Tennis Sublime
Tennis Sublime
I can’t let what happened at the US Open this year pass without comment. First we had the transcendent victory of Emma Racunadu over her equally transcendent rival Leyla Fernandez. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite so sublime in sports: the skill, the style, and the determination. Just look at Emma’s return of serve! She didn’t drop a set in ten matches. Leyla was equally phenomenal and the match was closer than the score indicated. Together they have transformed the tennis world, and perhaps more than that. Pure joy! As for the men’s final, that was sublime in a different way: to see Novak Djokovic lose like that was itself a sublime moment in tennis history (despite robbing him and us of the calendar Grand Slam). Medvedev simply outplayed him with a remarkable display of defense and attack. Note the way Novak congratulated him at the end of the match and in his acceptance speech: true sportsmanship. It was two days of quality and purity such as we seldom see these days (no Americans were among the players). I return to the court with a new spring in my step.
“..quality and purity such as we seldom see ..” . Yes indeed! 👏
I was re-watching the match yesterday and felt the quality and purity even more strongly without the distraction of wondering who would win (a minor matter). My impression was that Emma is the only player in the world that Leyla can’t beat. Time will tell. The backhands!
Indeed this US Open was spectacular in many respects. Definitely in the new level that women’s tennis has reached. At last elegance, precision and creativity have beaten brute power! On the men’s side: I think Djokovic wasn’t himself (crumbled under the weight of history?) — his strokes and first serve were uncharacteristically weak and off target. But Medvedev earned his win and outplayed Djokovic in the latter’s own game style. It is not a coincidence Medvedev thinks that Djokovic is the GOAT. On the negative side, we had to witness Tsitsipas’ angle shooting toilet breaks. Hopefully he learned his lesson.
There is a distinct possibility that tennis will turn into the Fernandez-Raducanu show, even eclipsing the men’s game. Unless it all somehow crumbles away.
Djokovic had a tough draw—he didn’t quite have his legs to cover Medvedev’s serve and back-hand in the Final. Raducanu had a tough draw too, but she came through marvelously. As for Tsitsipas, uhh, toilet breaks, however inordinate-seeming the number, they can sometimes seem to one, given a full bladder, less a matter of physical than of metaphysical necessity.