Speaker 1: Well, rathaiel On Nadal, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, some of
Speaker 1: the biggest names in tennis. Well, they are not at
Speaker 1: this year's U s Open, So five days in, who
Speaker 1: are the favorites and why are so many of the
Speaker 1: players going unvaccinated? After all, fans have to show proof
Speaker 1: of at least one shot in order to get in
Speaker 1: and watch it. Well, joining us to talk about all
Speaker 1: things US Opening more is John worthime executive editor and
Speaker 1: senior writer at Sports Illustrated, also a contributing correspondent for
Speaker 1: Sixty Minutes. He's also the author of the new book
Speaker 1: Glory Days, The Summer of ur in the ninety days
Speaker 1: that Change Sports and culture Forever. He's right now covering
Speaker 1: the US Open for the Tennis Channel from Los Angeles. John,
Speaker 1: it's great to have you back on Bloomberg Business Week Radio.
Speaker 1: I think the big difference this year that I want
Speaker 1: to ask you about, among many other things, is that
Speaker 1: you're not actually covering it from New York. You're not
Speaker 1: at the US Open this year, You're in l A.
Speaker 1: How's that going. It's a little strange. I'll be back
Speaker 1: for the end, perhaps to see Novak Djokovic pull off this,
Speaker 1: this Grand Slam. But yeah, I mean this this is
Speaker 1: kind of the new new way of the world, and
Speaker 1: I think, um, you know, I think we're all kind
Speaker 1: of wondering what life is going to be like post
Speaker 1: COVID and whether we all go back to offices telecommune
Speaker 1: and certainly uh media and sports media is no different. Well,
Speaker 1: I've been to the US Open a few times. It's
Speaker 1: it's one of my favorite events to go to each
Speaker 1: and every year as a New Yorker, but of course
Speaker 1: I haven't been for the last couple of years. Take
Speaker 1: us into what exactly is happening for fans right now,
Speaker 1: because it is that capacity for fans. Masks are are optional,
Speaker 1: and although fans have to get vaccinated or at least
Speaker 1: show proof of getting one vaccine, many of the players
Speaker 1: are not vaccinated. Um. Yeah, and that's that's been an
Speaker 1: interesting I mean, it's sort of laid bear cannists and governance,
Speaker 1: and I mean as far as the fan experience, it's
Speaker 1: it's been great. I mean, obviously this is all complying
Speaker 1: with with New York protocol, but um, last year, there
Speaker 1: were no fans. This year full bow when the it's
Speaker 1: interesting when when the roofs closed and this turns into
Speaker 1: an indoor event, Um, the masks come out. But you know,
Speaker 1: so far from all accounts, this just feels like a
Speaker 1: normal US open um. You know, sorry, go ahead, Why John,
Speaker 1: do you think so many of the players are going unvaccinated?
Speaker 1: And this has been a story. This is not just
Speaker 1: about the US Open, this has been throughout the return
Speaker 1: to tennis. Yeah, it's a great question. And I mean, look,
Speaker 1: I think some of this is a function of the workforce.
Speaker 1: It's global. I mean, people come from countries where they
Speaker 1: have different attitudes about vaccination. I mean, to me, it's
Speaker 1: it's terribly disappointing. It's baffling. And if any athletes should
Speaker 1: be getting vaccinated, it's the tennis players who are on planes,
Speaker 1: they're traveling around the world. I mean, just from a
Speaker 1: standpoint of if you are vaccinated and someone you have
Speaker 1: you have contact with someone that tests positive and you
Speaker 1: are vaccinated, um, you're okay. If you're not vaccinated and
Speaker 1: have tracing contact with some many tests positive, you're out
Speaker 1: of the turn of it. So even for the most
Speaker 1: selfish professional reasons, I mean, even completely sort of abnegating
Speaker 1: your your responsibility as a human being. Um, just for
Speaker 1: strictly professional reasons. It's crazy, not too I mean I've
Speaker 1: heard all sorts of explanations. Some of the players have
Speaker 1: had it already. UM. Some of them think, well, what
Speaker 1: if I get the vaccine in my arm hurts so much,
Speaker 1: I can't swing a racket. I think it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a lot of sort of misinformation and disinformation.
Speaker 1: I think it's a real insight into tennis players and
Speaker 1: in an individual sport, we often talk about how you
Speaker 1: have to be selfish, and it's sort of you have
Speaker 1: to put yourself first, and in a weird way, this
Speaker 1: is a this is an expression of it. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's no union. And in in other team sports, you
Speaker 1: know there's an employer, there's an employee, there's a union.
