欢迎来到周一网球概览，我们将深入探讨过去一周发生在球场上的故事背后的故事。本周赛事从东京与北京开始，并转向上海和武汉继续进行。两位寻求状态回升的顶尖球员将在赛场上对决，比赛时间越来越长，而……（此处省略“诺瓦克·德约科维奇是‘冰霜恶霸’”这一部分），如果你希望跟随我们精彩纷呈的网球报道，请确保关注我们的平台。
我们还探讨了“六王之战”赛事从沙特阿拉伯利雅得(Riyadh)举行的网球表演赛，以及它与长期的人权争议之间错综复杂的联系。在本周的“六王大战”预告片中，拉斐尔·纳达尔和诺瓦克·德约科维奇作为头号种子参赛，选手名单包括贾尼斯基奇(Jannik Sinner)、卡洛斯·阿尔卡拉斯(Carlos Alcaraz)，以及巨额出场费为每人超过150万美元，而Holger Rune的参与让赛事变得更加吸引人。然而，预告片以一种前所未见的方式诠释了这些球员的关系和比赛氛围。
当提到2023年WTA巡回赛对网球运动的全球化需求时，《Tennis》杂志的报道指出，“持续的酷刑与和平抗议政府者的监禁”在沙特阿拉伯仍然存在。正如美国网球协会主席史蒂夫·西蒙（Steve Simon）所说，WTA“显然理解和尊重沙特这一引发强烈关注的问题”，而前球员如克里斯·埃弗特（Chris Evert）和玛利亚·纳瓦利诺娃（Martina Navratilova）对与拥有女性权利压制、同性恋犯罪化以及2018年杀害贾马尔·卡舒吉（Jamal Khashoggi）的国家合作表示了公开批评。
在大满贯时代尾声之际，网球界需要重新评估其吸引明星球员和维持国际地位的方式。尽管男子网坛正处于寻找下一位能够像“六王大战”预告片中那样成功地吸引全球关注的星等人物和树立威望的机会，同时还要警惕体育营销对改善人权形象的影响。
在女子网球方面，日本前世界第四、最近因伤病陷入困境的小威廉姆斯（Kei Nishikori）在东京的赛事上展现了强大的竞技状态。比赛现场座无虚席，在输给霍尔格·鲁内（Holger Rune）之前他几乎挺进了四分之一决赛。与此同时，澳网女单决赛选手和中国公开赛上的夺冠热门选手郑钦文享受着“中国赛”赛事带来的主场优势。在赢得首轮对阵卡米拉·拉赫莫娃的比赛中后，她表示中心球场的观众人数超出想象，并称其为“疯狂”。
在亚洲网球的版图中，英国新星雅各布·芬内利（Jacob Fearnley）今年夏天的表现令人瞩目，他赢得了自己职业生涯中的第四次挑战者赛冠军，并且首次进入世界前100名。这让他确保了2024年澳网自动入围资格。
让我们继续追踪本周即将举行的赛事：在东亚地区，中国公开赛（500级比赛）和上海大师赛（1000级别）将吸引包括贾尼斯基奇、卡洛斯·阿尔卡拉斯、丹尼尔·梅德韦杰夫、安德烈·鲁布廖夫等顶级球员的参与。
同时，来自英国、最近与教练团队变动的选手们也将在中国公开赛上一决高下。他们需要在这场16强淘汰赛中证明自己，并为剩余赛事建立信心。
在竞技网球界，雅各布·芬内利的成功之路提醒我们，这位刚刚从大学网球转战职业赛场的年轻人以惊人的速度攀升，并有望在未来赢得更多胜利。他的经历与六年前同样从得克萨斯基督教大学毕业、并以类似速度崛起的前英国选手卡梅隆·诺维奇（Cameron Norrie）相似。
最后，本周精彩回顾中的亮点无疑是Karolina Muchova在面对压力时展现出令人惊叹的击球能力。
请留下你的发现和评论，期待我们共同探索男子与女子网球世界的更多精彩瞬间。
新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：Tennis Briefing: Six Kings Slam trailer, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff meet in Beijing
新闻日期：2024-09-30
原文摘要：
Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, the season moved on to Tokyo and Beijing before arriving in Shanghai and Wuhan. Two stars seeking their best form will meet, matches just keep getting longer, and… Novak Djokovic is an ice villain? If you’d like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, . What can tennis learn from the ‘Six Kings Slam’ trailer? There are lots of nonsensical things about the “Six Kings Slam,” a tennis exhibition event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s taking place directly after a two-week Masters 1000; Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the top seeds in an event featuring Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz; the appearance fees are over $1.5million (£1.1m) for three days of tennis; Holger Rune is there. The trailer, though? It rips. Alcaraz looks like a tennis player straight out of “Dune”; Rune is the insurgent Viking; and Daniil Medvedev is riding a bear. Djokovic is awoken from an icy slumber like something out of Game of Thrones. It’s longer and has more gravitas than most movie trailers and is doing exactly what Saudi Arabia wants its buffet of global tennis stars to do: overshadow long-held concerns about its human rights record as it continues to expand its place in the corridors of power. Advertisement Upon the spring announcement of the from this year, said that “torture and imprisonment of peaceful critics of the government continues… Courts impose decades-long imprisonment on Saudi women for tweets.” The WTA chairman, Steve Simon, told The Athletic that the WTA “certainly understands and respects that Saudi is something that provokes some very strong views,” while former players, including Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, publicly criticized “partnering a country with a history of repressive laws against women, that criminalizes homosexuality and free speech, and that in 2018 murdered Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident journalist who had travelled to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to get documents he needed for a marriage license,” as The Athletic ’s Matt Futterman wrote in April. Men’s tennis and the ATP Tour still might do well to look at this trailer, if not the event as a whole, from another perspective. In the twilight of the Big Three era, men’s tennis needs to consider its next sources of the stardom and gravitas this trailer achieves, just as much as it needs to consider its place in sportswashing. The rivalry between Sinner — who is now playing under the possibility of a future two-year ban — and Alcaraz is key, but two players cannot sustain the place of men’s tennis in culture alone. This kind of cinematic visualization of rivalries, demonstration of a bigger prize, and fantastical representation of the heights these players can reach is exactly how to appeal to a wider audience and exactly why the Six Kings has gone down this route. James Hansen Will WTA matches just keep getting longer? Two weeks ago, Laura Siegemund beat Wang Xiyu in four hours and nine minutes at the Thailand Open. It was the longest tour-level WTA match since 2011. That was then topped on Thursday in Beijing when Sara Sorribes Tormo, known for her epic matches, defeated Gao Xinyu in four hours and 15 minutes. Having had no WTA matches last longer than four hours in 13 years, here came two inside a fortnight. The reality is that tennis matches are getting longer and longer. On the men’s side, The Athletic revealed last year that , and even in women’s three-set matches there have been noticeable increases. When women’s matches are going