Was it Michael Chang who beat Ivan Lendl at the French Open years ago when he (Chang) was dealing with heat-related issues. I seem to remember him doing quick serves and underhand serves to throw Lendl off his game. Am I remembering that correctly?
“There was one thing Oscar De La Hoya was sure of, one particular metaphor he used to explain his story, tidy as it may be. He said the hardest thing in boxing is when a fighter is knocked down and must lift himself from the canvas, knowing he will inevitably lose.”
Nice piece Joe. My wife who is a huge Alcaraz fan alerted me to what she thought was Sinner's gaming the system with the cramp caused injury delay, within a game of claiming the match and advancing. But any injustice faded as you write Joe, as Sinner tried to hang on but was no longer able to compete. Perhaps he should have simply retired, there will certainly be other days for him but the force in him that told him to hang on pushed him forward. I think it ended as it should have. But I couldn't help but think back to being 7 years old and watching American 1500m runner Jim Ryun, the reigning World Record Holder, spiked and sprawled to the track in the 1972 Munich Olympics, getting up and running hopelessly because that honored sport and the thing in us that makes us better.
My Italian friend and I attended the BNP men's final this past March, it was 92 deg F and the heat index had to be 100+, and match lasted just under two hours.
The match Sinner just lost was played in about 87 deg F, heat but I'm not sure just what the duration was when he first cramped up. Bottom line is Sinner definitely prefers best 2 out of 3.
Wow! Just a few days ago, during his first-round match, I saw the Frenchman named Clement something-or-other extend Sinner by about 15 minutes. Sinner had a couple of match points, couldn't close him out right away, but then did what seemed inevitable---by closing him out in three sets.
But along the way, as I clambered up my stairmaster, I thought, "What if Sinner gets hurt here? By sticking with it, this unknown guy could pull off a huge upset...." And: that's what happened today, of course. If the opponent had not fought through some earlier points--even those that ultimately resulted in a lost game--he wouldn't have been playing still when those cramps struck Sinner.
With no Sinner or Alcaraz, maybe Alexander Zverev, the best player in tennis history who has not won a major -- 3 Grand Slam finals, 7 Grand Slam semi-finals, 7 Masters 1000 titles, 2 year-end ATP titles, 24 titles in total, No. 2 ranking -- finally does so.
Being up 6-2, 6-1, 5-1 and losing is quite a choke job (I understand it was really an injury issue). How does this compare to being up 28-3 in the Super Bowl? Or being up 3-0 in the ALCS (plus leading in the 9th inning of game 4)?
Seems like this is probably a bigger comeback than those?
It doesn't compare at all. The Falcons did not all come down with dehydration and debilitating cramps, nor did the 2004 Yankees. Those were choke jobs, Sinner's wasn't. His body gave out.
This is much more like when, in 1952, Joey Maxim, a marginally talented light-heavyweight, beat Sugar Ray Robinson, possibly the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in history. The temperature was over 100 degrees with intense humidity. Maxim had a 16 lb. weight advantage. The original referee, Ruby Goldstein, had to be replaced in mid-fight from heat exhaustion. Robinson could not answer the bell for the 14th round, as his body had just given out from the heat.
Great reply with a better historical analogy. Not all choking.....cramps are not choking. I wonder if Sinner hydrated just a bit more, if he'd have staved off cramps for a few more minutes. I suspect he drank a ton of water as it was, though, knowing his vulnerability.
Man, that was just painful to watch. As soon as Sinner couldn't hold a couple of service games in the third, you knew he was going to lose the match. Is there really nothing he can do to help himself handle the heat better? This has been his one Achilles' heel for his whole career, and it seems like something that he should be able to alleviate, but I have no idea.
I lived in the Phoenix area and raced my bike in my younger days, and you can train in the heat to get your body used to racing in the heat. I'd be shocked if that wasn't true for tennis.
That said, it's usually a marginal improvement. Maybe Sinner has trained for the heat and this is the best his body will do.
One of the things I miss about baseball from my youth (^) is watching a physically limited pitcher try to gut his way through a few more outs. There is something special about watching a fallible human overcome and even something noble about seeing him or her fight on even in failure. I’m not a tennis fan but that is what this brings to mind.
(^) I was born in the year of Yaz, so roughly 1977 to 1987.
So tough to watch. Reminded me of the famous 1982 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii when race leader Julie Moss had a huge lead. Dehydration then set in, and she was reduced to walking, stumbling, falling down, even crawling. Only to be passed in the final yards of the race by Kathleen McCartney.
So painful to watch. I believe it was broadcast on Wide World of Sports or something like that. It put the sport of triathlon on the map.
I was at the Sinner-Spizzirri Aussie Open match in January when the temps rose, and it looked certain that Sinner would lose. Luckily for him, the temps got high enough to close the roof, and he was able to come back and win. He really cannot handle the heat.
It’s odd how cramps seem different to fans than other injuries. They seem like more of a failure than, say a rolled ankle. In a way, they can be a failure of conditioning, but for some athletes, it’s just how they’re built.
Was it Michael Chang who beat Ivan Lendl at the French Open years ago when he (Chang) was dealing with heat-related issues. I seem to remember him doing quick serves and underhand serves to throw Lendl off his game. Am I remembering that correctly?
