Aren’t you annoyed when players make a habit of raising their arms or hands to signal for the crowd to get involved in the action? James Beck
It’s as if they are asking for help. It’s bad enough when team sports participants such as football and basketball beg for help from the fans. But tennis players? Aren’t they the ones who call for complete silence during points.
FOLLOW FEDERER’S EXAMPLE
You don’t see golfers asking for help from the fans – at least, not with noise. Or Roger Federer. I think it’s off the chart when tennis players resort to this bush league tactic. The players aren’t cheerleaders. They’re participants.The fans will judge the players’ efforts, and usually respond appropriately.
COCO FLAPS HER WINGS
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Roger Federer resort to leading cheers when he makes another of his picture-book shots. There are others who show similar class, but they are outnumbered by the cheerleaders. What set me off on this tirade against participatory cheerleaders? It was the sight of Coco Vandeweghe flapping her wings like a bird during her three-set loss to Maria Sharapova in Wimbledon’s quarterfinals. Sharapova doublefaulted on the next point. Coco repeated the arm signals episode after she won the second set.
CONSECUTIVE DOUBLEFAULTS
Two double faults in a row are difficult to overcome at any level of tennis, especially when a match is on the line. Kevin Anderson played wonderful tennis against Novak Djokovic most of the time. Only back-to-back doublefaults in the 11th game of the fifth set of their round of 16 bout stopped the 6-8 South African. At 5-5 in the decisive set, Djokovic appeared to be firmly focused on continuing his string of quarterfinal appearances. Anderson just got a little greedy – or scared – after seeing Djokovic play a couple of near-perfect games on his own serve.
ANDERSON HAD REASON TO BE TIGHT
It was almost sudden death. Anderson had reason to be a little tight. Anderson misfired badly on his first three serves of the 11th game, missing the centerline each time. He simply lost his focus and went for too much rather than making sure he at least put the second serves into play. In league tennis, I can remember at least two times in which my partner doublefaulted twice in a row in the third set. We lost both times. I guess that’s okay for amateurs. But big-time pros?
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James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com
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