Sam Stosur and Nick Kyrgios have some new friends in Naomi Osaka (French Open) and gymnast Simone Biles (Olympics). Athletes who think that they have failed to live up to expectations—whether it be parents, peer group, coach or media.
Regrettably media these days have jumped on the band wagon wanting to label it as “mental illness”. It’s not, it never was.
Competitive sports put athletes under pressure to perform. And any major championship increases the pressure exponentially.
My good Scottish friend, Johnson Brown, put it succinctly: “you’ve got to ask the question”. What Johnson meant was to give your opposition a chance to miss. Equally, you are often asking the same question of yourself.
On a personal note I well remember scouting an opponent with my coach before a major championship final. Says the well meaning coach — “The guy can’t play, you’ll have no problem…”. Fast forward to next day’s final. There’s a big crowd. It’s 5 all in the third set! Enter my demon: “the guy can’t play” — not a subtle message demon —clearly I can’t play either!! And I, and the crowd, know it! Or that’s what my demon wants me to believe.
Choking, jitters, twisties and baulks in major competitions are part of the game. It happens to all athletes from time to time. We all succumb at some point, under pressure — and particularly when the competition is beyond our level of experience. It’s very difficult to win a Grand Slam and particularly at your first go. Closer to home recall Bosko playing Rimmo in the club singles final. Bosko confided he knew what to do but couldn’t execute on the day against a more experienced player.
Quoting Olympic gold medal-winning rower Kim Brennan: “Everyone has their angel and demon sitting on their shoulder,” she says. “The demon is always going to be there. You train yourself to accept that everyone’s got them. I bet Ariarne Titmus has her demons. But you get comfortable with it. You say, “Hi old friend, I knew you were coming. That’s nice. But I’m going to keep doing what I’ve trained myself to do’.”
Therein lies part of the answer (training/process) about how to handle competitive pressure.
Research shows us that our minds contain two systems. The first acts instinctively and requires little effort — it’s based on our evolutionary fight or flight tendencies—and easily fueled by our demon. The second (our angel) is more deliberate and requires much more of our attention.
Our thoughts and actions vary depending on which of the two systems is in control of our brain at the time. The key question then is how to ‘reset’ Mildred to Angel mode when competing. By the way, part of the solution is to ‘name’ your fears and move the goal posts. Mildred is the name I give to my mind, really the first brain that ‘runs the system’.
Another personal note: “I’ve never beaten Jimmy Parker” says my dubs partner before we have to play a USTA dubs championship final. Parker has just won the World singles championship for the age group. You mean ‘Jimmy Buffet’ says Pam, using humour to diminish the power of his name before we take to the court. It was a hard match but we managed a win.
You’re more creative and intuitive when you’re in a better mood. When you’re in a better mood (Angel), the part of the mind that is alert and analytical tends to relax. That cedes control of Mildred to her more intuitive and quicker thinking capacity — key to competitive tennis!
So how do you reset Mildred under pressure. You’ve got 25 seconds between points, 90 seconds when changing ends.
Rhythm is the key here. Normal sinus rhythm is 60 beats a minute. This is the rate when your breathing and heart rate are in sync. Under stress, this can change dramatically — eg shortness of breath in panic mode.
Most players have a natural playing rhythm. Agassi played very fast, Djokovic and Nadal much slower than Federer. Barty plays fast.
Serving is the one time you actually have control of the point — witness Djokovic’s 12 plus ball bounces during a tie breaker. He is trying to sync his rhythm. So apart from ‘buying time’ by bouncing the ball, what are some other ways to reset Mildred.
Several years ago, we had the ‘Russian Ritual’. Recall Sharapova turning her back to the court/opponent and adjusting her strings for a few seconds. Or more recently Nadal’s approach which is to adjust his gear and brush his ear before serving.
A better way is to monitor/relax your breathing. Recall from above that you’re trying to keep your heart and head (no pun intended) in sync.
