Jelena Ostapenko
Jelena Ostapenko turns 20 tomorrow. Pretty nice way to celebrate, playing your first Slam semi-final. I knew nothing about her except that she was young. And then I watched some of her match against Wozniacki and I was like:
Oh.
My.
God.
By the time most top athletes hit the pro level, the joy in their play--the actual play in their play--is gone. It's a job. Maybe one they love, but a job. But there are players for whom there's a kind of "Let's see if I can do this" joyous discovery, something almost childlike. I see that when I watch Steph Curry shoot his long threes. It's like he's as delighted by his abilities as the rest of us.
My sense is that Ostapenko's hitting-the-cover-off-the-ball power is similarly borne on the back of joy. It's like she's curious just how powerfully she can hit the ball, and is thrilled every time she pulls it off. It's a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
Again and again, the pressure of being on the radar has proven too much for the players on the women's tour, so it is premature to say that Ostapenko is the real deal. But she's definitely definitely definitely one to watch.
Novak Djokovic
Yesterday, I said about the impending Thiem-Djokovic match, "I predict it won't be nearly as one-sided [as their match in Rome]. Thiem will come in with a gameplan. He may not yet fully have the tools to execute, but I predict we'll see no 6-0 sets in this match." What I meant was that I didn't think it would be one-sided in Djokovic's favor. That it might be one-sided the other way literally never occurred to me. I did not expect that Djokovic would play one hard-fought set and then fold. When I said "no 6-0 sets" I meant no 6-0 sets that Thiem was on the losing end of. It never, ever occurred to me that it might go the other way.
Djokovic simply tanked the final set. You could see it. He wore a look of utter shellshock, his mind clearly screaming inside his head, and he was obviously just trying to get off the court as quickly as possible. To think that a year ago he seemed invincible, and now he seems lost, frightened, bereft.
I'm sure by now he is carrying that feeling off the court as well, and I wish him the best.