Sometimes they’re won for reasons not discussed on broadcasts or apparent to the naked eye. Sometimes matches are decided by forehands and backhands.
This year he turned in a vacant performance and fell to Holger Rune. Last year, he was up 2–0 sets in the final-a set from his first major-and couldn’t close out Djokovic. In 2019 he lost a five-set classic to Stanislas (the Manislas) Wawrinka and spent days roaming the streets of Paris.
And but to beat the rush, he is the favorite to win Wimbledon and get back on the board. But for all the Djoko-drama over the last year-yes, much self-generated-he was untouchable in Week 1. A spellbinding-and often weirdly arrhythmic-match, Nadal won in four sets.
Mature and self-reliant adults like Pegula-now in the top 10 the top-ranked American-have a real advantage. But they also need independence and self-sufficiency. It underscored that as much as players talk about “teams,” this is the individuality of individual sports. She would’ve loved to, but she had a business to run. Before the event, I asked Kim whether she would be in Paris, where her daughter, Jessica, would be seeded No. Forgive this lapse into name-dropping, but Kim Pegula and I have a mutual friend.