“There was one thing Oscar De La Hoya was sure of, one particular metaphor he used to explain his story, tidy as it may be. He said the hardest thing in boxing is when a fighter is knocked down and must lift himself from the canvas, knowing he will inevitably lose.”
New York Times Sept 12 2013
Nice piece Joe. My wife who is a huge Alcaraz fan alerted me to what she thought was Sinner's gaming the system with the cramp caused injury delay, within a game of claiming the match and advancing. But any injustice faded as you write Joe, as Sinner tried to hang on but was no longer able to compete. Perhaps he should have simply retired, there will certainly be other days for him but the force in him that told him to hang on pushed him forward. I think it ended as it should have. But I couldn't help but think back to being 7 years old and watching American 1500m runner Jim Ryun, the reigning World Record Holder, spiked and sprawled to the track in the 1972 Munich Olympics, getting up and running hopelessly because that honored sport and the thing in us that makes us better.
Reminds me of Gale Sayers.
One wrong hit on the knee and he went from the best to retired.
(Yes he ran for 1000 yards in 1969 but the magic was gone.)
Exactly who I thought of as I read this.
My Italian friend and I attended the BNP men's final this past March, it was 92 deg F and the heat index had to be 100+, and match lasted just under two hours.
The match Sinner just lost was played in about 87 deg F, heat but I'm not sure just what the duration was when he first cramped up. Bottom line is Sinner definitely prefers best 2 out of 3.
Wow! Just a few days ago, during his first-round match, I saw the Frenchman named Clement something-or-other extend Sinner by about 15 minutes. Sinner had a couple of match points, couldn't close him out right away, but then did what seemed inevitable---by closing him out in three sets.
But along the way, as I clambered up my stairmaster, I thought, "What if Sinner gets hurt here? By sticking with it, this unknown guy could pull off a huge upset...." And: that's what happened today, of course. If the opponent had not fought through some earlier points--even those that ultimately resulted in a lost game--he wouldn't have been playing still when those cramps struck Sinner.
With no Sinner or Alcaraz, maybe Alexander Zverev, the best player in tennis history who has not won a major -- 3 Grand Slam finals, 7 Grand Slam semi-finals, 7 Masters 1000 titles, 2 year-end ATP titles, 24 titles in total, No. 2 ranking -- finally does so.
I know a little about tennis, but not a ton.
Being up 6-2, 6-1, 5-1 and losing is quite a choke job (I understand it was really an injury issue). How does this compare to being up 28-3 in the Super Bowl? Or being up 3-0 in the ALCS (plus leading in the 9th inning of game 4)?
Seems like this is probably a bigger comeback than those?
It doesn't compare at all. The Falcons did not all come down with dehydration and debilitating cramps, nor did the 2004 Yankees. Those were choke jobs, Sinner's wasn't. His body gave out.
This is much more like when, in 1952, Joey Maxim, a marginally talented light-heavyweight, beat Sugar Ray Robinson, possibly the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in history. The temperature was over 100 degrees with intense humidity. Maxim had a 16 lb. weight advantage. The original referee, Ruby Goldstein, had to be replaced in mid-fight from heat exhaustion. Robinson could not answer the bell for the 14th round, as his body had just given out from the heat.
Great reply with a better historical analogy. Not all choking.....cramps are not choking. I wonder if Sinner hydrated just a bit more, if he'd have staved off cramps for a few more minutes. I suspect he drank a ton of water as it was, though, knowing his vulnerability.
Man, that was just painful to watch. As soon as Sinner couldn't hold a couple of service games in the third, you knew he was going to lose the match. Is there really nothing he can do to help himself handle the heat better? This has been his one Achilles' heel for his whole career, and it seems like something that he should be able to alleviate, but I have no idea.
I lived in the Phoenix area and raced my bike in my younger days, and you can train in the heat to get your body used to racing in the heat. I'd be shocked if that wasn't true for tennis.
That said, it's usually a marginal improvement. Maybe Sinner has trained for the heat and this is the best his body will do.
This match is a perfect example of what makes tennis great, or horrible, depending which side you're on.
You're never out of a match, but you can also never relax, no matter your lead.
One of the things I miss about baseball from my youth (^) is watching a physically limited pitcher try to gut his way through a few more outs. There is something special about watching a fallible human overcome and even something noble about seeing him or her fight on even in failure. I’m not a tennis fan but that is what this brings to mind.
(^) I was born in the year of Yaz, so roughly 1977 to 1987.
So tough to watch. Reminded me of the famous 1982 Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii when race leader Julie Moss had a huge lead. Dehydration then set in, and she was reduced to walking, stumbling, falling down, even crawling. Only to be passed in the final yards of the race by Kathleen McCartney.
So painful to watch. I believe it was broadcast on Wide World of Sports or something like that. It put the sport of triathlon on the map.
I was at the Sinner-Spizzirri Aussie Open match in January when the temps rose, and it looked certain that Sinner would lose. Luckily for him, the temps got high enough to close the roof, and he was able to come back and win. He really cannot handle the heat.
It’s odd how cramps seem different to fans than other injuries. They seem like more of a failure than, say a rolled ankle. In a way, they can be a failure of conditioning, but for some athletes, it’s just how they’re built.