I teach a basic 4/7/8 breath schedule to calm Mildred down when players feel under pressure. Breathe in to a long count of 4, hold for 7 and breath out, stretching your diaphragm for a count of 8. Repeat as often as necessary.
Lastly, you have to learn to ‘play’ rather than to ‘hit strokes’. Recall our Olympic rower Kim Brennan’s comment above about ‘training yourself’. Perfection is to learn to ‘play on the other side of the net’ which few achieve.
Too often we are so focused on our own game (and particularly strokes) that we forget that we are competing against other players. Hence the old adage: ‘a good player will always beat a good hitter’. But that’s a much bigger topic for another day.
Vale Kevin Edwards
/in Club News, Goss /by RobKevin Edwards or Kev as he was fondly known passed away peacefully yesterday surrounded by family.
As most of you will know Kev has been part of the Club for around 20 years. He started off helping with the Seaside tournament, then was asked to work as our barman. Kev was more than a barman he was an integral part of Manly Lawn Tennis Club. He knew everyone by name and their drink. He was someone you could talk to and I personally enjoyed his stories about life before retirement as well as his informed tips on the weekends rugby and rugby league results.
On Saturday, he always made sure we had cheese and crackers on the bar when our players had finished their matches. If he wasn’t in the bar he out the back chopping up cheese squares. He always arrived early and didn’t leave until everyone was finished, Kev was part of some big nights at the bar.
Kev was an exceptional person, friendly, reliable and honest and will be sadly missed by all that have known him. We pass on our condolences to Alison his wife and his daughter’s Leone and Vicki, son in laws and four grandchildren.
Due to COVID only family will be able to attend the funeral that will he held next Thursday 12 August 2021 at 11am through Maurer Family Funerals. There will be a video link that I will pass on closer to the date.
Virginia
Secretary MLTC
Angels & Demons on Court | AskThePro
/in Ask the Pro /by RobSam Stosur and Nick Kyrgios have some new friends in Naomi Osaka (French Open) and gymnast Simone Biles (Olympics). Athletes who think that they have failed to live up to expectations—whether it be parents, peer group, coach or media.
Regrettably media these days have jumped on the band wagon wanting to label it as “mental illness”. It’s not, it never was.
Competitive sports put athletes under pressure to perform. And any major championship increases the pressure exponentially.
My good Scottish friend, Johnson Brown, put it succinctly: “you’ve got to ask the question”. What Johnson meant was to give your opposition a chance to miss. Equally, you are often asking the same question of yourself.
On a personal note I well remember scouting an opponent with my coach before a major championship final. Says the well meaning coach — “The guy can’t play, you’ll have no problem…”. Fast forward to next day’s final. There’s a big crowd. It’s 5 all in the third set! Enter my demon: “the guy can’t play” — not a subtle message demon —clearly I can’t play either!! And I, and the crowd, know it! Or that’s what my demon wants me to believe.
Choking, jitters, twisties and baulks in major competitions are part of the game. It happens to all athletes from time to time. We all succumb at some point, under pressure — and particularly when the competition is beyond our level of experience. It’s very difficult to win a Grand Slam and particularly at your first go. Closer to home recall Bosko playing Rimmo in the club singles final. Bosko confided he knew what to do but couldn’t execute on the day against a more experienced player.
Quoting Olympic gold medal-winning rower Kim Brennan: “Everyone has their angel and demon sitting on their shoulder,” she says. “The demon is always going to be there. You train yourself to accept that everyone’s got them. I bet Ariarne Titmus has her demons. But you get comfortable with it. You say, “Hi old friend, I knew you were coming. That’s nice. But I’m going to keep doing what I’ve trained myself to do’.”
Therein lies part of the answer (training/process) about how to handle competitive pressure.
Research shows us that our minds contain two systems. The first acts instinctively and requires little effort — it’s based on our evolutionary fight or flight tendencies—and easily fueled by our demon. The second (our angel) is more deliberate and requires much more of our attention.
