ZOO’S GRATITUDE
Stefanos Tsitsipas came back from two sets down to derail Rafael Nadal’s bid for a 21st Grand Slam title in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
The recent launch of Zoo Miami’s Conservation Action Center demonstrates our commitment to the environment and protecting wildlife in Florida. The center teaches visitors how their actions can impact nature.
It was an ambitious project we are proud to see open, but it could not have been done without the generous support from several community members. We are fortunate our area’s businesses and charitable foundations share our ideals, and not just when the cameras are on.
Florida Power & Light, which generously contributed $300,000 to the project though its charitable arm, NextEra Energy Foundation, has been working to help the threatened American crocodile for nearly 40 years. That’s admirable and demonstrates a real commitment.
We can’t say enough about what their contribution — along with those of the Marc and Robin Osheroff Family, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and the Romano Family Foundation — mean to organizations like ours, as we pursue our mission. Their actions support the message that greets our visitors: “Human kindness is not an endangered species.”
We hope this exhibit provides a connection between the community and the environment so the next generation can continue protecting our planet.
– Bill Moore, president and CEO, Zoo Miami Foundation,
Miami
It was 9 on a Tuesday night, and my husband was putting our daughter to bed as I drifted off to sleep while listening to a murder podcast. Then he popped his head into the bedroom and said, “She’s asleep. By the way I got an attorney and he filed divorce papers with the court last Thursday.”
I struggled to understand the nonchalant tone of this person I had promised to stick with until death telling me that he filed legal papers to end our relationship forever. We had been struggling but had both recently committed to making things work.
Yet he had chosen to sever our bond days ago, on our daughter’s fifth birthday. While I was decorating a Pokémon cake a court clerk was probably reviewing the documents that would end my marriage.
But the thought that rose above the rest: You’re doing this now? We’re in the middle of a pandemic.
With the podcast hosts still cheerfully dissecting a double homicide in the background, looking into the eyes of the father of my child, my future ex-husband, felt like death to me. And then: What right did I have to these feelings when people all over the world were actually dying every day from COVID-19?
People get divorced daily, their lives untangling in their own uniquely devastating ways. Even in the best of circumstances — and I still cannot fully convince myself that there is ever a divorce under the best of circumstances — things are messy and hard.
But getting a divorce during a worldwide pandemic, when stay-at-home orders have turned many of us into shut-ins, made the hurt feel especially acute. The pain, anxiety and uncertainty that came with the end of a relationship had to make room for the pain, anxiety and uncertainty that came with what seemed like the end of the world. My gut reaction was to yell at him to get out, to leave and not come back. But where was he supposed to go?
Many hotels weren’t open, our friends were assiduously quarantining, and at that point I didn’t think there was anyone who would risk taking him in.
We spent a month living together after he told me, a month where I felt like I was on the saddest Bravo show ever, with episode descriptions like, “Watch as one sad woman tries to get from the bathroom to her garage without bumping into her estranged husband at the Keurig.”
Just when I thought I had this whole lockdown thing on lock, virtual lawyer visits and group-texts to break the news to my friends and family were added to a long list of pandemic realities I’d already adjusted to, like the guilt of loading my daughter up on screen time to keep her occupied during the day and wondering if people thought I was rude when I turned my camera off during Zoom meetings.
How do you move on and build a fresh new life when you aren’t even supposed to leave the house? My family was disintegrating and there was nowhere I could escape to rage or grieve; I just had to carry on in the open-space concept home we’d shared together, the one I used to brag to all my friends about.
Coping mechanisms I had used to help calm anxiety flareups in the past weren’t an option during COVID-19 and quarantine. There would be no night out with my friends drinking too much tequila. My therapist wasn’t even able to give me a pity virtual hug because her
Wi-Fi kept going out. Every decision felt overwhelming. .
I keep hitting new milestones in the pandemic divorce process, like our recent first virtual court hearing. I fantasize about meeting someone else who is going through this and can tell me from the other side that FaceTime first dates have worked, or at least have helped a little. I want to share my pain with someone who has been there, but even my thrice-divorced grandma has trouble understanding what it’s like doing this during a pandemic. I know I should give support groups a shot, but the idea seems exhausting after working all day while also parenting a 5-yearold.
