Mike and Bob Bryan Retire; 52 Americans Set to Begin US Open Monday; French Junior Championships On; SEC Sets Rules for Fall Tennis

A lot has happened since last night's post, with Naomi Osaka deciding not to play her Western & Southern Open semifinal match in solidarity with the professional sports teams, beginning with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, who declined to play their games in order to call attention to continuing police brutality and injustice. Shortly after Osaka announced that decision, the ATP, WTA and USTA released a statement pausing play on Thursday.

As a sport, tennis is collectively taking a stance against racial inequality and social injustice that once again has been thrust to the forefront in the United States. The USTA, ATP Tour, and WTA have decided to recognize this moment in time by pausing tournament play at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday, August 27. Play will resume on Friday, August 28.

After that action Osaka reconsidered, and is scheduled to play Elise Mertens in the semifinals on Friday. Milos Raonic of Canada, who closed out play on Wednesday night, also spoke about social justice after hearing of Osaka's decision during his post match press conference.

The order of play for Friday is here.

Around the same time all that was happening, Christopher Clarey published his exclusive article for the New York Times with the news that Mike and Bob Bryan were not going to return to tennis, with their planned retirement effective immediately. 

There are no superlatives that can adequately convey just how important the Bryan twins have been to the sport, not just for their astounding longevity and records, including 16 grand slam men's doubles titles, but also for their ability to connect with fans and bring attention to doubles. One of the top attractions every year at the US Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Cincinnati, World Team Tennis, or any other ATP event they played, they will be sorely missed by fans, media and fellow players. They are now eligible for immediate induction to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

I first saw them back in the mid-90s, when they won back-to-back 18s doubles titles here in Kalamazoo. They went on to win the 1998 NCAA doubles title at Stanford, with Bob winning the singles and the Cardinal taking the team title, before turning pro. Below is a photo of the Bryans at the 1998 NCAAs in Athens Georgia, courtesy of Bill Kallenberg. For a comprehensive look back at their professional career, see this article from the ATP website.

The US Open draw was released, without fanfare, today and 31 US women and 21 US men are in the singles draws. Below are the matchups for all US players; I'll provide a similar list by day once the schedule is released.

Cici Bellis[WC] v Tamara Korpatsch(GER)

Jennifer Brady[28] v Anna Blinkova(RUS)

Caroline Dolehide v Anna-Lena Friedsam(GER)

Ann Li v Arantxa Rus(NED)

Alison Riske[13] v Tatjana Maria(GER)

Francesca Di Lorenzo v Aliaksandra Sasnovich(BLR)

Robin Montgomery[WC] v Yulia Putintseva[23](KAZ)

Hailey Baptiste[WC] v Kristina Mladenovic[30](FRA)

Allie Kiick[WC] v Kateryna Bondarenko(UKR)

Coco Gauff v Anastasija Sevastova[31](LAT)

Usue Arconada v Kaja Juvan(SLO)

Danielle Collins v Anett Kontaveit[14](EST)

Shelby Rogers v Irina Khromacheva(RUS)

Madison Brengle v Lesia Tsurenko(UKR)

Jessica Pegula v Marie Bouzkova(CZE)

Whitney Osuigwe v Kateryna Kozlova(UKR)

Bottom Half

Madison Keys[7] v Timea Babos(HUN)

Lauren Davis v Alize Cornet

Bernarda Pera v Zarina Diyas(KAZ)

Katrina Scott[WC] v Natalia Vikhlyantseva(RUS)

Amanda Anisimova[22] v Viktoriya Tomova(BUL)

Sloane Stephens[26] v Mihaela Buzarnescu(ROU)

Kristie Ahn v Serena Williams[3]

Sachia Vickery[WC] v Taylor Townsend

Venus Williams v Karolina Muchova[20](CZE)

Christina McHale v Sorana Cirstea(ROU)

Claire Liu[WC] v Sara Sorribes Tormo(ESP)

Caty McNally v Viktoria Kuzmova(SVK)

Sofia Kenin[2] v Yanina Wickmayer(BEL)

Michael Mmoh[WC] v Joao Sousa(POR)

Mitchell Krueger[WC] v Pedro Sousa(POR)

Steve Johnson v John Isner[16]

Sebastian Korda[WC] v Denis Shapovalov[12](CAN)

Thai Kwiatkowski[WC] v Soonwoo Kwon(KOR)

Taylor Fritz[19] v Dominik Kopfer

Marcos Giron v Marc Polmans(AUS)

Reilly Opelka v David Goffin[7](BEL)

Maxime Cressy[WC] v Jozef Kovalik(SVK)

Ulises Blanch[WC] v Cristian Garin[13](CHI)

Jack Sock v Pablo Cuevas(URU)

Brandon Nakashima[WC] v Paolo Lorenzi(ITA)

Bottom Half

Mackenzie McDonald v Casper Ruud[30](NOR)

Tommy Paul v Grigor Dimitrov[14](BUL)

Frances Tiafoe v Andreas Seppi(ITA)

JJ Wolf[WC] v Guido Pella[29](ARG)

Tennys Sandgren v Roberto Bautista Agut[8](ESP)

Sam Querrey v Andrey Kuznetsov(RUS)

Denis Kudla v Marin Cilic[31](CRO)

Bradley Klahn v Sumit Nagal(IND)

The men's draw is here; the women's draw is here.

ITF junior players received an email today that entries are now open for the French Open Junior Championships, which are scheduled for October 4-10 2020 in Paris. The tournament is now finally showing on the ITF junior calendar, with the entry deadline September 8th. There will be no qualifying according to that email, and a complete fact sheet is scheduled for next week. Whether US juniors will be able to travel to France for the event is still unknown. 

The Southeastern Conference issued its rules for fall sports today, including tennis. 

For the 2020 fall segment of the men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis seasons, SEC teams may compete in up to three team events beginning no earlier than October 1. SEC golf and tennis teams will be limited to events involving only SEC members or non-conference teams from the geographic region of the SEC school.

The ITA has not yet announced the status of the National Fall Championships, and these rules may not prohibit individuals from competing in tournaments, but with travel being discouraged, it seems increasingly unlikely that the event will take place.