Not like the leisure trade, skilled tennis has managed to remain refreshingly above the political fray. Nonetheless, on the first grand slam of the yr, the Australian Open, which ended Sunday, a number of reporters sought to contaminate the game with their ideological agenda.
Reporters seeking to fire up hassle within the press room had been goading American gamers, significantly these with foreign-sounding final names. As a substitute of asking them about their match, they had been baiting athletes to share their ideas on “every part that’s been occurring in the USA prior to now yr.” It was a thinly veiled invitation to trash Donald Trump in entrance of a world media viewers.
Most gamers had been savvy sufficient to not step into the entice. Taylor Fritz, the extremely hard-working and targeted American competitor, noticed the query for what it was: an enormous fats pull into politics and an unwelcome distraction. “I really feel like no matter I say right here is gonna get put right into a headline, and it’s gonna get taken out of context, so I might actually slightly not do one thing that’s going to trigger an enormous distraction for me in the midst of the event.”
When requested the way it felt to play “underneath the American flag proper now,” 24-year-old Amanda Anisimova confirmed knowledge past her years, answering: “I used to be born in America, so I’m all the time proud to signify my nation.”
Learner Tien, an up-and-coming American athlete, impressively performed his method into the quarterfinal. As a substitute of inquiring about his loss to Alexander Zverev within the post-match information convention, a unique reporter requested, “Within the context of every part that’s been occurring in the meanwhile with Trump and ICE, what does your heritage imply to you and the way vital are immigrants to American sport as we speak?”
Well, the American replied, “Um, sorry, I don’t actually wish to discuss that proper now.”
Sports activities tales are supposed to encourage, not divide. Former South African President Nelson Mandela mentioned: “Sport has the facility to alter the world. It has the facility to encourage. It has the facility to unite individuals in a method that little else does.
Ultimately, success on the skilled tennis court docket is about mastering the flexibility to focus in your recreation, health and technique. Coaches, health trainers, nutritionists and psychological coaches are all employed to assist the athlete block out distractions and suppose solely about their recreation.
Tennis could also be a person sport, however representing one’s nation, not simply on the Olympics, is all the time on an athlete’s thoughts. Bringing house a trophy conjures up youthful gamers and followers to achieve for extra — as a person and as an American.
Too many reporters had been in search of athletes to hitch them in utilizing sports activities to divide slightly than unite, and to denigrate America. Most tennis gamers had been too savvy to fall sufferer to their low-cost provocation.
Beth Herman is a visiting fellow on the Impartial Girls’s Training Freedom Middle/InsideSources
