Rain Delays, Injuries, Allegations
Double Fault. Advantage Team Russia.
Double Fault. Set Team Russia.
Third set.
Jan-Lennard Struff looks lost.
I tuned in late, spending the evening finishing my assignments and absolutely destroying a heated-up cinnamon blondie, but I came just in time to see the camera pan to Struff’s gaze during the rain delay.
He was ahead 6–3 1–5 over Andrey Rublev, a youngster who seems like a tour veteran at this point. At one point, he had all of the fanfare … a distinct grunt and a massive forehand. Made for television.
And then a tall German named Alexander Zverev came along. A couple of runs by another young Russian who is the new villian of tennis, Danil Medvedev, and the lights around Rublev have shut out.
But he has worked in darkness, and now he is tied with Djokovic for the most tour wins and 4 hardcourt titles since the beginning of the strange and shortened year 2020.
Struff pushes a pedestrian short ball into the net, and Rublev is up a break at 2–0 in the deciding set.
James Blake mentions Rublev’s weight as he smashes a forehand winner cross-court. That forehand is a mystery. Rublev is 6"2 and only weighs around 165….yet he has one of the biggest forehands on tour. Should he add some pounds? That forehand says probably not.
40–30, 5–2. Match Point Rublev. Struff tries to play aggressive but holds back on the short ball. Approaches the net without a hope against the sliding passing shot from Rublev.
Match Russia.
But we knew that would happen. Struff’s rain delay eyes told us so. And the commentators are telling us that the bright lights are back for Andrey. Will he melt out early in the Australian Open?
One more German — Russian scrimmage before the night is over. Zverev (Germany) vs. Medvedev (Russian). A battle between Western and Eastern Europe. A matchup of rivals fighting for the rights to be the “future” of tennis following the future retirements of Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal. We were labelling folks the same way five years ago though … and the Big 3 are still around. I can’t help but feel as though we are losing a generation of players.
Zverev historically owned this matchup, hopping out to a 5–1 lead over Medvedev. But Medvedev won their last two 2020 meetings. Two is a couple, three is a trend. This match has more at stake than points.
For Zverev, the tides are turning against him. A rising star like Rublev, it most likely won’t be the tennis that is his undoing. If he falls, it will be because of his off the court stumbles. Within the last couple months, he has landed a sexual assault allegations from a “lady friend,” as the commentators referred to her with a slight hop and a skip (yet another example of sports broadcasters not well handling these allegations), and played a match with a fever without telling anyone. Add that to his great alignment to Djokovic’s coronavirus-riddled Adria Tour, and Zverev is falling off Andre Agassi’s commercial bandwagon “Image is everything.”
Medvedev’s struggling from the beginning. 4 double faults, 4 games lost. 4–2 lead for Zverev, who is exchanging words with his family in Russian.
Like many, Medvedev has to knock off his rust. Australia is running a tight-ship quarantine for the Australian Open and the run-up to it to prevent the infiltration of the coronavirus. And despite the complaints and extravagant demands from Novak Djokovic, it has worked. Well, until a hiccup this week when a hotel worker tested positive. As a consequence, all the tune-ups were delayed a day, which pushed many of their finals until the day before the Australian Open. Responding to this, several top players have withdrawn from their tournaments — Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Naomi Osaka.
And it looks like this particular match will end with Zverev joining their ranks, as he sustains a back injury and loses the second set 6–3. Will he play a 3rd? Look at his eyes … not likely.
We will find out after the commercial.
To the surprise of everyone, Zverev is out of his chair and serving to start the deciding third set. James Blake doesn’t like the decision at all. Neither do I. Regardless of the result of this match, I think we will remember this next week.
But Zverev has tricks, and this final set is tight. Until 5–5, where it has fallen apart for Zverev. I flip back to the screen in my friend’s dorm room in time to see Alexander double fault on break point and smash his racket.
Medvedev serves it out to win 7–5. Two is a couple, three is a trend.
The Australian awaits.