“Yes,” I say, nodding. “Absolutely.”
“I’ve increased the fastest serve recorded in tennis. Tennis is a quicker game now, since I served at 132 miles per hour. Now almost every player on the WTA is serving faster than we all were even ten years ago. My forehand averages 81 miles per hour. You can’t come close to me on that either. So pay me a little respect, Soto. I’ve won the US Open more than any woman in tennis history, including you. My forehand and backhand groundstrokes have more spin than any other female player ever—last year I topped two thousand revolutions per minute. I am currently the highest-paid female athlete in the world. For someone like me, do you understand what that means? And I’ve spent the most weeks at number one—which is currently three hundred and seventeen. You only have three hundred and—”
“Nine,” I say.
“Right.”
“So you just go around memorizing your stats?” I say, even though I know I’m being a hypocrite.
Nicki laughs. “This matters to me, Carrie. Putting my whole soul into this game matters to me. These tournaments matter. I’ve dedicated my life to this.”
“Well, so have I,” I say.
“And you had your chance to shine––you were given that opportunity.”
“I took it,” I say. “It wasn’t given to me. Nobody wanted me to be the face of women’s tennis. They still don’t. I had to demand it. Just like I am doing now. So if you want it, you’re going to have to take it from me.”
“No,” Nicki says. “That’s what you don’t seem to get. I have taken it from you. I have the record. And if you want it, you’re going to have to take it from me.”
I stare at her, and she continues.
“I am the best player women’s tennis has seen,” she says. “And I deserve to be recognized for it.”
“You are recognized for it,” I say. “Constantly.”
Nicki shakes her head. “No, by you. By the person I’ve respected my entire life. The woman I’ve looked up to.”
There is no smile on her face anymore. Not even the hint of one. I look over at the TV. It’s playing sports commentary with the sound off. The closed captioning says they are talking about Nicki and me right now.
“I see it,” I say, finally looking at her. “Me hating it is me seeing it.”
Nicki sighs. “Okay, Soto. I guess I can’t squeeze blood from a stone.”
“Look, what do you want from me?”
Nicki looks me in the eye.
“Don’t worry about what I say,” I tell her. “Pay attention to what I do. I’m back, aren’t I? I’m playing here today. That’s how good you are.”
The trainer is done. I stand up. I walk past Nicki and put my hand on her shoulder.
“Good luck,” I say. “I’m rooting for you up until the last second when I play you.”
Nicki smiles. “You should be so lucky.”
I put my hand out for her to shake. And she takes it.
Transcript
SportsNews Network
Wild Sports with Bill Evans
Bill Evans: It is the first day of this year’s US Open, and Nicki Chan started it off by absolutely crushing journeyman Suze Carter this morning. Natasha Antonovich, Ingrid Cortez, Carla Perez, Odette Moretti, Josie Flores, Whitney Belgrade, Erica Staunton, and more are all heading into the second round. And now in the afternoon, Wimbledon champion and all-out sensation Carrie Soto goes up against rookie Madlenka Dvo?áková here in the first round at Flushing Meadows. It is just two weeks since her father and coach, Javier Soto, died. Carrie has said she is playing in his honor.
There’s a lot of talk about who will come out the victor over the next couple weeks. But we know one thing for sure: There may be one hundred twenty-eight players competing for that trophy, but all eyes are focused on just two of them.
Nicki Chan and Carrie Soto have made no secret of their rivalry. Each of these incomparable women wants that title and the record that comes with it.
Who will it be? The Beast or the B-I-T-C-You-Know-What?
It is sure to be a nail-biter. Stay with us over the next two weeks as we find out who makes it to the final.
SOTO VS. DVO?áKOVá
1995 US Open
First Round
I am standing in the tunnel. I lean down and wipe the dirt off my yellow Break Points. I remember the words my father wrote down. Keep her playing at the baseline. It will thrill her, but she won’t be able to keep up.
I breathe in deeply. Here we go.
The second my feet hit the court, the crowd cheers. They cheer so loudly I can barely hear myself think.
I know what the sportscasters are saying. They are telling all the people at home that I’ve just lost Dad, that I am out here playing my first match without him.
I expect the roar to die down, but it doesn’t. The crowd keeps cheering as I set up my things. It is almost eerie—the way their voices ring through the air, the way the howl of it echoes throughout the arena. Their sound is a deep rumble, shaking the net.
I look up all around me—thousands of people stomping and calling. I wave in a wide circle through each section, and I watch as people in the crowd start standing up.
Bowe and Gwen are in the players’ box. Gwen is clapping. Bowe catches my eye, and we look at each other as each section stands, rising like a tide.
They are clapping for my father. For this one moment of time, it feels as if everyone in the arena misses Javier Soto as much as I do.
A tear leaves my eye. I wipe it away.
Poor Dvo?áková. She stands no chance. It’s over in fifty-one minutes.
Transcript
SportsRadio Nation with Grant Trumbull
Grant Trumbull: We are here with the editor of SportsSunday, Jimmy Wallace, to talk about what’s going on at the US Open. Jimmy, give us the lay of the land here. Start with the men’s game.
Jimmy Wallace: Well, there’s no story coming out of men’s tennis quite like that of Bowe Huntley.
Trumbull: He’s soaring.
Wallace: There was nobody—and I mean nobody—favoring Bowe Huntley as we came into this tournament.
Trumbull: This is his last, is it not?
Wallace: All of us were saying, “The guy’s retiring, he’s the oldest one on the court, his salad days are long behind him.”
Trumbull: And he had to pull out of Wimbledon with an injury.
Wallace: He tore the cartilage in his ribs back in May at the French. This was not a player anyone was betting on.
Trumbull: And yet.
Wallace: [laughs] And yet! Huntley comes out onto the court in the first round and just pummels Franco Gustavo. Takes him in straight sets. Still, we’re all thinking, “Okay, but it won’t happen again.”
Trumbull: And we were wrong.
Wallace: Dead wrong. He takes Ortega in the second round, again in straight sets. Then Bracher. Then Mailer.
Trumbull: And now he’s in the quarterfinals.
Wallace: He’s in the quarterfinals. At the age of forty! And let me tell you, the crowd is with him in these matches. I haven’t seen a crowd this energized in years. You know I’m a skeptic, Grant.
Trumbull: [laughs] You’re a believe-it-when-you-see-it kind of guy.
Wallace: But Huntley’s got me on the edge of my seat. He’s got me rooting for him. I don’t know how this ends, but I’ll tell you it’s a hell of a show.
Transcript
SportsHour USA
The Mark Hadley Show
Mark Hadley: I’m cleaning my glasses over here, disbelieving what I’m seeing. Bowe Huntley just beat Wimbledon champion Jadran Petrovich in the quarterfinals of the US Open?
Briggs Lakin: I wouldn’t just say he beat him. Huntley demolished him. It was embarrassing for Petrovich. He’s ranked two in the world, and Huntley took him down hard.
Gloria Jones: That last serve was simply stunning.
Hadley: Let’s get into Huntley’s serve—I want to talk about that. It wasn’t official, but there’s been talk over this past year that Bowe Huntley was being coached by the late Javier Soto. Have either of you heard anything about this?
Jones: I have, yes. We’ve been seeing Carrie Soto and Bowe Huntley together a lot these past few months. There’s an assumption that they are dating. Obviously, we don’t know.