A week down, a week to go

If a week is a long time in politics, then the same can probably be said of a Grand Slam tournament.

It seems an eternity ago that Novak Djokovic lost his first round match. It was his first defeat in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since the Australian Open in 2006. Enfeebled and vomiting at the baselines, his distressed state suggested that it may not be long before Novak announces his retirement. Notwithstanding his oft stated wish to continue playing until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, it seems that this may not be either possible or sensible.

Roger Federer’s recent induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame should remind Djokovic that everyone, even the greats, have an innate and latent ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ date.

The Williams sisters continue to flirt with their tennis mortality. This year it was Venus who was granted a Singles’ wildcard and Serena and Venus stepped out onto the Doubles’ Court. Both ventures did not pass beyond Round 1. Serena and Alcaraz teamed up in the quick-fire Mixed Doubles tournament, but not even the infusion of youth and the injection of Ozempic could provide Serena with a return to her glory days.

Speaking of Alcaraz, it seems another eternity ago that he was defeating Djokovic in the final of this year’s Australian Open. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but does it make the Spanish superstar’s wrist any stronger? His first three matches suggest it has, but his truest test may come in his next match against America’s Ben Shelton. In what will be  “a battle of the swaggering singlets”, the contest provides Shelton with an opportunity for his ‘breakthrough’ moment.

The French Open champion and Wimbledon runner- up, Alexander Zverev, has had his own battles with time. He had two marathon five set matches at night to progress to the third round. Thankfully, for the top seed (in the absence of an injured Sinner) he has had a calmer passage to the quarter-finals. He will need his strength given only six men in History have won the French and US Opens in the same year. Federer could not do it, but Laver, Lendl, Agassi, Nadal, Djokovic and Alcaraz could. All of them except Lendl won all four of the Grand Slam tournaments. Rarefied air, indeed.

Given that President Trump’s entry requirements for America have become increasingly restrictive, is it entirely coincidental that so many Americans have played so well? America has not had a Men’s Champion since Andy Roddick in 2023. This year five made the fourth round and three have proceeded to the quarter-finals, where one match will be an all-American contest: Tiafoe vs Michelsen.  American women have done equally as well- three in the quarters and another all-American contest- Pegula v Navarro.

The top Women’s seed, Sabalenka, provided the week’s moment of mirth. She asked for one of her matches to be halted because she said she could smell someone smoking marijuana in the stands. How did she know what she could smell? This after taking umbrage that the press labelled her a “party girl”! I would have thought the weight of the ‘Belarus bling’ Sabalenka wears on court would be a far greater distraction!

In a week it will all be over for another year. It is almost impossible to comprehend that this Saturday America will commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The tennis truly is a diversion. Last week a viewing of a film about the life of  World War Two French Resistance leader, and later President, Charles de Gaulle, was a reminder of those events that, like 9/11, have defined how we live and what we live for. So too the recent disaster in Nepal where the tragic loss of innocent lives galvanises most to cherish the ineradicable gifts- faith, hope and love.

In an entirely benign, if not ludicrous, manner the agonies and exertions at a Grand Slam tournament do much to remind us of the perspective and priorities we must pursue.  Even if Kennedy did not write it himself, he eloquently delivered the final observation of his Inaugural Address,

“With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth…knowing that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own.”

Tennis, like all human endeavours, can provide worthy entrants to the pantheon of its own making.