Speaker 1: You can uh, you can mandate vaccines or you can
Speaker 1: make it very difficult for the unvaccine. Tennis, all these
Speaker 1: players are individual contractors. They make their own decisions. And
Speaker 1: as you said at the top, it's bizarre to me
Speaker 1: that hundreds of thousands of fans are going to come
Speaker 1: through the gates and they all need to show a card,
Speaker 1: and yet the athletes they have come to cheer fifty
Speaker 1: percent of the time they're unvaccinated. It's, um, it's it's
Speaker 1: not a good look and it's definitely a contradiction. And John,
Speaker 1: just quickly from the players that you're talking to, I mean,
Speaker 1: what is the hesitation. Is it, like you mentioned, concerns
Speaker 1: about arm pain or is there some kind of mistrust
Speaker 1: of the vaccine, you know, I mean, it's it really
Speaker 1: breaks down, and some of it is is geographic. Some
Speaker 1: of it is is the arm pain, which you know
Speaker 1: again it's I'd rather have arm pain than get COVID.
Speaker 1: Some of it is just I mean, some of the
Speaker 1: players have had it already. There there was I mean
Speaker 1: that it's a sore spot in tennis. But you know,
Speaker 1: Novak Djokovic held an event where everybody was unmasked and
Speaker 1: a lot of the players got COVID from that. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, apparently they think they can't get it again.
Speaker 1: I mean. The other thing I've heard is, you know,
Speaker 1: one player said, um, I'm paraphrasing, but not by much.
Speaker 1: That he's young. He can handle it, and it might
Speaker 1: even be a good thing because it'll teach people of
Speaker 1: his generation persistence in overcoming adversity. So you know, I
Speaker 1: mean the ATP, to their credit, they've tried to impress
Speaker 1: upon ten of the players and get vaccinated. But it's um, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not great. Let's talk about who you're watching this year.
Speaker 1: I said that there were some big names that that
Speaker 1: aren't there and not even playing Nadal, Serena Williams, Venus Williams. Um,
Speaker 1: who are you watching? Um? I mean I think we're
Speaker 1: watching sort of macro. This is uh where we're getting
Speaker 1: glimpse into the post Stador Serena Nadal world And what
Speaker 1: is this sport gonna look like? We're going to be
Speaker 1: the stars when the stars we've had for you know,
Speaker 1: more than twenty years. Yeah, decades, It's been a decades long.
Speaker 1: Era been phenomenal. This is this is the first US
Speaker 1: Open since so you know, first term Clinton, um since
Speaker 1: you know, since it's the mid nineties that we haven't
Speaker 1: had a Williams sister Federaadala to draw. So this has
Speaker 1: been very different. But the big story is Novak Djokovic
Speaker 1: going forward ze Grand Slam. This is tennis is sort
Speaker 1: of holy Grail. It's four hitter. Um haven't been done
Speaker 1: on the men's side since Rod Labor more than fifty
Speaker 1: years ago, and he won the first three legs and
Speaker 1: his first matches here. So five five matches away from
Speaker 1: this historic achieved Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and of
Speaker 1: course the US Open would make it a Grand Slam.
Speaker 1: Do you think you can pull it off? I do,
Speaker 1: And I think that his approach is really fascinating me.
Speaker 1: Serena Williams Uh six years ago won the first three
Speaker 1: legs and was, you know, quite reasonably understandably nervous. And
Speaker 1: I think a lot of the attention of the focus
Speaker 1: and the speculation really got to her. And no vac joke,
Speaker 1: which is more than happy to talk about it more
Speaker 1: than you know, he's sort of understand the challenge and
Speaker 1: as really uh leaned in as we say, it's really
Speaker 1: sort of his His approach has been very interesting and
Speaker 1: h he has you know, five five more rounds to
Speaker 1: go and is not insignificant, but I think he gets it. Okay, John,
Speaker 1: Let's back up a little bit and say I am
Speaker 1: only very tangentially aware of tennis. Maybe I only know
Speaker 1: who Serena Williams is. Maybe that's all true. Why aren't
Speaker 1: we seeing the big stars come out and show up
Speaker 1: at the U S Open. What's going on there? You
Speaker 1: mean the big culture stars are the big tennis stars,
Speaker 1: the big tennis stars, so um, well, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: Serena Williams turns forty in UH in a few weeks,
Speaker 1: and Roger Federer is forty years old. Rough Nadal is
Speaker 1: thirty five, but his body is probably considerably older. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean, we've really sort of had this embarrassment of
Speaker 1: riches and we've had these extended careers, so um, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean it's name a player from the past. I
Speaker 1: mean stephie Rof didn't win after she turned thirty, John
Speaker 1: mcville didn't John mcviroe didn't win a major after he
Speaker 1: turned twenty five. So the fact that these guys are
Speaker 1: still competitive, you know, for forty years of that's it's
Speaker 1: it's Tom Brady, it's Lebron Jameson, it's the trend across sports.
Speaker 1: But time time eventually wins, and right now it's winning
Speaker 1: with UH, with Serena Federer and Nadal. Well, let's talk
Speaker 1: about that next generation that E reference. Who specifically are
Speaker 1: you watching? Well, I mean I think sort of Djokovic
Speaker 1: is its own sort of subcategory. But I think a
Speaker 1: lot of young players are coming to the four. One
Speaker 1: of them, um is out of the tournament already, but
Speaker 1: as a terrific player is Coco Golf, seventeen year old
Speaker 1: from Florida. Um Naomi Osaka is intriguing figure in many ways.
