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