In the middle of the afternoon, when the sun enters the Suzanne Lenglen track from the side and, like a well-sharpened knife, traces a diagonal across the clay, Sara Sorribes (26), grimace, appears in the belly of Philippe Chatrier.
Above, Holger Rune (20) and Francisco Cerúndolo (24) fight and below, Sorribes fights with his thoughts.
Sorribes, 132nd racket in the world, the last Spanish survivor of the women’s draw, had never gone so far in a Grand Slam.
When she talks to the media – she does it with a surprised face, dozens of them don’t usually expect her – she comes from playing the round of 16 at Roland Garros, something she has never experienced, but she has just compromised against Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-7 (3), 6-3 and 7-5, after 3h51m, the third longest women’s match in the history of the tournament, and for this reason he says:
–Right now I think that I should not reproach myself for anything. But tonight, when I go to bed, I think I’ll remember this game. And in the future, more…
(…)
In Suzanne Lenglen, between suns and shadows, Rune and Cerúndolo, two of the latest tennis innovations, frown and sharpen their eyes, because they don’t see where the ball is coming from, that’s what the game of lights and shadows in Lenglen, and the game has become convoluted, capriciously opting for one side or the other.
This time, Aneke Rune does not move from her son’s box, not like last year, in the quarterfinals, when Rune, who was up against Casper Ruud, in a fit of anger had ordered her mother to leave track.
-Get out of there!
(And the mother had obeyed him, we would all do anything for a son).
Rune had been an angry tennis player then, a boy with the appearance of a boy, his cap thrown back like the school’s naughty ones and his round, beardless face, and that match had ended badly: the Dane had lost the match and eventually also the battle for popular credit, since criticism was going to rain down on him, including the voices of the priests.
–Rune is talented, but too emotional –Mats Wilander would say.
“You must better channel your character and intensity, you cannot let your emotions dominate you, but use them to improve your performance,” John McEnroe would say.
“He’s rude and doesn’t know how to behave on a track,” Ruud would say.
Both Rune and Ruud have reconciled.
And we were able to verify it in the Masters 1,000 in Rome, three weeks ago: after their semifinal duel, Rune dedicated a range of good words to Ruud.
“I respect him a lot,” he said.
However, Rune is already late.
Already loaded with the label.
Bad boy.
“I play with passion and energy,” he protests. I don’t see why they should put that label on me. A bad boy is someone who breaks rackets and does things like that. And as far as I can remember, I haven’t broken a racket yet.
And he is somewhat right, at least if we relive this Monday’s match, his capricious duel against Cerúndolo.
Actually, Cerúndolo, a gamer Argentine, the most talented of the Argentines in recent years (especially after the retirement of Juan MartÃn del Potro), is the one who shouts and rants.
And, after a mistake, he yells at Kevin Konfederak, his coach:
–Don’t tell me that it’s fine, don’t tell me that it’s fine! Because it is not right!
And while Cerúndolo comes and goes, Rune immerses himself in an internal dialogue, keeps his fuss to himself and does not curse or evade himself, not even in the decisive tie-break, when he finds himself three points from defeat after sending another ball to the grid.
I couldn’t have had a better time. And I don’t know how to thank the public for all their support –he finally confesses with his boyish voice, he is smooth-talking, when he signs up for the round of 16 match, a 3h59m marathon, to meet Ruud, again in the quarterfinals, as in the 2022.
With calm one plays better, or so the Danish seems to have learned.
(Kyrgios, Djokovic and Zverev move in other parameters).
