NPR’s Scott Simon and sportswriter Howard Bryant preview the upcoming Wimbledon tennis championship and look at the recent spike in Achilles tendon injuries in the NBA.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now to the stirring tones of BJ Leiderman’s theme music. It’s time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: A cup of tea and fresh-cut grass. It’s time for Wimbledon. And Achilles tendon injuries in basketball seem to be on the rise. Sportcaster (ph) Howard Bryant joins us. Thanks for being with us, Howard.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: Fine, thank you.
BRYANT: Don’t forget the strawberries and cream with Wimbledon, too. I’m addicted.
SIMON: Oh, that’s right.
BRYANT: It’s a thing there.
SIMON: Yeah. You know that strawberries and cream very well, don’t you?
BRYANT: Oh, absolutely. Not this year, though. I’m home.
SIMON: All right. Well, let’s begin with the women’s tournament. Coco Gauff comes to Wimbledon after having just won her second Grand Slam championship at the French Open. She’s 21 years old and is the 2nd-ranked player in the world. Is she the favorite?
BRYANT: That’s a great question. You would think that she very well could be. This was when she made her – you know, she made her debut when she shocked Venus Williams, who had won that tournament five times. And she’s very comfortable on grass. You know, she’s coming off a major championship. She’s – she plays exactly the type of game, although the serve isn’t huge. But I think that when you watch her play, the level of confidence she has now having two majors – let’s not forget Aryna Sabalenka, whom she beat in Paris, who’s also looking for her first Wimbledon. You’re looking at Elena Rybakina, who’s also won this tournament. Let’s not forget the former No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who’s never gotten past the quarters here. A lot of good players. Women’s tennis is a little bit more unpredictable than the men, but you’ve got two players that I think people do want to see again. You want to see…
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: …The Sabalenka-Gauff rivalry. You want to see that grow a little bit because their styles are so different. One plays big offense. The other one plays great defense, has ridiculous speed. And so when those two play each other, it’s almost like boxing when they say styles make fights. Watching those two play together, really great contrast.
SIMON: On the men’s side, perhaps a clear favorite – 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz of Spain hopes to win his third-straight Wimbledon title. Of course, there is Novak Djokovic of Serbia, perhaps the greatest player of all time. He’s 38. What – is this his final chance at a Wimbledon title?
BRYANT: Thirty-eight-year-old legs. What would – who would you rather bet? Would you go for 21-year-old legs or 38-year-old legs? Novak Djokovic is the great – he’s the great Djokovic. He’s got 24 majors. He’s done everything you could possibly do on a tennis court, but this is usually when they retire. But Novak has said he wants to play until 2028. He wants to defend his gold medal from the Olympics. He wants that 25th major. He wants that eighth Wimbledon. But there are two great players standing in the way. One, of course, is the world No. 1, Jannik Sinner. And the other one, of course, is the two-time defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz. It’s a hard road. It’s a tough road. And he’s got a really, really difficult draw because if everything holds and we don’t get any upsets on this, he’s got to beat Sinner…
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: …And Alcaraz to win the championship. So it’s a tall order. It’s – if anyone can do it, Novak can. He’s so great at that tournament. But if we’re really being honest, this is one of the reasons why these guys don’t play as they’re pushing 40. Tough ask.
SIMON: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league is going to study what seems to be a recent spike in Achilles tendon injuries. When Oklahoma City won their first NBA championship, but the best player on the Pacers – Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon during the game. Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics suffered the same kind of injury during the playoffs. What’s going on?
BRYANT: And let’s not forget Damian Lillard with the Bucks before that. And so – and also, let’s just add baseball to it, as well. Thursday night, Griffin Canning, the pitcher for the Mets, he throws a fastball and then suddenly limps off the mound. And he’s out for next season, and maybe, you know, into 2027, as well. He tore his Achilles. A lot of the questions here have been, is it all bigger, faster, stronger coming down on the human body? Is it too much? As you know, we’ve got more and more and more basketball, more – longer seasons. And the muscles get bigger, but the tendons don’t. And so there’s a lot of questions going on across sports that maybe it’s just all too much in the body. The body is waving the white flag, and then there are other folks, of course, who will say, well, these are just sort of -just a freak spate of injuries. But if there’s one thing we know, they call it an Achilles for a reason. This is not the injury you want. Really, really devastating, especially with these young players under 30.
SIMON: Howard Bryant, thanks so much for being with us. Talk to you soon, my friend.
BRYANT: No, my pleasure, Scott.
(SOUNDBITE OF KEV BROWN’S “ALBANY”)
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