So, the world keeps producing its jolts. The unrelenting reminders of change and mortality.
Ethel Kennedy, Robert Kennedy’s widow, dies aged 96. Her son’s withdrawal from the Presidential election may well have made her comfortable about going to her rest without having to face the existential dilemma of ,whether as a guardian of the Democrat Kennedy family tradition, she could have voted for her renegade son.
Let’s not forget the pathos of Ethel’s life. She was pregnant with her eleventh child, Rory, when her husband was assassinated when campaigning for the Democratic nomination in 1968. Her nephew, John F Kennedy Jr. died when piloting a light plane along with his wife and sister-in-law to attend Rory’s wedding in 1999.
Former President, Jimmy Carter, recently became the first former President to turn 100. He has been living in a hospice for over a year. Carter was the President whose offer of safe refuge to the deposed Shah of Iran in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution accentuated the animus of hatred between Iran and American and Israel that continues to manifest itself in the tragic conflicts of the Middle East. President Carter has stated he desires to stay alive long enough to “vote one more time” and support Kamala Harris.
It is now official. For Rafael Nadal, one of the few athletes whose surname has achieved worldwide recognition, there will be no more one more time. This year’s Davis Cup finals will be his final performance. Nadal’s transformation from the powerful punk of Roland Garros in the early 2000s to philosophical elder statesman is complete: “Everything in life has a beginning and an end” he announced in the video confirming his retirement.
In her final Christmas address England’s Queen Elizabeth observed “that no one lasts for ever.” So why do we keep on mistakenly believing that there are certain people and institutions that will last for ever? Good grief, the Tupperware company, the icon of food storage and organisation for decades, has filed for receivership. Can one imagine a world without “store ‘n’ stack” containers?
For the 1950s and early 1960s Australia’s Prime Minister was Robert Menzies. Many thought he was politically indestructible. A fervent Anglophile, he is remembered for his gushing tribute to the Queen when she visited Canberra. Menzies, like Nadal, chose to retire before the inevitable effects of time became overwhelming. As a tribute to Nadal, may I offer a paraphrase of Menzies’ famous tribute to his monarch:
“We will no longer see his forehand passing by, but we will love his tenacity and humility, memories of which will never die.”
Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, whose 1980 Wimbledon final stands alongside Nadal’s triumph over Federer in the Wimbledon final of 2008 as the greatest Grand Slam final ever played, have now ended their post-career rivalry as rival Captains of Team World and Team Europe at the Laver Cup.
With due respect, the void left by their retirement, will not be easily filled by their successors Andre Agassi and a rather dishevelled looking Yannick Noah!
Whilst Nadal’s legacy is assured, recently elected British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is struggling to gain authority, let alone admiration. He may well have enjoyed the shortest political honeymoon in history. The triumphant electoral hero is now ridiculed as the man who said “sausages” instead of “hostages” at his party’s Conference in reference to the Gaza dispute.
More worryingly, the Prime Minister of the proletariat has been exposed as the emperor with too many expensive clothes having been the recipient of donated suits and eyewear worth an eyewatering 16,000 pounds or more.
Unlike, Nadal many Western leaders- Starmer, Trudeau, Macron and Australia’s Albanese- are struggling to grind their way to emphatic policy victories. All seem mired in a morass of economic stagnation, rising anxiety about immigration levels, an inability for the State to provide the funds required for the Welfare State especially health costs for ageing populations, not to mention the endless debate about the nature and pace of climate change policy, the culture wars, the unaffordable cost of housing, falling educational standards and an increasing array of mental health issues.
And so now the Big Four becomes the last man standing, with Novak Djokovic continuing to play on. As a reminder of his presence, Djokovic, in the week of Nadal’s retirement, reached the final of last week's Shanghai Masters. Unlike President Carter, Djokovic was unable to win “one more” ATP master’s title which would have been his 100th ATP title, a feat only achieved by Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103). Djokovic may well take his chance to reach this milestone at the Belgrade Open in his Serbian homeland from November 2-9.
All the game’s top ranked players will compete in the traditional end-of-season playoffs: for the women it is a showdown in the unlikely venue of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia- a country not known for its encouragement of the emancipation and independence of women- from November 2-9; for the men it is a trip to Turin, where no doubt a legion of Sinner’s fans will be, Italy from November 8-17.
Oh, and let’s not forget there is a Presidential election to consider before then!
Djokovic’s conqueror was Jannik Sinner who will finish the year as the World’s No.1 ranked player. This accomplishment- he is the first Italian to achieve this feat-is mired in controversy.
The world’s anti-doping agency, WADA, announced in late September that it has lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) against the findings of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) that Sinner bore no fault or negligence, despite having twice tested positive for a prohibited substance-clostebol- an anabolic steroid-in March 2024. WADA is seeking to impose a 1-2 year ban on the world’s No.1 tennis player.
Sinner said that the steroid entered his body inadvertently as it was contained in a healing spray used by his physiotherapist to heal a cut on the physiotherapist’s hand. According to Sinner the transfer into his body occurred after being massaged from his physiotherapist.
The tennis world is clearly divided. Half see Sinner as innocent, having shown no criminal intent and is an unlucky victim of misadventure. Half see him as being protected from his strict liability by virtue of his superstar status. Many see him as the victim of WADA's need to prove its worth after its response to allegations of doping of Chinese swimmers were criticised by many as anaemic.
Why should this stark dichotomy not be the case?
The West is equally fractured on many political and cultural fault lines: there seems little moderate debate on immigration , climate change, economic reform and social policy.
No division is greater than that caused by the Middle East conflict. Why is there such division? Israel, a liberal democracy is fighting for its survival against a group of nations committed, through their tyranny, to Israel’s destruction. The willingness of so many to allow virulent antisemitism to flourish because of opposition to Israel’s military strategy has become repugnant. It has infected streets, schools, universities and parliaments around the world.
On a lighter note, a recent trip to Canada confirmed for me that the world is also divided by the following:
-those who understand the ‘Cloud’ and how to ‘back up’ information on IT devices and those who do not;
-those who wear air pods and isolate themselves from civility and those who do not
-those who can survive the orthopaedic challenges of climbing into northern hemisphere bathtubs and those who cannot
-those who can operate plumbing, especially shower controls in foreign hotels and those who cannot
-those who are on ocean cruises and those who are not
-those who are appalled by Christmas mince pies appearing in supermarkets in August and those who are not.
On one thing we can all surely agree. Western nations have mastered the ability of breakfast television to be a tidal wave of inanity.
Why is one confronted at a time of the day’s greatest promise with a panel of unnaturally polished and perky presenters who see it as their task to have you “wake up with us”?
Their dialogue is universally banal: “Good morning everyone, you will pleased to know that Luigi the cat that went missing yesterday has been found up a tree and rescued by the local fire Department and in breaking news Hezbollah forces have launched another rocket attack on Tel Aviv. Happy Monday everyone.”
Strange days, indeed!
Nadal’s retirement recalled the wonderful lyrics of the Repton hymn, ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.’ For Nadal, his tennis strivings have now ceased.
We still wait for the “still dews of quietness to take from our souls the strain and stress and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.”
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