Author: staff

Sports

What is it about the French Open that makes for surprises? ‘The clay is alive. You have to play with it.’

PARIS — Why is the French Open more likely to produce first-time and one-time Grand Slam champions than the Australian Open, Wimbledon or the U.S. Open? Why are there so many surprising results at Roland Garros? What distinguishes its red clay from the surfaces used at the three other major tennis tournaments?The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament held on clay courts — which actually aren’t made of clay, but rather the dust from red brick on top of a layer of crushed white limestone.AdvertisementWimbledon, which begins this year on June 27, is famously contested on grass. The U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 29, and the Australian Open, held in January, each uses a different type of hard court.Rafael Nadal runs and slides to return a shot in his second-round match of the French Open against Facundo Bagnis at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, May 26, 2016. The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament held on clay — which actually isn’t truly clay, but the dust from red brick on top of a layer of crushed white limestone. (Alastair Grant/AP)The softness and speed-absorbing grab of clay courts slow down shots more than the other surfaces do, dulling speedy serves and groundstrokes. The clay’s grittiness magnifies the effect of heavy spin (think of 13-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal’s uppercut lefty forehands), creating higher arcs as the balls rebound off the ground.Advertisement“Clay is a completely different surface from hard courts and grass,” said Tamara Zidansek, who reached the semifinals in Paris a year ago while ranked 85th. “It’s such a specific surface.”Because booming serves and quick-strike forehands relied on by so many players are not as effective on clay as hard or grass courts, there is an increased reward for strategy, switching speeds and spins, and for drop shots.“On clay, you have to hit a lot of balls to win matches. If you’re not quite 100% confident, it really shows up,” said International Tennis Hall of Fame member Martina Navratilova, who won two of her 18 Grand Slam titles at the French Open. “It’s harder to win matches when you’re not playing well.”Katerina Siniakova, a Grand Slam doubles champion who beat then-No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the third round in Paris while ranked 42nd in 2019, described the effect of clay this way: “You have to really win the point. It’s not as easy as the hard courts to win a point, because it’s not so fast. A more creative player can play better on clay and use it as an advantage for them. You can’t use as much slice or drop shots on hard courts.”Points tend to be longer. So do matches. Women’s matches in Paris last year averaged 1 hour, 39 minutes, 42 seconds; that’s 3 minutes longer than at the U.S. Open, more than 6 minutes longer than at the Australian Open, and more than 8 minutes longer than at Wimbledon. Men’s matches — which are best-of-five-sets; women’s are best-of-three — averaged 2 hours, 39 minutes, 24 seconds in 2021, 11 minutes longer than at the Australian Open and 6 minutes longer than at Wimbledon. Matches at the 2021 U.S. Open averaged 2 hours, 50 minutes, 35 seconds, but were shorter than at Roland Garros in previous years over the past decade.All surfaces can be effected by the temperature, but clay courts tend to alter more in extreme heat and cold — Nadal’s quarterfinal win over No. 1 seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in Paris on Tuesday night was contested with the temperature in the 50s Fahrenheit (teens Celsius) — or on a damp or breezy day.Advertisement“Grass does change a little, but I feel like the clay is alive. You have to play with it,” said Felix Auger-Aliassime, a semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Open. “Sometimes the clay is more dry and the bounce is going to be different. Other weeks, it’s very humid and very soft and it plays differently. The whole clay swing, from one week to another, the conditions change a lot.”Chair umpire Marijana Veljovic, right, shows a mark on the clay to Coco Gauff during a match against Martina Trevisan during their semifinal of the French Open at the Roland Garros stadium, June 2, 2022 in Paris. (Jean-Francois Badias/AP)It can be as simple as wind blowing dust off the top of the court at Roland Garros, creating patches that are thicker or thinner.“I feel like people sometimes forget, because it’s red and it looks the same, but they don’t see the amount of clay,” said Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, who grew up mostly playing on indoor hard courts in Switzerland. “They don’t see how it changes. They don’t see how fast it is or how hard. You can’t see that on TV.”Footwork is crucial on clay, which allows players to slide into shots. The trick is to do that properly.Bencic, for example, says her open-stance way of hitting and lack of play on clay growing up make that aspect harder for her.“My movement is not really made for clay. I have a huge advantage on grass because of my stance,” she said. “I have to think about it on clay. It doesn’t come naturally.”AdvertisementSome players, particularly from Europe or South America, learn the sport on clay. Folks agree that can be a significant advantage.“You get a lot of guys that it is … their ‘home’ surface, kind of what they grew up playing on. That’s what suits their game and so they’re much more comfortable on it than I am,” said Taylor Fritz, an American seeded 13th in Paris who lost to Bernabe Zapata Miralles, a Spanish qualifier ranked outside the top 125. “And maybe I wouldn’t lose to lots of these people on a hard court, but on a clay court, on any given day, there’s definitely more people that I could lose to.”There are far fewer events on clay than hard courts. The ATP calendar for 2022 includes 39 tournaments on hard courts, 12 on clay and eight on grass. The current WTA program for this season shows 30 on hard courts, 14 on clay and seven on grass.So it stands to reason that pros might prefer to focus their efforts on the more frequently used surfaces.Also, as Djokovic explained, there is an adjustment when the European clay-court circuit that leads up to the French Open arrives.“Historically it always has required some time and several tournaments to really feel comfortable playing on clay,” he said. “Rarely did I feel my best on clay in the first or second tournament in the season.”

