April 1, 2017. Modern
tennis. I’ve been watching professional
tennis for decades. Oh, the days of
Rosewall, Laver, Ashe and others. Those
were the days! One thing I always noted was that pro tennis players were the
models of decorum. Until, that is, the
time of Jimmy Conners, a rather emotional player, and John McEnroe, a player
given to temper. They were the
exceptions at the very top. On the whole, emotional reservation of players was
the rule. But lately, we see younger
players expressing extreme emotions on the court. Case in point: Federer (age 35, and old with
established talent) vs Grygio (age 21, and young with great talent) at the
Miami Open, 2017.
Loud swearing is
common. Breaking tennis rackets is
everyday. It is something like the
frustrated player, bothered by poor playing or bad luck, can deflect the blame
onto his racket by smashing it. I think
we see this in our younger generation, using violence to express frustration if
their situation is not as desired.
The moral of this story is that if you don’t like the
outcome, blame it – but not on you.
Proof: It is
not often “proof” is given to “morality,” but here it is, as morality is
principally a state of values in time.
Many commentators review the antics of Grygios gain him a greater
following. This reveals approval, support, and favor. This establishes acceptance of on-court poor
behavior.
In sports and other modern events, it seems morality
is an inviscid fluid, changing hourly.
In our present case, Roger Federer defeated Nick Grygios. Nick responded to the final (losing) point by
destroying his racket, and hardly congratulating his opponent.
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BTW, Federer went on to win the Miami Open, his long
time opponent, Rafael Nadal behaving in the traditional manner of good sportsmanship.
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