What I really want is to feel connected to someone again in a way I haven’t since that Tuesday night. And I want to know how that murder podcast ended. I never did finish it.
Rafael Nadal’s bid for a record 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title ended Wednesday night when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.
Tsitsipas dropped the first two sets but came back to defeat Nadal, the second-ranked player in the world, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 7-5, in a grueling 4-hour duel for the biggest Grand Slam win of his career.
Nadal played a near flawless first three sets, not allowing a break of his serve or even a break point, and he appeared in full control of the match. But in the third-set tiebreaker he missed two overheads and sent a backhand wide to give Tsitsipas the tiebreaker and a lifeline.
Then what had been a rout turned into a street fight. Playing on fresh legs after winning his fourth-round match in a walkover, Tsitsipas became increasingly stingy on his serve, refusing to give Nadal a chance to seize an advantage and forcing him into sloppy errors as he grew more fatigued.
Tsitsipas, who at 22 years old is 12 years younger than Nadal, seemed to gain energy and a bounce in his step as the warm evening wore on, getting to balls that had been out of his reach earlier and forcing Nadal to hit extra shots and battle to hold his serve in nearly every game.
In the fifth set, Nadal and Tsitsipas traded service games, with Tsitsipas’ serve becoming increasingly untouchable — he served four consecutive aces to knot the set at 3-3
— and Nadal fighting for nearly every point to stay level. Serving at 5-5 in the fifth set, Nadal made two errors to lose the first two points of the game, then missed wide on the forehand to give Tsitsipas his chance to serve out the match.
With only his friends and support team in the stands because of a snap lockdown amid a small coronavirus outbreak, Tsitsipas dropped his racket when it was over, made a cross on his chest and look toward the sky.
The final game was a microcosm of the match. An early lead for Nadal, followed by Tsitsipas storming back, Nadal fighting off two match points to give himself a chance to survive, before netting a forehand volley and watching Tsitsipas blast a backhand down the line to clinch the match.
“Moments like this haven’t happened a lot in my career,” said Tsitsipas, who also won the ATP
Tour finals in 2019 and knocked off Roger Federer on this same court two years ago. “The fact that I came back the way I did, the way I fought against Rafa, that was something extra.”
For Nadal, the loss prevented him from pushing ahead of Roger Federer of Switzerland in their duel to collect the most Grand Slam singles championships.
Federer has been sidelined with a knee injury since last year’s Australian Open and has missed all three Grand Slams since tennis returned in August just before the U.S. Open. He plans to return to competition in the coming weeks.
Nadal skipped the U.S. Open as well, but he returned for the French Open weeks later and won it to tie Federer with 20 singles titles.
Nadal was not the favorite in this tournament, which he has won just once, in 2009, though he has come close on other occasions, most notably in 2012, when he lost in five sets to Novak Djokovic in a match that last a record 5 hours, 53 minutes. The tournament is contested on fast hard courts, which challenge Nadal far more than the slow red clay in Paris or the softer grass at Wimbledon, which inflicts less wear and tear on his body.
“Another story in my tennis career, another match I lost in Australia,” a frustrated Nadal said shortly after the loss. “I have to go home and practice to be better. That’s it.”
Nadal’s loss is likely to make Djokovic’s bid for a record ninth Australian Open singles title far easier. Djokovic plays Aslan Karatsev, ranked 114th in the world, in the semifinals Thursday. If he wins that, he will face either Tsitsipas or Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the finals.
Tsitsipas now faces Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the semifinal. He said he woke up Wednesday in a state of serenity, with a sense that things would go his way.
“Really, nothing was going through my head,” he said when asked what he was thinking as he began to turn the match his way. “I was in a kind of nirvana. Playing, and not thinking.”
For a quarter-century, Madrid-born Fernando Mateu worked as an international banker in countries such as France, Italy, England, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
All the while, however, Mateu longed for something different. A few years ago, he traded his briefcase for a large bucket of tennis balls.
