Noisy show at Big Apple?
Women’s world No.1 Simona Halep, lost again in the very 1st Round for the 2nd consecutive time, in the US-Open of 2018. In her post-match interview, she did not hesitate to state how loud the stadium was. It had disturbed her performance badly. This is the 1st time a punch has been delivered for making a Tennis match time into a sound and light show. Losing the top seed of the Women’s draw is an issue for the US-Open appeal.
In the ’50′s, in one of the early Round matches of the Wimbledon championships, on the outside courts, Umpires gave a ‘let’, meaning, replay of a point, because one of the spectators coughed during the rally. Later, after the match, it was argued and the Umpire’s decision upheld.
At one time, when Tennis was gaining popularity in the last century, assisting the player to concentrate was given very high priority. It was one of the aspects that made Tennis appealing to the world. Now, increasingly, this aspect is being ignored.
US trend
In the US-Open series and in the US-Open, which is a Grand-Slam event, players’ concentration is being sacrificed for spectator attraction. This includes musical interludes in the 90-sec. change over breaks. The game of Tennis is what is meant to entertain the spectators in a Tennis stadium, not the beat show. Voices of protest are heard now.
Spectator Attraction
In the USA, unless their citizens are involved, attendance at matches drops. In a way, this is true to all nations. The US-Open and the US-Open-Series was designed to prop up Tennis popularity in North America. In this process, it has become a family entertainment show. To increase the quality of Tennis and to attract the best, they increased the prize money to an unprecedented figure. Well over US$ 50 million. Assumption is, fighting for big money is an attraction for the people to attend the matches and see who won it. From the looks of it, all these are experimental and I doubt very much it is making Tennis popular in the USA.
Rising Stars
The US-Open is the 4th and final Grand-Slam of 2018. It not only awards a lot of money, but also the highest ranking points. With the possibility of achieving prestige in ranking, earn more money and register one’s presence in the world of Tennis, the US-Open and the US-Open Series are an attractive platform for the young.
Two players did just that this year. They got the recognition they deserve. They are Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus in Women and Petros Tsitsipas of Greece in Men. They are 2 of the many New-Gen players in the last 2 years. Their goal 1st was to get into the top 100 Club and they achieved that. Then into top 20, they have achieved that too.
Aryna Sabalenka is tall and physically built correct for Tennis. Her game has shown little weaknesses. In the past few months, she walked pass many in the ‘who is who’ list of Women’s Tennis. Showing no real weaknesses, most players tend to underestimate her. At age 20, she is ranked 20. What most good players find it difficult is to assess is her court coverage speed. Sabalenka is loaded with weaponry in the stroke-making department also. Her losses came against players who knew the art of engaging her and not surrendering too much of the court for her comfortable shot selection.
Petros Tsitsipas is from a Tennis playing family of Greece. His elder brother is also in the professional circuit. The Greeks had some good players in the early ’70′s, since then, their Tennis has been at a low profile. This 20-year-old Greek is the best for a long time. Talking about how good he is, one has only to see his victims in the last 3 months. Right now he is ranked 15 in the ATP ranking. By all means he is a thrilling player to watch. There are some signature killer shots in him. He moves well and gets into position to execute them with way-above-average winning percentages.
Asian Games
Uzbekistan’s Dennis Istomin won Gold at the Asian Games in Djakarta. He is a top 100 player. Then rushed to play in the US-Open with a 27-hour flight to New York. It did not do him good. He lost in the 1st Round to USA’s Steve Johnson, in straight Sets. He was able to win 12 of the 30 games he played. Of the 145 points played, Istomin got 64. The other good Asians opted not to play in the Asian Games. The US-Open is a mandatory event for players in the top 150 in the WTA and ATP. From what is known, if a player has the qualifying status he/she will have to play the Grand Slam events.
The US-Open was first played in 1881, and until 1974, it was played on Grass courts. Then, for 3 years, ’75, ’76 and ’77, it was played on Clay courts. Since then, it has been conducted on Hard courts. It is a 2-week event.
George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of German Federation; National coach Sri Lanka & Brunei, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– contact 94 77 544 8880 geodano2015@gmail.com –