It’s that time in the summer again! As usual, I got my dad in the car and we headed down to Cincinnati watch the pros during the early rounds of the Western & Southern Financial Open.
I will say straight away that this year could never beat last year where I got to see Nadal again. Hopefully not for the last time, but it’s not looking promising. Anyways, it was still a fun time as it always is, and there was loads of good tennis regardless. It is kind of crazy what a year does as far as what courts you see certain players on. I know they do rotate people around, but the fact that Alexander Zverev was on court 4 instead of even the Grandstand, means that his injury last year did more than just hurt his ATP ranking. I was also fascinated by how much love was paid to American, Taylor Fritz on court 3. I don’t think you could find a seat even if you wanted to!
Tuesday’s night session proved tricky, as drizzle swept through a few times, making for a very late night of tennis. I will tell you that we did not make it to the end. In the first match of the evening, we saw Sloane Stephens squeak out a win in the third set over the sixth seed in the women’s draw, Caroline Garcia. I really thought Garcia had it in the bag, but Stephens really managed to turn it around and cinch the win when it mattered. The second night matched was more impacted by the drizzle, but that still didn’t stop an hour and forty minute set from Carlos Alcaraz and Jordan Thompson. I had never heard of the latter, an Aussie who’s had more successes in doubles, and thought Alcaraz would make quick work of him. I was wrong. Thompson managed to match Alcaraz slug for slug, and was even up a break at one point! I was secretly rooting for him to win, though Alcaraz’s win seemed inevitable. And it was. Took three sets, but he continues to prove why he’s number one in the world for now.
The next day brought in considerably nicer weather and the chance to watch an abundance of matches all over the facility! We took in chunks of matches from Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, and Stefanos Tsisipas. There were a handful of upsets among those seeded players! We spent the most time watching world number one, Iga Swaitek, make ridiculously quick work of Danielle Collins, and then watched my dad’s new favorite, Hubert Herkacz, play a brutal three set match for the win. I will say, the day brought on many excruciatingly long deuce games, some of which I just wish would end, regardless of who won the game. The final match of the day we caught before heading out was Venus Williams. She’s been out of the top rankings for a long time, but she still manages to snag wild cards for a lot of the major tournaments. She’s not what she once was, but as one overly-eager spectator kept putting it, “Venus, you’re a LEGEND!”
It was a great tournament marked higher with some good practice sessions, too. I got to catch Tsisipas not once, but twice between the two sessions we attended (see very close shot for proof below). We also got to see Sloane Stephens and Andy Murray. I, like you, am not sure why Murray was there because I don’t believe he was playing singles or doubles, but still, an opportunity is an opportunity. And shame on the man I heard answering someone’s question of “who’s playing there?” with “some British guy.” I’m not even a fan and I can tell you that was harsh! The man was in the top four for a long, long time! Djokovic flaked on a practice session late in the day, though I can’t say I was surprised or that I ultimately cared much.
Anyway, I look forward to sweating it out watching everyone again next year!
