Aces MVP A’ja Wilson has emotional moment with teammates Chelsea Gray (left) and Alaina Coates following their victory in Game 4
Every time Pretty and I walk past the A’ja Wilson statue in front of Colonial Life Arena where the University of South Carolina Gamecock women play basketball in Columbia, we see people posing for pictures at this remarkable tribute for the Hopkins, SC native. Wilson is much beloved by Gamecock fans who regard her as one of the greats in our program’s history. No one seemed happier than Gamecock Coach Dawn Staley Wednesday night as she sat on the floor of the Barclay Center in New York with the Aces to watch her former player Wilson take the team on her back in the third quarter to lead Las Vegas to their win over the New York Liberty for a decisive Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Championship series. The Aces also won the 2022 WNBA Championship which made them the first team with back-to-back championships in the league since the 2001-2002 Los Angeles Sparks.
Huge congratulations to the Las Vegas Aces for their historic second WNBA Championship in two years, to MVP A’ja Wilson, and to Coach Staley for having two former Gamecock players (Coates played with Wilson on the 2017 NCAA championship team) on the Aces roster!
Coco Gauff is now the youngest American to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999 and the fourth teenage American in the Open era to win the home Slam. And she did so on the anniversary of both Arthur Ashe’s breakthrough US Open victory in 1968 and Venus Williams‘ maiden title at the event in 2000. (D’Arcy Maine, ESPN.com)
Gauff won her final on the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the same court where she watched Venus and Serena Williams play ten years earlier in 2013 at the age of nine when her father took her to see her first US Open tennis tournament. The Williams sisters inspired a new generation of American tennis players for more than two decades – their legacy will be as powerful as their play was on the Ashe Stadium Court.
Serena won her fifth US Open women’s singles championship in 2013
Pretty and I watched Coco overcome losing the first set of the championship match to Aryna Sabalenka who will be the number 1 player in the world tomorrow when the rankings come out by winning the next two sets with power, placement, and perseverance. When I finally could breathe, I told Pretty I was thankful to have lived long enough to witness a new generation of American tennis players who have the potential to fulfill the legacy the Williams sisters created.
Coco wins her first US Open title in 2023
When Gauff was handed her $3 million check during the presentation, she turned to find tennis legend and social justice activist King standing a few feet away from her on the podium and said thank you Billie, for fighting for this.
Congratulations to Coco Gauff not only for her incredible victory on the courts but also for her remarkable understanding of what this victory will mean off the courts as well. I believe the Summer of Coco Express in 2023 is unlimited.
“You’ll have to keep the room as dark as possible. Put sheets over these windows to keep the light out,” Dr. Sanders instructed Mama. “She should eat soups, broths, jellies and Jell-o. That’s all. She can’t strain her eyes, so no books to look at, and no excitement of any kind. I’ll come back again in a few days to see how she’s getting along. It’s just a bad case of the measles, so don’t worry. They’re going around this winter, and she was bound to catch them.”
“How long will she be sick?” Mama asked.
“Depends on how bad a case she has. Sometimes they miss two weeks of school. We’ll have to see. Sheila Rae’s only seven, and the young ones seem to get better quicker. The penicillin shot should help.”
With that bit of cheeriness old Dr. Sanders got heavily to his feet and picked up his black bag. He was a large man with a balding head of white hair that was typically covered by a small brown weather-beaten hat. He peered over rimless glasses that teetered precariously on a nose that appeared lost between his rotund cheeks. He reminded me of Santa Claus in a frayed black suit instead of a shiny red one.
That’s why I always liked him right up until he gave me the penicillin shot, which appeared to be his cure for everything including measles. He was cheery, but not above inflicting pain on defenseless children. And in their own house, too. Not fair.
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My mother always followed the doctor’s orders which included his dietary recommendations for every illness as faithfully as the shot of penicillin he carried in his black bag. This past week I developed a bad case of the epizooti which is my medical term for illnesses I “catch” from Pretty’s allergies. I remembered the dietary advice Dr. Sanders gave when I was sick with any childhood malady so I thought I would follow it seven decades later. Forgive me for skipping the soups, broths and Jell-o recommendations to go straight for the jellies. The Shipt shopper must have wondered why I needed three kinds of preserves: grape, strawberry and apricot. Yummy. The apricot on two pieces of toast for breakfast this morning made me feel better already.
As for the doctor’s “no excitement of any kind” advice, too little too late. The US Open men’s semi-finals in singles were this weekend, and the women’s final is this afternoon. Coco Gauff is my pick to win it all, but Aryna Sabalenka is a tall order for the nineteen year old Gauff who is the first American teenager to be in a final at the US Open since, wait for it, Serena Williams in 2001. Go, Coco!
Whether the surface is a hard one or made of red clay or manicured green grass, the goal is the same: to win, to beat someone. To play better, smarter and mentally tougher than the opponent. To be more physical and aggressive. To charge the net when an opening appears. To cover the baseline when the shots go deep against you. The court is a battlefield and the scales of justice are often tipped by net cords and fractions of inches along white lines. The game is tennis, but the game of life is similar.