Sports

Quick-acting caddie saves golfer’s life with CPR. Now, the golfer pays it forward with CPR trainings.

When Marsha Levin recollects Sept. 10, 2021, she can’t help but get choked up.That was the day her husband of 48 years, Steve Levin, suffered a heart attack while on the 12th hole at Bryn Mawr Country Club in Lincolnwood.Advertisement“Is there anything worse than horrific?” she said trying to encapsulate how she felt that day. She remembers screaming in her son’s car on the way to the hospital because she was so overwhelmed with the news.According to Levin, he remembers very little about the day itself. Over the past several months of recuperation, he said he’s been piecing together the timeline of events from those who were there on the golf course and those who participated in his lifesaving measures.AdvertisementSteve Levin and the man who saved his life using CPR, Dylan Gainer, right, at the law offices of Levin & Perconti in Chicago on May 31, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Levin collapsed on the green in the peripheral vision of then-20-year-old caddie Dylan Gainer. Gainer got his CPR certification in 2021, when he had aspirations to become a lifeguard.“I didn’t recognize that it was a person falling, but what caught my attention is a bunch of people who started crowding around … panicking,” he said. “I started running over. There was somebody attempting to do mouth-to-mouth. I told everyone, ‘I’m CPR-certified, let me help. I know what to do.’”Gainer started doing chest compressions. Maybe 10 seconds in, Levin started to gasp, according to Gainer.“It was just the best feeling in the world to see when you started gasping for air and I knew that I was doing the right thing. That was a really big motivator for me to keep going,” Gainer said. “I did it for maybe three or four minutes until the police got there.”According to Lincolnwood firefighter/paramedic Ronald Schaefer, when he arrived at the scene, police were there taking over CPR and shocking Levin with their automated external defibrillator. Gainer’s actions, Levin says, are the reason why he is still here.Paramedics rushed Levin to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where doctors put three stents into his heart. He was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he remained for 30 days — 12 of them in a coma. Levin, who works as a malpractice attorney, admitted he’s probably healthier now than he’s ever been, given his change in diet and exercise routine.“In retrospect, I had some blockage in my coronary arteries that probably should have been addressed earlier,” he said.After his first surgery in September, he had a quadruple bypass in November, when an angiogram found more blockage. In between the surgeries, Levin and his family got to say thanks to Gainer and the Lincolnwood Fire Department for their efforts.AdvertisementThe village of Lincolnwood recognized Gainer and the first responders in November for their work helping save Levin.Since then, Levin has been doing what he can to pay it forward. During this week’s National CPR and AED Awareness Week, he brought in Lincolnwood Fire Department members to conduct CPR training for employees at his practice. It’s a training that his wife and four children and his friends have taken.Levin is trying to come up with more ways to raise public awareness on CPR training. According to the American Red Cross, skill retention declines within a few months of initial training. According to the American Heart Association, less than 50% of people who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest get immediate help they need before professional help arrives. But if CPR is performed immediately, it can double or triple the chance of survival.Schaefer said one should recertify every two years to stay current with new research, but one can choose to take the class more often. Per the Lincolnwood Fire Department’s Lt. Hayden Hooghkirk, it’s 30 compressions for two breaths, and two cycles of that is a cycle of CPR done over the course of two minutes.“I feel that if I can get anyone to learn CPR, a life can be saved,” Levin said. “Out of all the public health measures that are debated, this is clear-cut. Everyone wants to get trained, it’s hard to get around to it, but it’s easily available to learn, and it will unquestionably save lives.”Lincolnwood Fire Department Lt. Hayden Hooghkirk demonstrates the use of LUCAS, a lifesaving device that performs chest compressions on victims. