Mark Winters and Cheryl Jones
Trying to find a way to put 2020 in perspective is challenging. Words alone can never tell the story. A collection of general comments wouldn’t carry the day. Even a book, a lengthy one or several of them, might come close to explaining what took place. There was a pandemic and it seized the limelight from critical issues, such as social unrest fostered by a range of disparities. For much of the time, tennis was hidden behind masks that aimed to protect but against high odds, the game… survived.
Make no mistake; much that happened beyond the court did have an effect on the sport at every level. Because of the way the year played out, a summary of highlights is the best way to take a “lookback” and endeavor to make sense of a period that was, overall, fragmented.
Imagine…Not The John Lennon Version
Imagine if that during the bushfires were ravaging the states of New South Wales and Victoria, where Melbourne is located, tennis officials had made the decision, because of the dismal air quality and the extreme heat, to cancel or postpone the Australian Open? True, hindsight is often twenty-twenty but if anyone had a premonition that COVID-19 would bring about the cancellation of both the BNP Paribas and the Miami Opens, the Australian Open could have been played in the time slot that it has chosen for 2021.
Dylan Update – The Schedules Were Are A-Changin’
In mid-March, the Fédération Française de Tennis “fait un geste audacieu” (made a bold move) when the organization decided to postpone – not cancel – Roland Garros. September 20th to October 4th were the dates first selected for the competition. Then manifesting a “true anti-laissez-faire” attitude, they nudged the championships a bit further on in the calendar to September 27th until October 11th. Initially, it was hoped that 11,500 spectators could be admitted daily and dispersed among the Stade Roland Garros show courts (Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen, Court Simonne Mathieu and Court 1). When there was a rise in virus cases, the Minister of Health chose to reduce the number of attendees to 5,000 each day. Later, another spike in the infection rate dropped the number of mask wearing attendees to a mere 1,000 per day.
Rather than downplay concerns about the health of players, the game and spectators, Wimbledon was realistic. Given the gravity of the situation, tournament officials donned a proper bowler and reacted in appropriate fashion, cancelling The Championships on April 1st (and it wasn’t an April Fools’ joke). Fortunately, for the past 17 years The All England Lawn Tennis Club has had an insurance policy in case the tournament had to be cancelled. In 2020, that wise planning by management resulted in a $141 million pandemic payout.
Not wanting to be defaulted in the Slams rearranging dates game, the USTA, in June, announced that the US Open would begin in late August and finish in mid-September. Insuring that its reputation would remain “Broadway Big”, the decision was made to hold two tournaments at one location so the Western & Southern Open was added to the fan-less package as a “warm-up” for what normally is the year’s final Grand Slam tournament. (This year, Roland Garros took the final curtain call.)
Osaka – Nobel Peace Prize Worthy …
In New York, Dominic Thiem of Austria was the men’s titlist, edging Alexander Zverev of Germany, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6, to win his first big four championship. In high drama, Naomi Osaka of Japan defeated the rejuvenated and resurgent Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 for her third slam trophy.
In a year that was exhausted by death, criminal government incompetence, anger, road-rage like eruptions in society and much more, Osaka made an impact. During the Open she “facemask” messaged match by match. Her desire was pure and unfettered. She wanted to create an awareness of what had been taking place and have people “see the names”, of the Black victims of police violence, such as Ahmaud Arbery, Philando Castile, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Elijah McClain, Tamir Rice and Breonna Taylor.
Following Floyd’s death at the hands of a group of rogue policemen in May, she traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota and took part in the peaceful protest that was held. In July, she co-wrote an article that appeared in Esquire Magazine concerning racism and what it was like “being all things together at the same time…” After Jacob Blake, an African-American, was shot in the back multiple times by a policeman in Kenosha, Wisconsin, she withdrew from her Western & Southern Open semifinal. Realizing the significance of her decision, tournament officials suspended play at the National Tennis Center for the entire day in support of her social justice expression.
As an individual who is actually quite shy, Osaka had made a momentous decision. Because of the platform provided by her extraordinary tennis talent, she would use the resulting attention to help stem systemic racism. (It was fitting that during the final days of the US Open, the works of eighteen artists were featured in “Black Lives to the Front”. It was a Black Lives Matter art exhibit that was on display in the lower rows of the empty seats at Ashe Stadium.)
Given the USTA’s growing attempt to bring about significant racial change, along with altering the public’s perception of the organization, the staunch PR effort was foiled when Osaka was restricted during the trophy presentation ceremonies. Asked if she had thought about wearing one of her “telling” masks when she addressed the audience, she said she had…but was told not to do so…” More revealing, she added, “I just did what they told me…” By whom? Was this an official dictate or a television move or…? After the awakening that she brought about during the two tournaments held at the National Tennis Center, an enlightenment that the Open and tennis benefitted from, Naomi Osaka should have been shown more respect…
Having turned 23 in October, she received the ultimate accolade when Sports Illustrated named her Sportsperson of the Year. To add to that, the editors and the beat writers named Osaka the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in honor of her noteworthy activism and her on court success.
