The Washington Post - 31.07.2019

does sometimes get — well, it’s

not the priority, basically.”

This year, the Citi Open is

trying to change that — at least in

the men’s event. With a top-notch

draw that includes every player

in the top 10 of the men’s doubles

rankings, as well as legendary

pair Bob and Mike Bryan and

high-profile singles players such

as Murray, Nick Kyrgios and

Stefanos Tsitsipas, first-year

tournament manager Mark Ein

has placed more of an emphasis

on a game that can go overlooked

— and if you ask top doubles

players, underappreciated — at

big events.

“It’s been a focus of ours since

SEE CITI OPEN ON D6

BY AVA WALLACE

In his summer spent on the

doubles court while coming back

from a career-threatening hip

injury, Andy Murray has seen

firsthand how differently dou-

bles players are treated on pro

tennis tours compared to singles

players.

The locker room amenities

may be the same, but doubles

play is often handled like an

afterthought at tournaments.

When it comes to getting on

court, doubles matches are often

shunted to outer courts or de-

layed to accommodate singles

action.

“At Wimbledon, for example,

we had a few scheduling things

like matches getting canceled,”

Murray said of his time at the All

England Club this year playing

men’s doubles with Pierre-Hu-

gues Herbert and mixed doubles

with Serena Williams. At Queen’s

Club Championships, “we had

matches with [Feliciano Lopez]

where we ended up playing the

two doubles matches straight

after one another, where, doubles

Blumenthal makes you snap

upright in your chair. There it is,

engraved right into the top of the

bill: The USOPC fundamentally

failed “to uphold their existing

statutory purposes and duties to

protect amateur athletes from

sexual, emotional or physical

abuse.” What’s more, “they

knowingly concealed abuse” by

gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar,

so Congress must act. It’s

stunning really. Congress just

became the star witness on behalf

of victims and firmly settled any

question of the USOPC board’s

liability.

It’s “unusual” to see such

bipartisan consensus, Moran

admits, which shows you just how

eager Congress is to pry the

SEE JENKINS ON D7

It tells you a lot, in
these days when
not much is agreed
on, that Sens. Jerry
Moran (R-Kan.)
and Richard
Blumenthal (D-
Conn.) share such
mutual bipartisan
disgust with the U.S. Olympic and
Paralympic Committee. They are
so agreed, in fact, that they have
put forward new legislation that
empowers them to fire the entire
board of directors. They should
use it.
Usually, congressional
legislation reads like code, dense
columns of hieroglyphics until
your head slowly rolls backward
and the drool begins. But the new
act proposed by Moran and

KLMNO

SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

BY LES CARPENTER

IN RICHMOND

Jordan Reed’s eyes grew big. The Washing-

ton Redskins veteran had just been asked

about another of the team’s tight ends, a

6-foot-8 tower of a man from Stetson Univer-

sity named Donald Parham who mysteriously

showed up for a tryout during a late spring

practice and can snatch impossibly high

passes without leaving his feet.

Had he been watching Parham in practice?

Absolutely he had been watching.

“Man, he’s an athletic dude,” Reed said. “He

has all the ability in the world. So the coaches

are polishing him up, and he has the potential

to be a great player.”

Reed shook his head in disbelief.

“He’s just got long arms,” Reed continued.

“Even when a guy’s in his chest, he can still

reach his arm up and make a catch. It’s hard

to stop him.”

Every NFL training camp has a Donald

Parham, a player seemingly from nowhere

who has something so intriguing about him

that a team just has to bring him in, because

you never know. And how could someone not

take a chance on Parham? He has a 7-foot

wingspan and a 36-inch vertical leap, and he

runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds. Last

year he led all of Division I college football

SEE REDSKINS ON D5

Parham aims for new heights

At 6-foot-8, Redskins rookie tight end reaches for his dream job

BY JESSE DOUGHERTY

Once Josh Donaldson’s home

run disappeared into a row of

navy blue seats at Nationals Park,

Erick Fedde hovered by the third

base line, his eyes fixed on the

damage, his right hand tugging at

the back of his pants.

