Too much hypocrisy reigns in the world of tennis. There are plenty of examples. The plague of political correctness. I bet that…
PARIS – Day Five at the French Open wasn’t particularly interesting. Besides the suspense created by Klizan and Murray, with the Slovak ahead 5-2, 0-30 in the fourth set – basically two points away from the fifth set – I didn’t experience any memorable emotions.
I pleasantly followed Lorenzi’s desperate attempts. Perhaps for the first time in his life, the Italian lost a three-set match by making only six unforced errors.
It is not easy to make too many unforced errors against John Isner, who only drops bombs with both his serve and his forehand in every corner of the court. Isner’s opponents usually don’t have the time to even commit unforced errors, simply because the rallies are very few and far between.
The press is often unfair with the humble American. Everyone is exclusively talking about his 6’ 10” height, his 70-68 match against Mahut in 2010 and his aces – as if it was John’s fault he serves better than the other players.
Isner’s height is certainly a big advantage, but it is not the only factor contributing to his successful serve. I have seen many tall players serve very badly! It wouldn’t be fair to describe Stefano Napolitano’s serve with such criticism, but it is important to mention that the 6’ 5” tall Italian admitted: “I absolutely have to improve my serve.” It’s obviously all relative.
When I talk about the press being unfair with Isner, I think that reporters should also write about how great of a player he is, how big of a forehand he has and how well he moves for his height. As a matter of fact, he moves much better than many other giants. Isner has recently reached the semi-finals in Rome, defeated Federer in Switzerland during a Davis Cup tie and pushed Rafa Nadal all the way to a fifth set at Roland Garros. This can’t be considered a “player that only knows how to serve.”
There was very little that Lorenzi could do against such a quality opponent. The Italian only had a couple of chances at the end of the third set when he had two break-points, which Isner promptly erased with two service bombs. Lorenzi finished the match with dignity anyway.
In the next round, Isner will engage in a battle of monster serving and massive forehands against Kachanov, who defeated Berdych in straight sets. The Czech doesn’t seem very convinced that there will be tennis in his future anymore. On the other hand, before getting married to the beautiful Ester Satorova, Tomas enjoyed a brilliant career with a Wimbledon final and two Davis Cup titles. If he was Italian, he would be a national hero.
Fognini Tames Seppi
The all-Italian affair between Fognini and Seppi met my expectations. Bet 365 had the following odds: Fognini’s win was paid 1.40, while Seppi’s was paid 3.
The new father won in straight sets and will now face Wawrinka, against whom he will have nothing to lose. Fognini lost two matches to the Swiss on clay and won one on the hard courts in Acapulco. Even if the head-to-head stats are often not in Fognini’s favor, Fabio is never really the underdog.
Italian tennis legend Nicola Pietrangeli has recently stated that Fognini plays well every other day. His opinion might sound a little too harsh, but it is not completely wrong. Fognini didn’t particularly enjoy his countryman’s statement and he replied with: “Pietrangeli? His wasn’t really tennis.”
In my opinion, Fognini made a careless mistake. It is not the first time that this has happened to him. Sport does evolve: For example, today Bolt would destroy Berruti and Mennea. But that doesn’t mean that those two great champions were racewalkers rather than top class and talented sprinters.
It is certainly wrong to say that when Pietrangeli was playing, tennis players were not pros. Even if tennis wasn’t “open” and Pietrangeli didn’t turn pro after declining a check signed by Jack Kramer, Nicola was very well paid by the tournament directors (with “under the table” compensations), Italian Tennis Federation and exhibition organizers.
Even if Pietrangeli was blessed with incredible talent and didn’t have to practice as hard as his rivals, it is not fair to say that tennis played with wooden racquets wasn’t authentic tennis. Tennis back then was as authentic as the tennis that will be played in 2050, when perhaps a new Fognini will say that Fognini and Seppi were not tennis players but journeymen in another sport.
Pietrangeli wasn’t Federer, but on clay he was among the best in the world. He defeated Rod Laver – who can be considered Roger’s biggest “rival” in the conversation about the GOAT – and other valuable players of that Era. Ken Rosewall once said that if all the best players in the world had been castaway on a desert island and had not played tennis for a few months, Nicola would have surely won their first tournament back.
Fognini’s statement is lacking know-how and respect about the history of the game. I hope that his grandchildren will be more respectful when they talk about Fabio’s Era and results. Roger Federer has always showed tremendous respect for the great Australian champions of the past, including Laver, Rosewall, Hoad and Newcombe.
Double standards in the world of tennis
At this point, I would like to talk about a couple of other issues. Double standards occur when certain words by Ilie Nastase are heavily criticized and other words used by Serena Williams are artificially forgotten, such as threating to shove a ball down a line judge’s throat while using profanity. Nastase did something wrong, but less than Williams. In any case, Serena is a champion that nobody – including tournaments and sponsors – has ever wanted to snub.
On the other hand, who cares about Nastase – a former player that is now in his seventies? That is probably the reason why he was denied access to the French Open or the Royal Box at Wimbledon, while Serena paid a fine without probably even feeling it and continued to play the US Open and all the other tournaments like nothing happened.
The rules are not the same for everybody. Reporters must sign documents that forbid them to promote any form of betting… in tournaments where the main sponsors are betting companies. And so?
Do you want to know how the Margaret Court case will end, regardless of the fact that she said things that are very questionable and are not considered politically correct in today’s world?
In the wake of the protests for her words that were opinions nonetheless, her case will end with the Australian Open organizers perhaps being pressed by some sponsors that will not want to be publicly associated with a tournament whose third show court is named after a controversial person. “Controversial” is a big word, but the pressure applied by the press and social media is high (even if social media only represent the screaming minority). These factors will influence the Australian Open’s decision to remove Margaret Court’s name from the third show court at Melbourne Park.
If the removal is requested by Jacob’s Creek – a company that promotes Australian wine – Kia or some other sponsor, you will see how quickly the Australian promoters will forget that Court won 24 Slams (including 11 Australian Opens) and was a great tennis champion who expressed her opinions in an environment that has nothing to do with tennis. I have already mentioned how her opinions are questionable, perhaps even unpleasant. But this has nothing to do with the tennis that was played, honored and won.
Political correctness – one of the greatest plagues of this century to mask hypocritical measures – will eventually make another victim. Court – who in my opinion has every right to express her views, especially in today’s world where everybody expresses opinions on everything using social media – is more than 70 years old like Nastase. Since business and facade will always be business and facade, I bet that I will no longer see the Margaret Court Arena at the upcoming Australian Open, for the boundless joy of all those lobbies that I am not particularly fond of – if you allow me to say so.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