Our thoughts and actions vary depending on which of the two systems is in control of our brain at the time. The key question then is how to ‘reset’ Mildred to Angel mode when competing. By the way, part of the solution is to ‘name’ your fears and move the goal posts. Mildred is the name I give to my mind, really the first brain that ‘runs the system’.
Another personal note: “I’ve never beaten Jimmy Parker” says my dubs partner before we have to play a USTA dubs championship final. Parker has just won the World singles championship for the age group. You mean ‘Jimmy Buffet’ says Pam, using humour to diminish the power of his name before we take to the court. It was a hard match but we managed a win.
You’re more creative and intuitive when you’re in a better mood. When you’re in a better mood (Angel), the part of the mind that is alert and analytical tends to relax. That cedes control of Mildred to her more intuitive and quicker thinking capacity — key to competitive tennis!
So how do you reset Mildred under pressure. You’ve got 25 seconds between points, 90 seconds when changing ends.
Rhythm is the key here. Normal sinus rhythm is 60 beats a minute. This is the rate when your breathing and heart rate are in sync. Under stress, this can change dramatically — eg shortness of breath in panic mode.
Most players have a natural playing rhythm. Agassi played very fast, Djokovic and Nadal much slower than Federer. Barty plays fast.
Serving is the one time you actually have control of the point — witness Djokovic’s 12 plus ball bounces during a tie breaker. He is trying to sync his rhythm. So apart from ‘buying time’ by bouncing the ball, what are some other ways to reset Mildred.
Several years ago, we had the ‘Russian Ritual’. Recall Sharapova turning her back to the court/opponent and adjusting her strings for a few seconds. Or more recently Nadal’s approach which is to adjust his gear and brush his ear before serving.
A better way is to monitor/relax your breathing. Recall from above that you’re trying to keep your heart and head (no pun intended) in sync.
I teach a basic 4/7/8 breath schedule to calm Mildred down when players feel under pressure. Breathe in to a long count of 4, hold for 7 and breath out, stretching your diaphragm for a count of 8. Repeat as often as necessary.
Lastly, you have to learn to ‘play’ rather than to ‘hit strokes’. Recall our Olympic rower Kim Brennan’s comment above about ‘training yourself’. Perfection is to learn to ‘play on the other side of the net’ which few achieve.
Too often we are so focused on our own game (and particularly strokes) that we forget that we are competing against other players. Hence the old adage: ‘a good player will always beat a good hitter’. But that’s a much bigger topic for another day.
New powers, new fines as police crackdown on non-compliance | Northern Beaches Council
/in Club News, COVID /by RobNSW Police will be out monitoring the beaches this weekend.
The increased police presence is part of a Sydney-wide operation that will see thousands of police officers deployed across Greater Sydney from the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, Police Transport Command and general duties to enforce the health orders.
Earlier this week, the NSW government announced enhanced police powers, additional fines and tighter new rules that will spearhead the enforcement response against people who refuse to do the right thing during a global pandemic, including:
• new powers that have been granted to the NSW Police Commissioner to shut down businesses, construction sites and public premises where there is a risk to public health; and
• penalties for not wearing a mask where required increased from $200 to $500.
Northern Beaches Council rangers, together with the Local Area Command will be actively monitoring the beaches and public spaces to ensure everyone is doing the right thing.
Call Crime Stoppers on 1300 333 000
www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/council/news/new-powers-new-fines-police-crackdown-on-non-compliance
Novak Djokovic Loses in Olympics Men’s Semifinal
/in Goss, News /by RobNovak Djokovic’s dream of a Golden Slam is over.
Alexander Zverev of Germany stormed back from a set and a service break down to beat Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 ranked men’s player, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinal of the Olympic tournament.
Djokovic was attempting to win all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic gold medal in a calendar year. He had won the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon and came to Tokyo looking for the fourth jewel. The United States Open takes place at the end of the summer.