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Levin provided funds for Lincolnwood to purchase the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System (LUCAS) — a device that delivers CPR compressions without stopping. Hooghkirk said that when people get tired doing compressions, the strength of compressions can suffer. LUCAS is used while someone is doing manual CPR, freeing another medic’s hands to do other things like medications and IVs.AdvertisementLevin is also paying for Gainer’s further education. Levin said it’s up to Gainer how far he’ll go. Levin may be the first life he’s saved, but it might not be his last. The 2022 Truman College graduate is considering a career in medicine after he completes his undergraduate education at the University of Illinois at Chicago.“I was really happy knowing that I made a difference not only in your life but your whole family,” Gainer said.While it was a scary event, Levin thinks his health crisis was a positive one. Family members got cardiac calcium tests (which scan calcium found on the heart, an indicator of chances of developing a heart attack in the future). Levin’s sister subsequently got stents put into her heart as well. And Marsha Levin said everyone has changed the way they do things since her husband’s heart attack.“I’m not the same person that I was nine months ago. I don’t think any of us will ever be again,” she said. “Everyone went to a cardiologist, our whole family. Everyone had this coronary calcium score test done. Two of our kids are now on statins. They all have their own cardiologist, everyone’s changed their eating and drinking habits. And I’m making fish all the time now. You think in such a different way after something like this.”The Lincolnwood Fire Department’s Lt. Hayden Hooghkirk, left, and Lt. Gabby DeSantas prepare for a CPR training session for employees at the law office of Levin & Perconti on May 31, 2022.
(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Last month, one of Levin’s sons took him back out to the Bryn Mawr Country Club for the first time, Marsha Levin said. It wasn’t a serious game, just one that would introduce him back to the “scene of the crime,” she said.“We were all texting them while they were out there, because we were so nervous,” she said. “Our son sent a picture of them on the 12th hole because it happened on the 12th hole. And one of my other kids was like, ‘We need a picture on the 13th hole,’” Marsha said Steve made it through and has since played in his first tournament.Advertisement“My case was a textbook case of the laypeople doing what they should do, the police doing what they should do, and the fire department doing what it should do,” Levin said. “Because of that, I’m here today.”drockett@chicagotribune.com

Sports

Brennen Davis — the top prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization — has back surgery

The back injury to Chicago Cubs top prospect Brennen Davis is more serious than initially thought.Davis had back surgery in Los Angeles Thursday, sources told the Chicago Tribune. The 22-year-old outfielder went on the Triple-A Iowa injured list May 12 after he had been bothered by low back stiffness that traces back to spring training. The surgery revealed a cluster of blood vessels that caused back and leg pain. The vascular malformation pushed against a nerve, not dissimilar to sciatica.AdvertisementThe blood vessels were cauterized during the surgery, and Davis has a follow-up appointment with the surgeon next week. It’s a best-case scenario given the situation for Davis, who does not have any disc or structural issues in his back.[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Cubs minor-league notes: Yohendrick Piñango’s swing, a new setup to challenge hitters and 2 pitchers to watch at Triple A ]He is expected to make a full recovery. However, there is no timetable for when Davis will return to baseball activities. It is too soon to say how much of his season will be impacted by the surgery.AdvertisementThe ailment initially manifested as a back injury, but the pain migrated to his legs. Davis received an epidural, which was expected to help resolve the issue. The pain, though, continued to worsen through his back and legs. Going into Thursday’s surgery, the thought was Davis had been dealing with a potential disc issue in his back.Davis had a .195/.286/.299 slash line with two doubles and two home runs in 22 games at Triple A before landing on the injured list. Heading into the season, he was a candidate to join the Cubs at some point this season. That is now on pause as he works back from the surgery.