Speaker 1: As we speak, there is an eighteen year old Spaniard,
Speaker 1: Carlos Alcaroz, trying to get to the third round. The
Speaker 1: last time a an eighteen year old went this far
Speaker 1: it was Pete Sampras, so that that is a significant
Speaker 1: achievement for for Alcroz. I mean, I think the you know,
Speaker 1: Federa Nadal dro Serena, those four players have commanded so
Speaker 1: much spotlight. There's something almost sort of, you know, perversely
Speaker 1: refreshing about other players coming to the four, just because
Speaker 1: those four stars have sort of hot hogged all the
Speaker 1: oxygen for for twenty years, and now we're really getting
Speaker 1: to see how broad the cast really is. It has
Speaker 1: been amazing in recent years to see some of those
Speaker 1: new players actually compete against people who they grew up watching. Right,
Speaker 1: That just speaks to how long this old guard of tennis,
Speaker 1: the current grard of tennis, has really been in there. Hey,
Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: four and Glory Days, the summer of nineteen eighty four,
Speaker 1: your book, The ninety Days that Changed Sports and culture forever,
Speaker 1: because there there is a lot of mention of tennis.
Speaker 1: You mentioned John McEnroe already, but I want to talk
Speaker 1: specifically about Martino Nevartalova uh and and the rivalry that
Speaker 1: she had. In my nineteen eighty four was such a
Speaker 1: pivotal year, in an important year for her. Martina neber Talova,
Speaker 1: I think, I think she's getting her do, but at
Speaker 1: the time did not get her due, which she was
Speaker 1: such a trailblazer. Um. You know, she's number one in
Speaker 1: the world, and she is openly gay, and she's talking
Speaker 1: about her her Trams coach, Renee Richards, and she's talking
Speaker 1: about why athletes don't use their plastics warm to express
Speaker 1: their views on social causes and what why don't they
Speaker 1: train harder or even use data to scout opponents, And
Speaker 1: she was sort of, you know, in a lot of cases,
Speaker 1: she was very much an outsider. She was. Her foil
Speaker 1: was Chris Evert, who was sort of portrayed as the
Speaker 1: Swede and soft blond Floridian and Martino was a sort
Speaker 1: of the harsh immigrant. And Martina Avatalova, actually she just
Speaker 1: dominated women's tennis, but she also really emerged as this
Speaker 1: this cultural political force, and it was against considerable resistance.
Speaker 1: She didn't much care. And we we talked about you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about athletes that have aged well and you
Speaker 1: look at what we expect of athletes now physically as
Speaker 1: social leaders, in terms of fitness. We talked about where
Speaker 1: we are on LGBTQ issues. Martina Avatalova was really sort
Speaker 1: of remarkably ahead of her time. And um, she had
Speaker 1: fair amount of backlash and resistance in but um, a
Speaker 1: true pioneer, a true trailblazer, and history has very much
Speaker 1: agreed with her. And what about on the men's side.
Speaker 1: We just had about a minute and a half left,
Speaker 1: But you mentioned John McEnroe, and again, the reason he
Speaker 1: wrote a book had to do with the summer of
Speaker 1: is because so much happened. I mean, we're talking McEnroe,
Speaker 1: we're talking Lendall, we're talking beyond Borg, Jimmy Connors take
Speaker 1: us through the rivelry that summer. Yeah, this was sort
Speaker 1: of peeked back and row that summer and apart from
Speaker 1: the tennis itself, you had, you know, there's this small
Speaker 1: company called Nike was starting to make inroads, and we
Speaker 1: had more ways to watch all sports, tennis included on
Speaker 1: this new cable network ESPN that more and more people
Speaker 1: were getting. Um. This was really sort of a pivotal
Speaker 1: summer in terms of sports entering the realm of media
Speaker 1: and technology and really sort of turning the corner from
Speaker 1: from passion and diversion into big business. UM. And I
Speaker 1: also think this was really in many ways that the
Speaker 1: peak of tennis in the US. It thrives as this
Speaker 1: global sport, but there aren't as many top American players
Speaker 1: as there were then. And um, you know, in terms
Speaker 1: of tennis in America, I think may have you know,
Speaker 1: sort of marked a high water point. John Worth time,
Speaker 1: we are going to have to leave it. There is
Speaker 1: such a pleasure to speak with you. John worthime as
Speaker 1: executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, contributing correspondent
Speaker 1: for sixty Minutes. He's covering the US Open for the
Speaker 1: Tennis Channel. He's also the author of what we were
Speaker 1: just talking about, Glory Days, the Summer of ur and
Speaker 1: the ninety days that change sports and culture forever,