How often must we summon courage to charge the net when an opening appears – when the scales of justice have tipped too far in the direction of injustice, when we stand behind the baseline for protection from the deep shots fired against us by people whose purpose is to disrupt our rhythm, to create confusion in our understanding of what matters most. Yes, the game is life, but the game of tennis is similar.
For men who play singles, the winner is usually required to win two of three sets. In Grand Slam events, however, the rules change to three of five sets to determine the champion. If each man wins two sets, a fifth set is played. The fifth set is often the scene of one man’s surrender and loss to another man’s courage and inner strength. The first four sets are evenly played, but the last one is too much for the body or mind or will or all of the above for one of the guys and the desire to win or to not lose drives his opponent to victory. When the game is life, time controls how many sets we play. For some, the opportunities to play five sets never happen because winners and losers are determined at the end of three or four sets or earlier when players are forced to retire because of illness or injury.
I love fifth sets in tennis. I particularly like them when they are close and long, and I’m not even paying for my seat in front of the television set. Nope, I’m watching for free, but I have the deluxe box seats and have seen my share of Grand Slams in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York City. From my ABCs of Agassi to Becker to Connors to later Golden Era Greats Federer and Nadal I admire the passion and persistence of the five-set winners. There is a moment of high drama called match point when the difference between winning and losing in the fifth set can be measured in split-second choices and breaks in concentration. Match points can be saved and the game can go on for hours, but in the end, a match point is lost and the winner takes center court with a victorious smile and wave to the crowd.
Whenever I watch a five-set tennis match, I am reminded that match points in tennis have an advantage over those we have in real life. Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev understood the importance of the fifth set and its match point last night at the US Open in New York City. Their embrace at the net following the match showed their separate reactions to winning and losing match point, but we as individuals may never know when we miss the chance to win – or lose what we value most. Moving through the game of life we often struggle to identify those inflection points that will profoundly define our fifth set’s legacy, but maybe, just maybe, we will recognize one more opportunity to charge the net with courage, to leave the safety of the baseline to protect what we must not lose.
“The celebration of a major milestone merits its own memorable imagery, and the 2023 US Open will feature both, thanks to the strikingdesign of this year’s theme art.Designed by Camila Pinheiro, a 40-year-old illustrator and mother of two from São Paulo, Brazil, this year’s theme art is an eye-catching portrait ofa 1973-era Billie Jean King in front of a bright and bold New York skyline, which will be featured in a variety of colorways. Pinheiro is the first woman to design the US Open’s theme art in a decade, and she says that the final product encapsulates both the perennial spirit of the US Open, and all that’s historic about this year’s edition, which will celebrate 50 years since King and her peers first earned the same prize money as their male counterparts at the event.”
Victoria Chiesa – US Open Insider Newsletter, March, 2023
On Monday, August 28, 2023 the opening night session of the US Open Tennis Tournament in New York City began with high drama on Arthur Ashe Stadium of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as the #6 seed nineteen-year-old American player Coco Gauff faced qualifier thirty-five-year-old German player Laura Siegemund in a battle that lasted almost three hours. Holy moly. These women came to play not only with their blazing rackets but also with their feisty words to the chair umpire about Siegemund’s delay-of-game tactics which continued to get on the last nerve of Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert who encouraged Coco to badger the umpire to call time violations whenever her opponent served. Luckily, Gauff prevailed in a seesaw third set, but the traditional handshake at the end of the match was as frosty as a Wendy’s chocolate frozen drink. Note to Coach Gilbert: try not to be a distraction to Team Coco as she moves on to round 2.
A shocking upset during the day session of day one on the women’s side was the loss by #8 seed Maria Sakkari in straight sets to world #71 player Rebeka Masarova from Spain, a loss Sakkari seemed to blame in part for the odor of weed on Court 17. Wow. Come on, tennis fans. Try gummies – no odor – same high.
Day One on the men’s side saw #4 seed Holger Rune sent home in the first round with another upset loss to unseeded Spanish player Roberto Carballes Baena on Court 5. No one mentioned weed odor, but Rune’s defeat did smell a little. He was allegedly upset by his assignment to an outer court instead of one of the stadium courts since he was a #4 seed in the tournament. Come on, Holger. Your 20-year-old immaturity is showing; focus on your game…wherever and whenever you play, or we will send Brad Gilbert to sit in your player’s box.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama received the most electrifying ovation of Monday night on Ashe Stadium as she led the celebration honoring tennis icon Billie Jean King who was the ultimate pioneer for equal prize money 50 years ago. Come on, Michelle – please run for President.
American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles led the crowd in a “Brave” musical tribute to BJK.
Innocence, your history of silence Won’t do you any good Did you think it would? Let your words be anything but empty Why don’t you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be brave
Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be Brave
Billie Jean King, the tennis world salutes you for being brave in 1973, and the rest of the world salutes you for your ongoing advocacy of women’s rights for the past 50 years. Come on, Billie Jean, keep speaking truth to power. You have taught us the powerful lesson that pressure is a privilege both on and off the courts.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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