one of the big three, will always be better over three sets than in the best of 5. The 22-year-old will still be the only American since Sam Querrey in 2017 to reach the Acapulco Final. Querrey overcame Nadal in that one, so Fritz had inspiration to draw from. Further East, Novak Djokovic has been in cruise mode, retaining his No 1 ranking, by making it to the Dubai semis, easily eliminating Gael Monfils, who the Serb considers to be “the best athlete on tour and the most interesting to play” – generous words from Djokovic, given the Frenchman has never beaten him in 16 encounters. It was down to world No 6, Stefanos Tsitsipas, also on a winning streak after lifting the title in Marseille days ago, to try and upset the indomitable four-times champion. The difference being, Tsitsipas at least posed a threat to Djokovic, because they were level in their head to head encounters. However Tsitsipas, with the shot variety to upset the No 1’s rhythm when propelling himself up to net behind big first serves, was instead kept pinned back beyond the baseline – at least 50% more than in previous matches – by the unusually emotionless Serb, a lethal front runner. Djokovic pounced to victory from a set up, despite being broken by the valiant Greek in the second. Sadly Kevin Anderson, after an injury ridden 2019, has been under the knife again, with the ongoing knee injury and putting his energy into off court exertions, celebrating National Pet Day – Feb 20th – Canine Valentine Day, judging by the visual display of doggie devotion: Diego Schwartzmann with his Ridgebacks, Sam Querrey with his Labrador, Alexander Zverev with his Spaniels and the Andersons with “Lady Kady” – all supporting the “Grand Slam Cause for Paws”. Would that they would all transfer some of this unconditional love into “Resuscitating the South African Open”, but that ‘Great Dane has somehow bolted the kennel’ and joined Bautista Agut’s four-legged menagerie. We live in hope – like Monfils of one day beating Djokovic – and every dog does have his day – doesn’t he?