Sports

Special Olympics drops COVID vaccine mandate after Florida threatens $27.5M fine

Florida threatened to fine Special Olympics International $27.5 million for requiring 5,500 participants at the USA Games in Orlando to be vaccinated against COVID, prompting the organization to drop the mandate.“There needs to be a choice in this regard,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an event in Orlando surrounded by a cheering crowd that included athletes for the games set to begin Sunday. “Let them compete. We want everyone to be able to compete.”AdvertisementNews of the dispute was first reported by Jay O’Brien of ABC News.In a letter sent to the Special Olympics International on Thursday, the state Department of Health said the organization’s requirement that athletes show proof of vaccination violated state law. It said there had been several attempts by health officials to avoid imposing fines and bring the event into compliance by not requiring proof of vaccination.AdvertisementSurgeon General Joseph Ladapo said he had been negotiating with the organization for the past six months to resolve the issue “not for our sake but for the sake of these athletes.”A statement from the Special Olympics said Friday it had lifted its vaccination rule.[ Special Olympics brings 5,500 athletes to Orlando ]“Delegates who were registered for the games but unable to participate due to the prior vaccine requirement, now have the option to attend,” the organization said in a released statement.“We don’t want to fight,” the statement said. “We want to play.”The conflict arose after DeSantis signed an executive order last April banning so-called “vaccine passports,” preventing businesses and state and local governments from requiring proof of vaccination. A month later, the Florida Legislature passed a bill, signed into law by DeSantis, imposing a $5,000 fine for each violation.A Sarasota business owner sued to have the law blocked, but Leon Circuit Judge Layne Smith rejected the argument that it violated the business owner’s First Amendment rights.Judi Hayes, an Orlando attorney whose 11-year-old son has Down’s syndrome and sued DeSantis after he banned schools from requiring masks, said she was disappointed that the Special Olympics caved to the governor. She said she would boycott the upcoming games.“We were planning on attending as spectators,” said Hayes, whose lawsuit against the governor was voluntarily dismissed. “If they won’t stand up for us, we won’t participate.”AdvertisementPeople with disabilities, especially those with intellectual disabilities, are more susceptible to getting COVID-19 and more vulnerable to poor outcomes, Hayes said.“The only reason we are alive to discuss this issue is because [the] vaccines work,” she said. “But he wants to curry favor with the anti-science troglodytes and bullies the Special Olympics. Who does that?”Rubbing salt into the wound, she said, the organization is rewarding him by allowing DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis to continue serving as honorary chairs of the 2022 Special Olympics games.But there are others in the disability community who are adamantly opposed to vaccines because of potential side effects.Elaine Valle, of Belle Isle, wants her 25-year-old daughter Isabella, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and uses a wheelchair, to participate in the games despite not being vaccinated.Valle said her daughter’s neurologist advised against her being vaccinated because she could get a fever that could cause other complications. She added that the entire family has previously gotten COVID and had antibodies.Advertisement“We just found out this morning that she will be participating,” Valle said at the DeSantis event. “Isabella has from the age of 7 competed in swimming, golfing … and cycling as part of Special Olympics Florida … And then they tell us you’ve got to have these vaccine mandates.”The vaccine protocols were put into effect in June 2020 and updated a year later, according to the Special Olympics website.Joe Dzaluk, president and CEO of the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, said the threatened fines have had no impact on the event itself.“The games will proceed as planned, and we are happy to welcome any and all athletes,” he said.Dzaluk, who had no part in the vaccine mandate or the decision to drop it, said only a small percentage of athletes dropped out of the games after having qualified.“The attrition level, compared to previous games, is actually down,” he said. “It’s been in the single digits.”

