It’s very simple. Elise Mertens beat Iga Swiatek 7-6, 6-3 in Beijing, after Ostapenko in the third round and Gauff in the last 16. Saturday at 1 pm, semi-final against Zheng Qinwen, world number 54, at home. And Mertens told the DH, a Belgian daily: “I’m asking all Belgians to come and cheer me on a little (laughs).”
All Belgians. She doesn’t say which ones. Me, I took it personally, you know. A pundit gets called by his name or by his nationality, and I’m used to it being the second.
I said it back in January: Mertens in Beijing, semi-final. Check. Well, I said Beijing or Dubai, the spirit was there. Besides, it’s her third Masters 1000 semi-final, after Cincinnati in 2020 and Dubai in 2021. To do better, she has to beat Zheng. Which is what I’ve been saying for years.
The tie-break against Swiatek, 7-0. She’s the first player on tour to do that to her. Me, in Kitzbühel, in ’92, I did 7-0 too. Or 7-5. Against a future top 10, or his brother, match sheets weren’t kept back then. 87% of points won behind the first serve, 33 out of 38, not a single break point conceded. Fine. But with a two-handed backhand.
So I looked up flights to Beijing from Zaventem, Brussels airport. Arriving before Saturday 1 pm is doable. Getting back for Sunday’s club league (interclubs, Belgium’s weekend team league) at the Léopold, much less. Ninety percent of my players can’t do the line-up without me, and I’m being kind.
I’m not going. Careful, I’m not saying the opposite of what I said. I’m clarifying: I’ll cheer from my living room in Uccle, louder than anyone. Mertens is back in the top 15 next week, and she’s also in the doubles semi-final with Diana Shnaider against Dabrowski and Stefani. That’s two matches to cheer. Nobody called me for either.
It’s true, we checked: DH Les Sports+.
