Daily Bagel: Titanium

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OH IT'S BUSINESS TIME NOW, BOYS AND GIRLS.

The US Open Semifinals are set, and boy oh boy are we in for a stressful homestretch:

Women's Semifinals: Thursday (7pm ET)

[1] Aryna Sabalenka vs. [4] Jessica Pegula (7-2)
[23] Naomi Osaka vs. [8] Amanda Anisimova (0-2)

Men's Semifinals: Friday

3pm: [7] Novak Djokovic vs. [2] Carlos Alcaraz (5-3)
7pm: [1] Jannik Sinner vs. [25] Felix Auger-Aliassime (1-2)

Some quick thoughts:

• Take a bow, Naomi and Amanda. These two women, who were written off at various – too many? – times, have marched through the draw by resetting the narratives time and time again. Amanda went first on Wednesday, erasing the punchline Wimbledon whitewashing to play an outstanding level and bounce No.2 Iga Swiatek in straight sets. Then came a bedazzled and swagtastic performance from Naomi, who came out firing and then held her nerve down the stretch to overwhelm Karolina Muchova and end the Czech's bid for a third straight US Open semifinal.
• Naomi has turned back the clock in New York – her ball-striking, her calm, her patience have been remarkable – and maybe it's no coincidence then that her draw has been a march down memory lane. The third round vs. Dasha? A rematch of the 2018 Indian Wells final, where Naomi picked up her first WTA title. The fourth round vs. Coco? I mean....you can pick from a buffet of memories there, whether it was their iconic first meeting in 2019 or just two years ago, when Naomi watched Coco from the stands during her title run. Wednesday's quarterfinal? You might have forgotten that Muchova knocked her out in the first round last year, but Naomi certainly didn't:

• And now it's a semifinal against Amanda, against whom she is 0-2 and memorably dueled at the 2022 Australian Open, where Amanda saved two match points to win by a third-set tiebreaker. It was an absurd display of ball-striking from both:

• If the trend holds, it would be no surprise to see Naomi take on Aryna in the final. The two have – shockingly – only played once, but the match was a pivotal one for both players. It came right here in New York in 2018. Aryna was on an eight-match win streak after winning New Haven. Neither player had yet to make it past the Round of 16 at a major. Naomi dug in to post a gritty 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win. A few days later, she won her first Grand Slam title.

• Am I whistling the X-Files theme song? Well first of all, when am I not? But second of all, yes. Third of all, if I end up being right, just know that not a day will go by that I will not proclaim my superiority from the rooftops.

• As for the boys: (1) Incredible tournament, Felix! (2) Wow Novak, you're old and still super better than all but two dudes! (3) See you all on Sunday for Jannik vs. Carlos!

Alright, back to bageling:

• Amanda Anisimova called Wednesday's redemptive win "the most meaningful victory I've had in my life." (Yahoo Sports)

The truth is, if you could simply erase what happened at Wimbledon from everyone’s memory, Wednesday’s result wouldn’t be so surprising.

After taking a mental health break from tennis in 2023 — a buildup of burnout and the emotional toll of her father’s sudden death before the U.S. Open five years ago — Anisimova has slowly worked her way back to being one of the best players in the world.

On fast hard courts especially, it’s her backhand — a flat slingshot that makes the sweetest thumping sound when it comes off her racket — that makes her a threat to beat anyone.

Swiatek knew that, too. But unlike that day at Wimbledon where nothing felt right and Swiatek merely needed to keep the ball in the court, she expected a challenge this time.

“I think everybody knows how Amanda can play,” Swiatek said. “Yeah, she didn’t play well in Wimbledon but it’s not like she’s always going to do the same mistakes or feel the same.

“It was totally different, but it’s not a surprise. I practice with her. I know how she can play. She moved better, she played better. Everything was different.”

• Clear the decks, sit down, and take in the entirety of Amanda's post-win press conference:

• Nothing but love for a player who shouts out the WTA Physios, some of the hardest working people in the sport. Hope the foot issue isn't serious! (Iga Swiatek on Instagram)
• Iga's volleys really have improved. (AP via Yahoo)
• From Discord Carrie and Discord Megan, same vibes:

• Is Naomi back? Sure does seem so! (Yahoo)

“After Wimbledon but specifically after DC, I called a roundtable of my team and I was just very confused how confident I was in myself,” she said. “Because even though I lost, I remember telling them I think I can beat anyone from the baseline still and we just have to figure out if I have to change my gameplan or do something new and different, and obviously Tomasz came in the picture and we’ve been on a roll since then."

