Grip on Sports: American women prove that U.S. tennis is still alive

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s switch gears today. No football. No baseball. Tennis. Yes, tennis. Specifically, women’s tennis, where something is happening at the U.S. Open that hasn’t happened since ancient times. Or 1981, if you prefer. Read on.

••••••••••

• The best women’s tennis player in the world, Serena Williams, is not in New York. She’s home, the proud mother a baby girl, born less than a week ago.

Best in the world also means she’s best in the United States, right? Which makes what is happening in New York even more surprising.

Four U.S. women – Serena’s older sister Venus, Madison Keys, CoCo Vandeweghe and Sloane Stephens – are in the semifinals.

Being that the semifinals are the Final Four, as it were, that means the only players left playing on the women’s side are from this country.

But isn’t U.S. tennis dead?

Well, it’s mostly dead. And as Miracle Max taught us long ago, mostly dead is slightly alive.

This weekend it will be more than slightly alive in New York.

Venus Williams, seeded ninth, has discovered the fountain outside the tennis complex serves what Ponce de Leon was searching for. Keys, the 15th seed, changed coaches and found her confidence. Vandeweghe, seeded 20th, is finally becoming known for more than just being Kiki’s niece. And the unseeded Stephens (pictured below) has been a revelation this week.

Four U.S. women in the semifinals of their home Grand Slam hasn’t happened since 1981, when Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin (the eventual winner) and Barbara Potter did it. But then it wasn’t much of surprise. The first three were in the top four seeds. Potter was seeded 11th.

This year is different. With Serena dominating the spotlight, and the Grand Slam titles (23 singles titles), there hasn’t been much in the way of sunshine shining on the others in recent years. Mainly because, outside of Venus and her seven Grand Slam singles titles, the rest of the U.S. players theses days haven’t done squat on the game’s biggest stage.

And we are including the men here. The last U.S. man to win a Grand Slam title? That would be Andy Roddick in 2003. It won’t happen this year.

The women, outside of the Williams sisters, aren’t doing any better. Remember Jennifer Capriati? She’s the last non-Williams American woman to win a Grand Slam title. That came at the Australian Open in 2002. Heck, even Venus won her last Grand Slam in 2008. That’s nearly a decade ago.

So it’s understandably if tennis has been dead to the U.S. sports fan recently. But if this week’s results mean anything, they mean the sport has been just mostly dead. And there is a chance it can rise again.

Maybe a first-time winner will emerge. Someone new on the stage. Or it may be the 37-year-old Venus, who would do wonders for those who profess the game can be a life-long endeavor.

But it really doesn’t matter. Having four Americans dominate the tournament this week is good enough.

If we could, we would pass along to the four one piece of advice I learned long ago, a phrase that I’ve tried to live my life by: Have fun stormin’ da castle.

• Remember the number we passed along yesterday? That would be 253, which was Spokane’s air quality index number for fine particulate matter (read: crud from smoke) early in the morning. The number fell throughout the day (I checked it often at spokanecleanair.org) but stayed in the “very unhealthy” category.

But the trend was good.

Not anymore. When I checked first thing this morning, the 5:15 a.m. reading was 273. I may be mistaken, but that doesn’t sound good. And the number seemed to be going in the wrong direction. By 7:15 a.m., however, the number had fallen to 255. But that’s still in the “very unhealthy” category.

Of course, a change in the weather pattern, which is predicted to arrive Friday, could change that number drastically. And quickly. The folks who are monitoring the smoke for our local colleges and high schools certainly hope so. If you want to know how there are feeling, Jim Allen checked with them yesterday.

•••

WSU: I make no secret of where I believe success is built in college football. It’s up front. Which makes today’s story from Theo Lawson a can’t-miss piece for me – and you. … Theo also has his picks for this weekend’s games. He didn’t do too well against the spread last week. … Theo also held a live chat yesterday. He posted the transcript on the WSU football page, where there are a handful of post-practice videos. … Boise State understands it must control the Cougars’ running backs.

Around the Pac-12, the conference’s TV arm refuses to let anyone know how many people are watching its events. Odd, unless the numbers are really awful. Then it’s understandable. … The number of people in stadiums Saturday wasn’t all that good either. … Who is best in the conference? … Washington will host Montana this Saturday. … Oregon State hopes this is the week it all comes together. … The smoke is bad in Oregon as well, but Mike Riley is more worried about the Ducks’ speed. … Stanford is probably the best place on the West Coast for a tight end. … The woman at the heart of a recent domestic violence incident at Colorado is suing. … Utah knows it has to improve on the offensive line. … A dad’s legacy helps one UCLA running back. … A young receiver must step up for USC. … An Arizona State player has decided to hang up his helmet. … The Arizona defense must figure out the little things before it can be successful.

EWU: Eastern and North Dakota State has a history. Jim Allen delves into the most memorable aspect of that in today’s paper. … The problems with the smoke are being noticed at North Dakota State. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, a Weber State player wants to show California it shouldn’t have passed on him. … There is a bond on special teams at North Dakota. … Northern Colorado hopes to get its game in against Florida before the hurricane hits. … What’s in a number? Two players at Southern Utah. … Northern Arizona came out of the debacle in Tucson healthy at least. … Idaho State moves up in class this weekend. … Montana thinks it has its quarterback of the future. … Montana State’s defense will be tested again this weekend.

Indians: The smoky conditions forced the North Division playoff game to Vancouver, where the host team held off Spokane, 2-1. … Eugene hosted Hillsboro in the South playoffs and won the opening game.

Preps: It’s Thursday. That means it is a Prep Page day. Greg Lee kicks it off with a football notebook. … He also has a feature on Mt. Spokane volleyball star Miahna Waters (pictured). … We can also pass along a preview of all the volleyball in the area as well as a roundup of last night’s action.

Mariners: A sweep of the A’s is followed by being swept by the Astros. The M’s are 3-3 on this crucial homestand. A .500 team playing .500 baseball. Who would have thought? … Cameron Maybin beat the M’s with late home runs in back-to-back games. Last night’s came off Edwin Diaz, breaking a tie in the top of the ninth.

Seahawks: It was a dramatic day at Seahawks headquarters yesterday and it had nothing to do with the Green Bay Packers or Sunday’s season opener. It had to do with the piece of news we passed along in the morning: Michael Bennett alleging he had been racially profiled in Las Vegas recently. Of course the Las Vegas police responded. So did Bennett’s teammates. Bennett spoke for a short while. It was a different sort of day. … Eddie Lacy is ready to face his former teammates, though Pete Carroll is not sure how the running backs will be used. … The quarterback is healthy. So is the Legion of Boom. … The Hawks have a new logo. It hasn’t been received with universal praise.

•••       

• Wind. We need some wind. Not so much as to fan the flames around the area, but enough to scour out the air. A fine balance, sure, but one that’s needed so we can breathe easier. Literally and figuratively. Until later …