Fedde was seven pitches from

finishing the worst start of his

career, an 11-8 loss for the Nation-

als against the Atlanta Braves that

provided more evidence the

Washington Nationals could use a

back-of-the-rotation starter

ahead of Wednesday’s 4 p.m. trade

deadline. Donaldson’s three-run

blast was the biggest blow Tues-

day night. Adam Duvall’s solo shot

knocked Fedde out two batters

later. Fedde shook his head as he

departed, his final line including

nine runs and nine hits in 3^2 / 3

innings, his walk to the dugout

accompanied by a round of boos.

The outing bumped Washing-

ton back to 5^1 / 2 games behind the

Braves in the National League

East and made it so a late rally

only dented the final deficit. The

Nationals have needed bullpen

help since early April, and that

remains their top priority. But

Fedde showed that there’s more

than one weakness to address.

“It’s never fun to let your team

down,” Fedde said. “It’s one of

those ones where I look at it as:

Just don’t let it happen again.”

When Fedde threw the game’s

first pitch at 7:06 p.m., the dead-

line was just under 21 hours away.

And the Nationals, once potential

sellers, now surefire buyers, had

yet to make a move. That had fit a

leaguewide trend, the limited ac-

tion before the game, until the

Braves acquired reliever Chris

Martin and the Cleveland Indians

dealt starter Trevor Bauer to the

Cincinnati Reds in a three-team

trade. It’s as if the market was a

SEE NATIONALS ON D3

At deadline,

Nats’ lack

of pitching

is glaring

At Citi Open, doubles gets treated as singular event

Citi Open

Through Sunday at

Rock Creek Park Tennis Center

TV: 1 p.m., Tennis Channel

Results and today’s schedule. D7

Svrluga: Andy Murray’s toughest

foe might be his own body. D6

Stephens, Keys, Gauff out: Top

draws in women’s field exit. D6

MARLENA SLOSS/THE WASHINGTON POST

The Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas pairing highlighted a

push by Citi Open organizers to create a loaded doubles field.

New USOPC legislation isn’t

a cure-all, but it’s a good start

Sally
Jenkins

Braves at Nationals

Today, noon, MASN

Deadline moves: Braves add to

bullpen, Indians deal Bauer. D3

JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST

Rookie Donald Parham certainly hopes Redskins Coach Jay Gruden has his back and he can sneak onto the team’s 53-man roster.

NBA

The Wizards add former

Clippers exec Johnny

Rogers to front office. D2

WNBA

Elena Delle Donne scores

33 points to lift Mystics

over Phoenix, 99-93. D7

BRAVES 11,

NATIONALS 8

BY STEVEN GOFF

Jill Ellis, who this month
steered the U.S. women’s national
soccer team to a second consecu-
tive World Cup championship,
will step down as head coach after
a five-game victory tour.
“This is not a job someone
should do for 10 years,” she said
Tuesday. “I think change is good.
New perspective.... The timing is
right to move on, and the program
is positioned to remain at the pin-
nacle of women’s soccer.”
She has a 102-7-18 record in
five-plus years and never lost a
World Cup match (13-0-1).
Ellis’s contract expires Wednes-
day, and although the U.S. Soccer
Federation held an option to re-
tain her through the 2020 Olym-
pics in Tokyo, Ellis said she felt it
was time to move on and pursue
other opportunities.
For the time being, she will con-
tinue to work for the USSF as an
ambassador, representing the
governing body at events and
speaking engagements.
“The U.S. Soccer Federation
and the sport in general owes Jill a
debt of gratitude,” USSF President
Carlos Cordeiro said in a state-
ment.
Ellis, 52, will remain in charge
for Saturday’s friendly against Ire-
land in Pasadena, Calif., two
games against Portugal around
Labor Day in Philadelphia and St.
Paul, Minn., and two matches in
October (details pending). Her re-
placement, or an interim coach,
will start in November with two
friendlies, including one at Wash-
ington’s Audi Field.
The search for the new coach
will not accelerate until the feder-
ation hires a general manager for
the women’s team. That decision
is close, multiple people close to
the process said.
Top assistant Tony Gustavsson
returned to his native Sweden and
does not appear to be in the run-
SEE ELLIS ON D6

Ellis will

step down

as coach of

U.S. women

She is first national team

leader in 81 years to win

consecutive World Cups

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