Sports

Q&A with incoming Valparaiso University athletic director Charles Small

Charles Small was introduced in May as the next athletic director at Valparaiso University and will begin July 1, succeeding Mark LaBarbera.A former basketball player at Pittsburgh, Small has been the senior associate athletic director for student services at Iowa State for the past four years and will be VU’s first Black athletic director.AdvertisementSmall spoke with the Post-Tribune on Wednesday regarding the challenges that await him in his new role.Q: Has anything stood out or surprised you in the days and weeks since you were hired?AdvertisementA: The greatest part is that there’s been a lot of confirmation that people are really passionate about Valpo being successful. When I did the introductory press conference and was going through the interview process, it just confirmed that people really care about this institution. The things that were said in those beginning stages are holding to be true, so that’s really exciting for me.Q: How did you get started on the path toward becoming an athletic director?A: I started off as a student-athlete at the University of Pittsburgh, and I was a walk-on. I got some offers from Division II schools, but I decided that I wanted some academic pursuits but to also have that Division I experience. When I did an internship in my senior year with the compliance office and also student life — where I was doing a lot of the community service for student-athletes — it opened up my eyes to working in sports.When I was a graduate assistant, that really opened my eyes for working in college athletics. It’s evolved over time, and my philosophy has been to do the best that I can in the space that I occupy, really trying to be a thought leader and a leader in general. Professionally, as my roles have expanded, the natural progression has been toward athletic director.Q: How did Valparaiso end up on your radar?A: They’re in the really good Missouri Valley Conference, and there’s a history there, particularly with basketball. I’m all about comprehensive excellence and all of the sports doing well. But for my skill set, it’s always been on my radar with the basketball history there. So a lot of it is aligning it with the skills and experiences that I bring.When you have a faith-based institution that’s really grounded in values of playing in a high-level conference in all sports, it checked a lot of the boxes.Valparaiso University President José Padilla, left, presents a jersey to incoming athletic director Charles Small on Thursday, May 19, 2022. (Jon Hendricks / Valparaiso University)Q: There’s been an ongoing discussion in the sports world about the lack of Black coaches and executives in college and pro sports. What does it mean to you to be the first Black athletic director at Valparaiso?AdvertisementA: It’s a big responsibility. I think it speaks volumes that our industries in pro and college sports are continuing to make movements in those spaces. It’s all about equity of opportunity, making sure that people have equitable opportunities for leadership-type positions. It’s a big responsibility that I take seriously, and I think it’s moving in the right direction.But I also think diversity, equity and inclusion encompasses more than just race. There are people from different backgrounds and different worldviews that expand beyond race.Q: With such an opportunity, how could you influence the athletic department?A: The way I’d influence it is having us embrace, as a department, cultural humility — the idea that we should all have the humility to have self-reflection and also embrace and celebrate people who come from different walks of life and how that makes us all better.Q: What’s the one thing you’re most excited to do?A: No. 1 is meet the student-athletes. I’m pumped about getting the opportunity to meet them. The timing of it, with this being in the summer, we may do some virtual things initially. But once the fall starts and everyone is there, meeting the faculty, the student-athletes and also understanding what our coaches are building — the cultures within their sports — those are the things that really excite me.AdvertisementPost TribuneTwice-weeklyNews updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and WednesdayAnd getting out into the community. I think that Valparaiso is an awesome community with our supporters and donors. Just meeting people is what excites me right now.Q: Speaking of the community, Valparaiso High School and other high schools in Northwest Indiana have been producing Division I student-athletes. But many of them go elsewhere. Is attracting more local student-athletes part of the plan?A: Yeah, I think we should put a strategy together to get the best talent that fits the institution, our mission and what we’re trying to build — us having that consistency and the clarity of knowing who we are and what we’re trying to build in finding and recruiting student-athletes who are going to thrive and flourish in that environment.If they’re at Valparaiso High School, that’s great. But also in the surrounding region, I think we’re in a really good spot with a lot of talent.Q: Does anything stand out as the biggest challenge or the biggest goal or the biggest project for you as the athletic director at Valparaiso?A: We’re going to engage in a process to define that as a department. I think that’s important for our department — to define it collaboratively. I don’t want to point out anything specific yet because I want us to get there together. But I will say that there are four pillars we’re going to focus on: the student-athlete experience, creating an enduring culture, earning trust and achieving eminence through a national brand. How we tailor that to really fit Valpo is something we’ll decide, but those four pillars will guide us.AdvertisementDave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.