By Mark Winters
In 1971 at the beginning of his career, Marvin Gaye, who would go on to become a Rock & Roll legend, released “What’s Going On”. Forty-six years later that hit tune would make a perfect theme song to use in describing the performances (or more to the point, the lack of) over the years, by US juniors at Roland Garros.
The Boys’ competition began in 1947, and since then, a mere five US contestants – Ham Richardson in 1951; Cliff Richey in 1964; John McEnroe in 1977; Bjorn Fratangelo in 2011 and Tommy Paul in 2015 – have taken the winners’ trophy across the ocean. The Girls’ rivalry kicked off in 1953, and since then the US trophy count has been even fewer. Anne Smith triumphed in 1977. Kathy Horvath and Bonnie Gadusek were back-to-back winners in 1980 and ’81, and the last but certainly not least young female performer to be victorious was Jennifer Capriati in 1989.
…“What’s Going On”
For various reasons, which is surely a story in and of itself, US men haven’t excelled on the Paris terre battue for some time. After Tony Trabert won the 1954 and ’55 titles, the Americans waited until Michael Chang surprised the tennis world by outlasting Stefan Edberg of Sweden, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in 1989. American women have been an altogether different story. Chris Evert, after being a Roland Garros finalist in 1973, claimed the first of her seven tournament titles the next year. Serena Williams was the last American to accept the champion’s trophy in 2015, after having won it in 2013 and 2002.
It could be argued that one of the reasons for the long-running drought is due to the fact that if US facilities have clay courts, they are Har-Tru and not terre battue. More to the point, though the country’s top juniors have opportunities to compete in Europe, they, in truth, are short-time “drop in” guests. The surface is tricky and perplexing, which requires time to develop an understanding about constructing points. It also entails much more than the “pound it” approach that is generally the American way. In short, it is all about – Patience.
…“What’s going On”
The initial 2017 Roland Garros junior draws were “number promising” from a US standpoint. Before the first ball was struck, 11 players, (two of whom were listed among the Boys’ 16 seeds), were in the competition. After the first round, the number was reduced to eight. In the third round, Gianni Ross defeated countryman Sebastian Korda, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. There he tested Alexei Popyrin of Australia, but the No. 3 seed proved to be better winning 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Korda is a tennis thoroughbred. His father, Peter was the Australian Open winner in 1998 and a Roland Garros finalist six years before that. Regina Rajchrtová, Sebastian’s mother, was also a talented tour competitor. (In their playing days, both Peter and Regina represented the Czech Republic.)
At the beginning of the competition, the US girls’ contingent was nine deep. Four of that group was listed in the 16 seeds. Six of the initial nine reached the second round. By the end of the day (June 7th), four – Claire Liu, seeded 6th, Whitney Osuigwe, seeded 7th, unseeded Caty McNally and Amanda Anisimova, seeded 2nd – had all played their way into the quarterfinals.
In Last Eight play, Liu defeated Bianca Andreescu of Canada, the No. 3 seed, 6-3, 6-3. In an All-American face off, Osuigwe duplicated Liu’s scores downing McNally, 6-3, 6-3. In her match, Anisimova was surprised by Elena Rybakina of Russia, the No. 11 seed, 7-6, 6-4.
The loss aside, Anisimova, whose parents are Russian and who was born in Freehold Township, New Jersey, had a tournament to remember. Last year, the youngster, who now lives in Hallandale Beach, Florida where she trains under the guidance of respected coach, Nick Saviano, was a 7-5, 7-5 finalist to Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland. This spring she earned the reciprocal wild card provided to the US by Roland Garros by being the top point winner on the US Pro Circuit (a collection of three tournaments). At 15, she became the youngest player to receive a wild card since Alizé Cornet, who was the same age in 2005. The Russian-American made her Grand Slam women’s debut, but lost in a thrilling first round encounter 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to Kurumi Nara of Japan.
Both of today’s semifinals featured American against Russian contests, and the US scored two “Ws”. Liu was “on” and thumped unseeded Marta Paigna, 6-2, 6-0. Osuigwe was almost as formidable defeating Rybakina, 6-4, 6-4.
Becoming a Roland Garros junior champion doesn’t lead to terre battue trophy winning as an adult. Of the nine US performers who succeeded only Capriati doubled her Paris take winning a 1-6, 6-4, 12-10 over Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the 2001 Women’s final.
Tomorrow’s Liu against Osuigwe battle will be noteworthy. It will be only the second time in Roland Garros history that two US players have met for the Girls’ title. The first took place in 1980 when Kathy Horvath was 6-2, 6-2 better than Kelly Henry. On Saturday, an American youngster will emerge the winner, and offer a glimpse of the answer to the now age-old question…
“What’s Going On”
(Note: Marvin Gaye wrote “What’s Going On” following a conversation he had with Renaldo “Obie” Brown, a member of the Four Tops, who recorded for Motown Sound, (as did Gaye), who told him about witnessing police brutality at an anti-war rally in Berkeley, California. The song eventually reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It sold over two million copies, and was Gaye’s second best-selling Motown hit.)