Djokovic appeared to be on cruise control when be broke Zverev’s serve to get to within three games of the match in the second set. Zverev swatted a ball through the stadium roof in frustration and looked destined to meet with a quick end like Djokovic’s first four victims in Tokyo. He had not lost a set at the Olympics and said he was getting better with each match.
But with little to lose, Zverev began unleashing his booming serve and setting up a crushing forehand to take control of the match, just as Djokovic started inexplicably spraying his shots off the court.
Zverev said he felt that even though he was down in the match he did not feel like he was playing poorly. Rather, he was playing Djokovic’s game, getting into rallies with him instead of swinging through the ball and using his superior power to control the points.
With the flick of a switch, Zverev had Djokovic on his heels, pushing him farther and farther into the back of the court.
Djokovic tried to slow Zverev’s momentum with a long bathroom break between the second and third set, as he has done in tense moments in the past, but it didn’t work, and in the two-of-three set format he did not have the cushion afforded by the format of three-of-five set matches at Grand Slam tournaments.
After Zverev reeled off seven consecutive games with seeming ease, sprinting to 4-0 lead in the deciding set, Djokovic faced a mountain too difficult even for a player who had already staged several stunning comebacks in the first three Grand Slams this year.
As a final insult, Zverev broke Djokovic’s serve for a third time in the last set to take the match. He grabbed his face in disbelief and embraced the Serbian champion at the net when it was over, then stared at the sky wondering what had just happened.
“I was thinking that I had a medal for Germany and this is probably the proudest moment of my career,” Zverev said. “The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world.”
Zverev said as he embraced Djokovic at the net, he had nothing but praise for the player who has 20 Grand Slam titles and had a 6-2 record against him entering the match. He told him that he would go down as the greatest player in the history of the sport, that he would win the most Grand Slams, and the most Masters titles and spend more weeks as the top player in the world than anyone.
“I knew he was chasing a Golden Slam but you can’t win everything,” Zverev said. “I told him he was the greatest player of all time, but I’m sorry.”
Djokovic skipped the post-match press availability to cool off and prepare for his mixed doubles semifinal with Nina Stojanovic, which was scheduled for Friday night. He is scheduled to play Pablo Carreño Busta in the bronze medal match on Saturday.
source: New York Times
Sydney Badge – COVID Announcement
/in Badge, Club News /by RobUnfortunately the NSW Government has extended the Sydney lockdown until Friday the 27th August.
This means there will be no more play for the remainder of the Badge seasons.
We are working through options for the clubs and will be in contact next week with the next steps.
Stay safe and have a great weekend!
Kind Regards,
TNSW Competitions
Nathan Keys
Competitions Coordinator | Tennis NSW
MLTC President’s Message
/in Club News, COVID /by RobHope everyone is staying well during the lockdown!
We are very lucky to play a sport that allows us to be able to exercise during these restrictions. For this to continue it is essential that all players follow all the health protocols, wear a mask when signing in, arrive on time for your allotted playing time and , limit the time at the court waiting and leave prompting after your game. Can I also encourage all members to contact other members to organise a hit especially during member playing times when courts are available free to all members.
Behind the scenes there has been a lot happening this year.
The Committee has decided to move our accounting system over to Xero from MYOB. We will start using “ In tennis” as our Club management system. This will enable us to streamline our Membership base and improve connectivity to members and more importantly allow better systems that require less manual input.
It has been many years since membership fees have been increased, from September 1 when you will be invoiced there will be a slight increase in fees.
I hope everyone stays strong during these testing times.
Craig Withell
President
Lockdown Extended to Sat 28 August
/in Club News, COVID /by RobGiven low vaccination rates, the current stay at home orders will remain in place for another four weeks (until Saturday, 28 August at 12.01am) across Greater Sydney including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour.
This extra time will allow NSW residents to significantly increase the uptake of vaccines in areas most affected by the current outbreak and across the state.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said higher vaccination rates and following the health orders are the only way to guarantee the further easing of restrictions.