four hours and sets are routinely taking longer than an hour, it’s rare to be left wanting more tennis after a match finishes and sometimes, it can even be a case of feeling like less would have done. The recent U.S. Open final between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula was a good example of this. It was only two sets, but did anyone feel shortchanged after just under two hours of compelling tennis? Advertisement As equipment, technology and athleticism continue to improve across all levels of the ATP and WTA Tour, these long matches are only going to become more commonplace. Charlie Eccleshare How does shifting stardom remind tennis of the need for global appeal? The switch to east Asia for this part of the tennis calendar serves as a reminder of the sport’s global appeal and the range of its superstars. , the Japanese former world No. 4 who has had such a rough time with injury of late, had a thrilling run in Tokyo last week. His matches and practice sessions were packed out and he was within a point of reaching the semifinals before agonisingly losing to Holger Rune. Even after his fall down the rankings, Nishikori absolutely remains one of his country’s biggest stars. On the women’s side, Australian Open finalist and is enjoying her homecoming at the China Open, and after a first-round win against Kamilla Rakhimova on Saturday, she said that the atmosphere on court was “insane.” She added: “I never thought it would be so full in the centre court. I know they put on my favourite music. They just did everything for me.” Zheng Qinwen signing the tennis memento of choice, the jumbo tennis ball, in Beijing (Jade Gao / AFP via Getty Images) The prominence of the home players in Beijing has meant it’s been customary over the last few days for stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Naomi Osaka to be scheduled away from the biggest court. For a men’s 500 event (the third biggest type of tournament, below the Grand Slams and Masters 1000s), this is a testament to the sport’s depth and geographical spread. Charlie Eccleshare A low-key important fourth round in Beijing? Tuesday will bring together two Grand Slam champions who have recently shaken up their coaching setups as they search for their best form. It’s only a last-16 match between and , but tomorrow’s China Open meeting has the feel of something quite significant. Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka embrace after their match in summer 2022 (Carmen Mandato / Getty Images) Both players really need to find a spark after difficult summers that failed to live up to their own and others’ expectations. Gauff parted ways with coach Brad Gilbert in order to freshen things up, while Osaka has replaced Wim Fissette with Patrick Mouratoglou. Whoever wins will feel confident in the quarterfinals against either Yuliia Starodubtseva or Anna Kalinskaya and a whole lot better about their prospects for the rest of the year. It is their first meeting since summer 2022 when Gauff triumphed 6-4, 6-4 in San Jose, California. Charlie Eccleshare The rapid rise of Jacob Fearnley What a summer it’s been for Britain’s Jacob Fearnley. After graduating from Texas Christian University a few months ago, Fearnley, 23, won his fourth Challenger title of the year (and second in a row) in Orleans, France, this weekend. Fearnley becomes a top-100 player for the first time and if he can maintain his form, he will ensure himself automatic entry for the Australian Open in January. On his Grand Slam debut in July, Fearnley reached the Wimbledon second round where he took a set off seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. The way Fearnley has hit the ground running after swapping college tennis for the pro circuit recalls a similarly swift start from his compatriot and fellow Texas Christian alumnus Cameron Norrie at the same age six years ago. Charlie Eccleshare Shot of the week Trying to break Karolina Muchova is pretty difficult when she can do something like this under pressure. Recommended reading: 📈📉 On the rise / Down the line 📈 Jacob Fearnley moves up 28 places from No. 126 to No. 98 after his latest ATP Challenger win. It is his highest career ranking to date. 📈 Naomi Osaka ascends at least 15 spots from No. 73 to No. 58 after her run in Beijing. 📈 Bu Yunchaokete rises to a career-high of No. 83 from No. 96 and like Osaka could move higher through the week. Advertisement 📉 Iga Swiatek remains world No. 1 but drops 1,100 points after withdrawing from Beijing. Aryna Sabalenka can narrow the gap to just 284 points if she wins the event. 📉 Adrian Mannarino drops nine places from No. 43 to No. 52 after dropping 200 points from last year’s win in Astana, Kazakhstan. 📉 Ons Jabeur falls seven spots from No. 21 to No. 28 as her long-term shoulder injury continues to hurt her ranking. 📅 Coming up 🎾 ATP 📍Beijing: China Open (500) featuring Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev. 📍Shanghai: Shanghai Masters (1000) featuring Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV 🎾 WTA 📍Beijing: China Open (1000) featuring Aryna Sabalenka, Zheng Qinwen, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men’s and women’s tours continue. (Top photo: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
