Every year with tennis, things seem to progressively deteriorate with the sport and I for one am a little over it. I have played tennis since the age of 10 and from age 13 to 48, I played competitively. I even won a State Championship at age 45 (for the old blokes) because I still loved playing the sport but as the great John McEnroe once famously stated, "The older I get, the better I was", and that of course refers to most tennis players who eventually struggle with the physical aspect and demands of tennis.
But I hung on for as long as I possibly could, trust me (I am 57 now.) I just watch it nowadays but it's becoming less enjoyable by the year.
What disturbs me most about the sport of tennis today is the necessity it seems by the hierarchy to tinker around with the one thing that kept tennis unique from other sports: the coaching of it on court.
I am not a fan of basketball just quietly because it's all about coaching and time-outs because heaven forbid if we could ever watch these seven-foot-tall guys and girls actually think for themselves in pressure-cooker situations.
Isn't that what training is for?
To practice certain plays and tactics for certain times of matches?
Apparently not, maybe training is simply for refining skills, with the tactical side of it entirely up to the coach to work their way through on game day and then to explain to the players due to their obvious lack of ability to simply just 'think it through' themselves. Whatever it is, I am not a fan of a coach telling his or her players what to do on game day, and regularly, because it takes away from the esteem of solving problems that should be worked out in match-simulation at training.
Those pods on the side of the court at the Australian Open that house the entourages and hanger-onner's of the players' (who apparently all have something to do with the main person themselves in their own little way) are an absolute blight on the sport.
They get just as much airplay as the player does nowadays. I mean let's face it, while De Minaur was in the event, Lleyton Hewitt received almost as many camera shots as when he was playing back in the day.
De Minaur shot, Hewitt reaction, De Minaur shot, Hewitt reaction. I mean let's face it here; it wasn't just the tennis that was being played, it was the tennis being played by the camera man too, back and forth to the pod, just hanging on every reaction for apparent 'viewer appeasement'.
C'mon, seriously? Is this where we are at with tennis and where it's going?
Give me a break.
Tennis is now becoming like basketball and possibly time-outs in the future may become part of it all due to the obvious fact that the powers-to-be of tennis are lacking faith in the entire process; the one that has a player learn a shot in practice, a tactic, a style and a thought process that should be good enough on game day without someone constantly in their ear to reinforce those things.
Tennis is no longer unique; it's now just another sport full of quirks that are becoming almost unwatchable for purists.
Take for example the following:
Why isn't a let-serve a simple immediate follow-up with another serve?
I watched and laughed the other day as a player bounced a ball 14 times, hit a let-serve, then walked away, asked a ball-kid for another ball, then went through the whole tedious, pedantic exercise once again that the great Spaniard Rafa Nadal had down to an even finer art, the art of time-wasting.
Speaking of serves, why isn't there at least one tennis tournament in the world (if not just as a novelty) where servers are allowed just the ONE serve? Yes, I understand it would then simply become a returners world and who can hit the best groundstrokes, but wouldn't it at least speed the game up if nothing else?
Let's go back to ball bouncing; farcical. The old guy, Cilic did it better than anyone, bounce, bounce bounce, (14 to 18 times) but it also included a pause after the first three or so, then off he went again. Novak also has ball bouncing down to a fine art; it's painful, however it's all about taking the full 30 seconds in-between points, even if the previous point was as quick as say a double fault.
And the 5-minute hit-up prior to the match; seriously? Have you seen how long these players warm up for prior to a match in the gym that the cameras are all over? Sometimes it's closer to 7 minutes. The hit up is 5, followed by the walk to the chair, a drink, perhaps a tie of the shoelaces but whatever it is, well it's usually longer than 5 minutes.
Beyond ridiculous.
Tennis is a physical sport, don't get me wrong but it's now become a sport that is full of stuff that is allowed by officialdom to take place simply because it's still in an archive rules book. Take for example the Victoria Azarenka farce at the Oz Open of 2013 when she was up against Sloane Stephens in the semis; you know, when she went off court for a total of 9 minutes to 'regather' herself which she later admitted in her own words to be a "choke".
Yeah sure, it was in the ancient and rather farcical prehistoric book of tennis rules that allowed for such a time-out yet surely it was simply taking the piss and a case of entitlement that unfortunately tennis is fast becoming famous for.
I mean, didn't Australia recently chastise a Politician for spending truckloads of taxpayers' money on travel that she later stated was "within guidelines"??!!
Well, that's basically as good as our tennis book of rules; yes, some things are within certain 'guidelines' yet surely should be looked at as somewhat dinosaur-age-like and removed from existence due to something that isn't really common nowadays and that of course is 'common sense'.
So, as far as the once unique sport of tennis is concerned, c'mon tennis officialdom, make some changes, take out the prehistoric garbage, the coaching and the courtside pods, the medical (and choking) time outs, the excessive ball bouncing, the time between first serve lets and the follow up serve and of course the self-absorbed entitlement of many players and their self-absorbed actions.
It used to be a great sport, it's a sport relegated to the fourth most important thing associated with a Grand Slam now; just ask our head honcho of tennis here in Australia, Craig Tiley.
In his own words, "It's about entertainment, music, food, and then tennis". (Craig Tiley)
Yep, and it won't stop there either: if tennis continues to keep going down the same path it has done now for quite some time, it won't just be the fourth most important part of a Grand Slam as 'influencers' who apparently 'influence' a large portion of the 'easily persuaded' public will be added to the growing list of more important things going on at the tennis than the actual tennis itself.
I mean, look at it, a recent high-profile break up between a sporting identity and his wife (who apparently is another 'influencer') now commands bigger headlines than most matches as she was seen at the tennis enjoying her newfound freedom conveniently in front of a sponsor's sign that was obviously strategically woven into the photo; one that no doubt dished out some complimentary beverages to the 'influencer' for 'influencing' the easily influenced public.
Yep, tennis, a side gig to 'more important' things going on at a Grand Slam than tennis balls being hit...
Glenn Thompson