Can such a stark difference from just six weeks ago merely be attributed to a coaching change? Or was a true breakout only a matter of time for someone so gifted at hitting a tennis ball?

We may never know. She may never know.

• Whether it's the masks or the Labubus, can't help but think of one of the best WTA campaigns of all time:

• A fairly predictable coaching split: Elena Rybakina will stick with Stefano Vukov after firing Davide Sanguinetti. No surprise there, as it was pretty clear the Italian, who is good friends with Vukov, was a placeholder until the suspension was over. (Spaziotennis)
• An interview with Gilles Cervara after the mutual decision to split with Daniil Medvedev. What a ride they rode. (Tennis Majors)

I firmly believe he still has it in him—that he can soon be brilliant and victorious. That spark was there at times this year. But he couldn’t close some matches—for various reasons, including possibly lacking mental prep resources, which he will now rebuild with Francisca Dauzet. That’s almost certain to put things back in order. Many athletes, many tennis players, go through troughs and bounce back. I am sure he is capable—and it will happen. If he wins a few matches, he can catch fire again, like he did after Rotterdam 2023—arriving full of doubt, then delivering a top-level season. In New York, I told the staff: “If he flips that match against Bonzi, we’ll see him in the Round of 16 against Alcaraz, for sure.” It’s easy to say now, but that’s exactly what I felt.

• WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE FAN BEHAVIOR IN NEW YORK. (AP via Yahoo)
• Pretty cool story in Men's Doubles: 2024 NCAA champions Robert Cash and JJ Tracy are into the US Open semifinals. (The Columbus Dispatch via Yahoo)
• Yeah, that's a tough L for Demon. (ATP)
• The man, the myth, the legend Cliff Drysdale will retire from the booth after the women's semifinals. He's the longest-tenured commentator at ESPN in the network's history. They had a really nice send-off for him today:

• Another nice sit down between Ayan Broomfield and Asia Muhammad for Tennis Channel:

• US Open celebrity roundup courtesy of The Fug Girls. (Go Fug Yourself)
• Jess Pegula's press conferences are truly my platonic ideal of what a tennis press conference should be:

• As Dan Wolken writes, Pegula posits a puzzle that every tennis fan has to solve for themselves: How do you reconcile her undeniable work ethic with her – also undeniable – privilege? (Yahoo)

By 2021, she was seeded at the Grand Slams and starting to pop up in the second week. But even last year, when her U.S. Open run exposed her to a whole new set of fans, it was hard to separate the idea of a player who had to work extremely hard just to get to this level from the connotation of being a billionaire’s daughter.

After a Wimbledon quarterfinal loss in 2023, the British tabloids were particularly unkind. The next day, the Times of London ran a headline that read: “Six quarterfinals, six defeats: Jessica Pegula needs dynamic that family billions can’t buy.”

Pegula addressed some of those misconceptions at last year’s U.S. Open.

“People think I have a butler, that I get chauffeured around, that I have a private limo, that I fly private everywhere,” she said. “Yeah, I’m definitely not like that. I mean, people can think what they want. I just think it’s kind of funny. A butler? I read these comments and I’m like, no, not at all. Maybe I should, I don’t know at this point. Is that what you want me to do? It’s a little annoying, but I think it’s kind of funny because I don’t know anyone that lives like that. It’s outrageous.”

If you can mentally separate the player from the level of privilege she comes from, it’s difficult to root against Pegula because she is probably getting as much out of her talent as any player in the top 10. And she grinds over the details — maybe too hard, at times.

• You know what would be really cool? If the WTA Finals Elite Eight was this: Aryna, Iga, Coco, Jess, Madison, Amanda, Mirra/Elena/Jasmine, and Naomi (a reminder that the WTA now has the Grand Slam champion wild card, sooooo). The group stages would be unreal.
• I laughed very much at whatever this was:

• I'll be streaming on Twitch during the entirety of the women's singles semifinals on Thursday. Follow me at pandaxprs12 to get an alert when I go live!
• Join our growing Discord to chat with me and other fans during the tournament, suggest links for the Bagel Bites, and just have a general fun time.