Mixed titles and messages...

Only in America! You might have missed it, but last week the US Open changed Grand Slam tennis. Again. Remember the Americans, always conscious of their TV schedules, were the first to introduce the drama of the tie-break in the deciding set of matches. Last week they introduced a shoot-out version of the Mixed Doubles titles. Sixteen teams were selected- some it seems solely on their  telegenic appeal – see Alacraz and Raducanu- to compete for the title over a helter-skelter three days, which seems to be the time Trump wants his National Guard to clean up Washington DC, along with other blighted urban landscapes.

If matches were tied at one-set all, then the American invention of the ten-point tiebreak was used to decide the winners of a match.

For all of the new format, French wisdom prevailed. "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose". Indeed. This year’s champions were last year’s with the Italian pairing of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori victorious.

All around the world it seems much is mixed, rushed and confused.

Putin, Trump and Zelensky cross continents and oceans, but closer to the Black Sea the Ukraine conflict is no closer to resolution.  

Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has no difficulty in describing Russia as the “illegal, immoral aggressor” in Ukraine. Neither he nor his Foreign Minister, can utter the same truth about the Hamas terrorist organisation. This is not just a mixed message; it is a moral failure.

In Australia our Treasurer, finally realising the truth of Thatcher’s observations that “even socialist governments run out of other people’s money to spend” summoned the nation’s economic great and good for a productivity ‘roundtable’ in Canberra. The aim was to design policies to reinvigorate a sluggish national economy. All well and good. Except, that at the same time some State governments are considering legislating a right for people to work from home two days a week. Say Goodbye to Hollywood!

Two days at home will be an excuse for most Australians to extend their weekends. Everyone notices how near deserted the roads are on a Friday and Monday in most Australian cities.  Australians love their sport and long weekends and soon they will not have to rort their sick leave to have one every week.  Not sure that this will ever be the case in Singapore, Seoul or Taipei.

Speaking of sport, at the end of next month AFL Grand Final will be held on the seminal last Saturday in September. The governing body of the Australian Football League has once again demonstrated the myopic cultural cringe that Australia thought it had outgrown.

The AFL have booked American Snoop Dogg to provide pre-match ‘entertainment’. Once again, the messages are mixed.  In the same week as a player was suspended for a homophobic slur on a football field, Snoop Dogg is seen on a video smoking cannabis and denouncing same-sex parents. Never mind that his personal history would disqualify him from obtaining an entry visa to most countries. Time to cancel the contract!

If Snoop Dogg has an image problem, then so too does former tennis champions. Serena Williams. For so long a totemic image of female strength and athleticism, Serena has become the poster girl for the weight loss drug Ozempic. Complaining that she was struggling to lose weight after the birth of her second child, Williams is now trumpeting an injectable drug. Serena, you are admired for so many things. How many accomplished women must wonder why you now consider conforming to a sexualised image of thinness is your highest priority.

If the American Open rushed to have its Mixed Doubles completed, are we paying an enormous social price for living a rushed life?

Recent statistics indicate that  1/10 Australian children aged 5-10 are now beneficiaries of the National Disability Insurance Scheme because of conditions linked to anxiety, especially autism and ADHS. There are similar concerns in similar countries- US, Canada, UK- about the ballooning levels of these diagnoses. If it does take a whole village to raise a child, are children in Western societies paying too high a price for mixed message about what successful parenthood involves?

No doubt there are many reasons for the modern malaises of childhood, some of which we may still not know. However, is too much cognitive damage being done to children growing up in technologically saturated, but conversationally and culturally starved households that often do not know their neighbours, yet alone their surrounding village?

The US Open has begun and already has broadened the scope of the world’s tennis village. Following on from the recent tournament victory of Victoria Mboko, a player of Congolese origin in Toronto, Alexandra Eala has served up a further slice of tennis’ globalisation.  With a thrilling 13-11 tiebreak first-round win in the final set against 14^th seed Clara Tauson, Eala is the first player from the Philippines to win a round match at a Grand Slam tournament. A junior Grand Slam champion at the US Open in 2022, she is currently ranked no.199 in the world.

Results in New York are often more mixed and mysterious than at any other Grand Slam. This year will Sinner be able to survive the sultry days and nights to defend his title? Will Sabalenka regain her confidence to defeat Swiatek? Will Coco Gauff rediscover an effective serve? Will Djokovic be able to keep body and soul together to mount a credible challenge? Will either of the young American guns, Fritz and Shelton, be able to win a first Grand Slam title?

The mysteries and mixed results in tennis are part of the fascination of sport in general.

Too many, however, in our broader social arenas are having to endure the consequences of mixed messages and policies. Not surprisingly, more than a few find it harder and harder to respect the expectations of the social contract.