Hey, I just did another 5 Minute Tennis Lesson video. If you ever wanted to learn how to hit a kick serve, well, here it is. For free. Nada. Nothing. All I ask is you like it, and maybe subscribe to this blog and /or my YouTube channel.
The kick serve is a great serve to have in your bag of tricks. Just remember, when you hit it, you're putting spin on the ball in the opposite direction that you usually do when you hit a slice serve.
But the video explains it all. here it is:
If you ever needed any evidence that something fishy is going on at the U.S.Open, look no further than the recent actions involving French men's players Benoit Paire and Adrian Mannarino and women's players Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos, the #1 seeded women's doubles team this year.
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Photo Credit: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Because Mladenovic had been in contact with her compatriot Benoit Paire, a French men's player who was forced to withdraw before the tournament began after testing positive for COVID19 (he later tested negative), New York health authorities ordered that Mladenovic be quarantined and withdraw from the tournament.
However, their decision came a day after they tried to prevent Mannarino from playing his match against Sascha Zverev for the exact same reason, but ultimately allowed that match to proceed!
Babos, a Hungarian player who was not in contact with Paire and was not ordered to quarantine, has been in tears after her withdrawal, understandably unable to comprehend the logic in the decisions made. She pointed out that Mladenovic had been tested for COVID19 several times last week and all results were negative.
She complained, "Let's look at the facts: Benoit Paire's positive test dated back ten days before (after 4 negatives) and in recent days his results were negative. The others close to him have never tested positive. Kiki (Mladenovic) had had 11 - repeat 11 - negative tests for COVID19. And yet we were locked up. On Friday they went out of their way to ensure that Mannarino could play. He was allowed to play and, the next day, we were not. It is simply injustice! It is incomprehensible! It's not fair."
Valid points. Just who is in charge here? Why one and not the other? And why are they being asked to quarantine when Paire ultimately tested negative for the virus after being re-tested?
There are literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars at stake here. Either the rules are the same for everybody or the rules are being made up as the tournament goes along.
Someone in charge needs to explain what is going on. Ace wonders what the bookies are saying?
Well, I promised you more news about the bizarre delay in today's match between Alexander (Sascha) Zverev of Germany and France's Adrian Mannarino. Here it is:
Apparently, New York State Health Department officials determined that Mannarino should not be allowed to play in the tournament because he had earlier been in contact with another French player, Benoit Paire. Paire, as you know, tested positive for COVID19 and had to be withdrawn from the tournament.
Several hours of discussions between USTA, ATP, US Open officials, and government authorities ensued. Even Novak Djokovic got into the act by trying to personally reach Governor Andrew Cuomo himself to resolve the situation in Mannarino's favor.
As reported by ESPN, Zverev, who eventually won the match in 4 sets after dropping the first, said, "I was told that there was very little chance we were going to play. They said, yeah, there is a chance at 5 o'clock, but I was just waiting around and seeing, I was very relaxed. Obviously for me, as a player, and for a fellow player, I was happy that he was able to play."
Zverev added, "I don't know if you guys know, but he was around Benoit Paire, so I guess New York State called and said that he shouldn't play. So it was back and forth, back and forth, it was political. It was not us players, we were just sitting around."
However, world #1 Djokovic confirmed that he personally got involved in the discussion by talking with Mannarino's coach and ATP officials. He also said that he tried to call Governor Cuomo, saying that Cuomo "...was the only one that could actually make the decision to revert the decision that Mannarino was withdrawn from the tournament"
Still unanswered - what are (or were) the official U.S. Open requirements for the bubble and continued play if players were exposed to someone who had tested positive for the virus? Before the tournament started, what did those requirements actually say? Does anyone know? (If you have a source, let me know in the comments below.)
Well, for now, let's just see what happens if some other players test positive. The tournament has another week to go!
Well, Ace has been watching the U.S. Open and just become aware of a controversy involving the scheduled Men's singles match between #5 seed Alexander Zverev from Germany and #32 seed Adrian Mannarino from France.
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Photo Credit: Carine06 from UK / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
At this writing, their match was to have begun about an hour ago. Match officials, lines persons, and ball persons were all present, however, neither of the players showed up. Zverev was later seen sitting in his private box, maskless and shirtless, watching another match.
As you may recall, Mannarino was one of the French players who were forced into self-isolation after another French player, Benoit Paire, was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID19.
ESPN's announcers are aware of the situation, but, no explanation at all has been given to them by USTA or tournament officials. Speculation is rampant that Mannarino either has showed symptoms of COVID19 and is being re-tested, has failed a COVID19 test, or is protesting the treatment of he and other men and women players who were put into self-isolation after having spent time with Paire before he was withdrawn.
I'l keep an eye on what's going on and provide an update later.
UPDATE: Both players are now on the court, 2:17 PDT. 5:17 EDT, warming up for their match. Still no official word as to what happened. There have been unsubstantiated rumors that health officials from New York questioned whether Mannarino should be allowed to play as well as speculation that Mannarino was staging a mini-protest regarding the self-isolation bubble.
Ace will let you know as soon as he learns anything new.
UPDATE#2: Well, Ace did a little searching and found that, as reported by Tennis.com, the tournament issued the following official statement at 5:43 p.m., EDT:
"The Zverev-Mannarino match was delayed while a collaborative dialogue with health officials was conducted today. Communication with the players was ongoing during the afternoon to keep them updated at all times. Given the sensitivity of the medical issues involved, the USTA is not able to provide further details."
Sensitivity of medical issues involved? Not able to provide further details? Ace calls bullshit on that! What's so damn sensitive about saying neither player tested positive for COVID19? Or, if someone is still awaiting new test results, it sounds more like a cover-up to me. Sounds like they don't want anyone to think their "bubble got burst!"
