Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.
Up today: Djokovic loses early in Monte Carlo, Linda Fruhvirtova reaches her first WTA quarterfinal, and it’s a good day to remember the contributions of Dr Robert Walter Johnson.
Scroll down for a transcript.
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Music: Love is the Chase by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2021. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: Apoxode
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Rough transcript of today’s episode:
The first number is 6, the number of years it’s been since Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals in Monte Carlo. His straight-set loss yesterday at the hands of British #33 Dan Evans ensured that the losing streak would continue, and it was a far cry from his performances in the first half of the last decade, when he won two titles at the event and lost only to Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic’s poor showings at his adopted-hometown tournament date back to 2016, when he crashed out of an opening round match against Jiri Vesely; since then, he’s lost to David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, and Daniil Medvedev—the last being a worse defeat than it sounds, since the Russian was ranked #14 and no better on the clay than he is now. It was only Evans’s 7th career victory on dirt, but it would be mistake to worry too much about Novak’s immediate future. In 2016, he won the Roland Garros title less than two months after losing to Vesely, and he’s reached at least the semifinal in Rome every year since 2014. While he can’t stop Nadal this week, he’ll likely be in position to keep the Spaniard honest at the other marquee events this spring.
Our second number is 2, the number of 15 year olds to reach a WTA quarterfinal in the last 15 years. One is Coco Gauff, who qualified for Wimbledon and upset Venus Williams in 2019, then won the Linz title that fall. The second is Linda Fruhvirtova, who added herself to the list with a routine win over American teen Emma Navarro in Charleston last night. The young Czech has been on prospect-watchers’ radar for some time, after winning the prestigious Les Petits As event in 2019. In 2021, she has done little but win, going 14-1 with two titles in adult ITF events. The tour-level quarterfinal carries a bit of an asterisk, as she got here via Alize Cornet’s first-round retirement and a defeat of 404th-ranked Navarro. Today’s challenge is a little stiffer, in 165th-ranked Astra Sharma. Should Fruhvirtova reach the semis, she’ll face another teen—the winner of a blockbuster match between last week’s Bogota winner Maria Camila Osorio Serrano and rising Danish star Clara Tauson. It’s tough to say which is more crowded: The field of young stars currently atop the WTA rankings, or the gang of teenagers right behind them.
Today’s third and final number is 122, the number of years since the birth of tennis Hall of Famer Dr Robert Walter Johnson. More than anyone else, Dr Johnson was the force behind the rise of both Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, the stars who proved that African Americans could compete at the highest levels of international tennis and forced open the doors of the whites-only clubs where prestigious tournaments were played. The founder of the American Tennis Association’s Junior Development Program, he not only served as talent-spotter, but also as coach, mentor, administrator, and more—all while operating his medical practice in Lynchburg, Virginia. It’s no wonder his nickname was “Whirlwind.” He was an enthusiastic player, as well—he won mixed doubles titles into his 50s at the annual, predominantly Black ATA championships, but he would probably admit that most of the credit was due to his usual partner, Althea Gibson. The tennis establishment wasn’t much interested in celebrating Dr Johnson’s birthday for most of his life, so 50 years after his death, the least we can do is honor his accomplishments as we reap the benefits of a more inclusive sport.