“I had to follow my passion,” said Mateu, who speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, French and Italian. “I decided to make my dreams come true.”
Mateu, 54, became Gulliver Prep’s boys’ tennis coach in time for the 2019 season, and he led the Raiders to the Class 2A title in his first try.
Last season was canceled because of the pandemic, but Mateu and the Raiders are now back to try and repeat as champions.
Only one starter from that 2019 team — senior Eric Brook — has returned to Gulliver for 2021. Perhaps the biggest loss is sophomore Yannik Rahman, who is now homeschooled and on a 15match winning streak on the ITF Junior Circuit.
But Mateu has reloaded with Brook and sophomore Pierce Garbett at the top of his lineup.
“Eric is 6-foot-4 with a 6-8 wingspan,” Mateu said. “Imagine that guy covering the net.
“Both Eric and Pierce play an aggressive style that is almost unheard of in tennis today. They are not grinders. They are not baseliners. Their style is to move forward.”
Mateu said he teaches that style and emphasizes doubles.
“Eric is fantastic in doubles,” Mateu said of Brook, who could end up at Clemson as a walk-on player, according to his coach.
“We have at least six players who are effective in doubles.”
Even aside from Gulliver, South Florida tennis teams usually dominate at state.
Among the boys, look for
Palmetto to make a strong run in Class 4A with sophomore Francisco “Kiko” Montana and junior Sebastian Munoz at the top of its lineup.
In 3A, Doral’s boys’ team is ranked first in the state and 10th nationally. Led by senior Luis Fernandez, Doral will try to go one step further than in 2018 and 2019, when the Firebirds lost in the state finals.
In 2A boys, Gulliver will get a challenge from Pine Crest, led by senior Jameson Corsillo, who is ranked No. 49 in the nation among college recruits. He has signed with Notre Dame.
In 1A, Boca Raton’s St. Andrew’s is the reigning state champion, but Ransom could take the crown with top juniors David Green and Sam Gelber. Senior Alexander Lake, who plays No. 3 singles for Ransom, has committed to Boston College.
In the girls’ competition, Palmetto is the two-time reigning Class 4A state champion, and the Panthers are led by senior Nathalie Van Der Reis, who has committed to Division III Middlebury College.
In 3A, Doral’s girls’ team is ranked No. 1 in the nation, thanks to a 46-match win streak that dates back to 2017. The Doral team has won two straight state titles as well as the 2019 national championship. Doral’s top player is 2020 Junior Orange Bowl champ Valeria Ray, a sophomore.
The 2A state girls’ championship has remained in South Florida the past two completed seasons, with titles going to Gulliver in 2019 and American Heritage in 2018.
This year, Gulliver girls’ coach Kelly Mulligan has a pair of freshmen at the top of her lineup: Valentina Rossi and Jayden Jagolinzer.
American Heritage is led by sophomore Natalie Block, who won an individual state title as an eighth-grader in 2019. She has also won two state doubles titles.
However, Pine Crest’s girls might walk away with the title in 2021. The Panthers return their entire starting lineup from 2020. Pine Crest’s top two girls are eighth-grader Akasha Urhobo and junior Hanna Elks-Smith. Urhobo is in her third year as the Panthers’
No. 1 seed, and she is ranked the No. 3 recruit in the nation among her age group. Elks-Smith is also a state champion swimmer.
In 1A, St. Andrew’s is the reigning state champion, but Carrollton could be the favorite thanks to a pair of talented sisters: senior Jimena Menendez, who will play for NYU next season, and freshman Julietta Menendez.
Ransom will have a strong shot also, thanks to another pair of sisters: sophomore Sophia Miranda and freshman Victoria Miranda.
THIS AND THAT
North Broward Prep’s boys, who made it to the regional finals in 2019, will compete in 2A. NBP is led by freshman Jacob Hartman, an emerging talent ranked 54th in the state among players 16 and under.
American Heritage’s boys’ team, which won state most recently in 2015, is building for its future with a standout freshman, Daniel Naylor.