“Though the Pfizer supply is insufficient there is plenty of AstraZeneca, and updated federal health advice recommends anyone aged 18 and over in Greater Sydney should access the jab,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“If you are unvaccinated, please organise a jab as soon as you possibly can, especially if you live in an LGA of concern.”
Other restriction changes are as follows:
From midnight tonight (28 July):
The five previously announced LGAs of concern are Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Blacktown and Cumberland.
From 12.01am, Saturday, 31 July:
Changes to surveillance testing (enforceable from Saturday, 31 July):
Year 12 students are also set to return to face-to-face learning on Monday, 16 August, with the Government finalising plans for the resumption of in-class study under strict COVID protocols.
The NSW Government is also working with industry and the Department of Education to introduce Rapid Antigen Testing to mitigate against outbreaks in workplaces and schools.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said restrictions in regional NSW will remain unchanged.
“The lockdown in Greater Sydney and every measure and precaution we implement is not only for the residents of Sydney but to protect regional NSW and to prevent the virus reaching our regional communities,” Mr Barilaro said.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet welcomed the Commonwealth Government’s commitment to provide additional support for those hardest hit during this pandemic.
“Working with our federal counterparts we are providing extra support to ensure the businesses and people who have been hit hardest by this pandemic get the financial assistance they need to get through this crisis and back on the path to recovery,” Mr Perrottet said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said though the stay-at-home restrictions are difficult for the community this is a critical time if we are to suppress the outbreak.
“The vast majority of the community has been absolutely fantastic to date and have followed the public health advice. Though we are easing some restrictions today we need people to redouble their efforts as we continue to battle the Delta variant in the coming weeks,” Mr Hazzard said.
“We need people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary to leave and the best reason for most people to leave home right now is to get vaccinated. In doing so, you are taking a vital step to protect yourself, your loved ones and the community.”
For the latest information visit COVID-19.
The Best Sport for a Longer Life? Try Tennis.
/in News, Tennis4Life /by RobThe study found that adults who reported frequently participating in tennis or other racket and team sports lived longer than people who were sedentary. But they also lived longer than people who took part in reliably healthy but often solitary activities such as jogging, swimming and cycling.
The results raise interesting questions about the role that social interactions might play in augmenting the benefits of exercise.
At this point, no one doubts that being physically active improves our health and can extend our longevity. Multiple, recent epidemiological studies have pinpointed links between regular exercise and longer lives in men and women.
But whether some activities might be better than others for lengthening life spans remains in dispute. One widely publicized 2017 study of more than 80,000 British men and women found that those who played racket sports tended to outlive those who jogged.
Those results piqued the interest of an international group of scientists. They previously had examined links between jogging and longevity and concluded that moderate amounts of moderately paced running led to greater gains in longevity than more-gentle or strenuous running.
For the new study, which was published this week in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, these same researchers decided to widen their inquiry and look at a variety of sports and their associations with life and premature death.
To start, they turned to the same data resource they had used for the jogging study, the Copenhagen City Heart Study, an ambitious, ongoing attempt to track the lives and health of thousands of men and women in Copenhagen.
The study’s participants had all completed health exams and lengthy questionnaires about their lifestyles and whether and how often they took part in eight sports common in Denmark, including cycling, swimming, running, tennis, soccer and, perhaps unexpectedly, badminton.
The researchers zeroed in on 8,600 of the participants who had been part of the study for about 25 years.
They cross-referenced records with the national death registry to see if and when any of these people had passed away.
Then they compared activities and life spans.
The most obvious finding was that people who had reported almost never exercising were more likely than the active to have died in the ensuing decades.
The associations between particular activities and life span were more surprising.
Cycling was the most popular activity among the Danes in the study, many of whom reported riding for four or more hours every week. Their pedaling was associated with a lengthier life span, adding an average of 3.7 years to riders’ lives, compared to sedentary Danes.
Running likewise was associated with an extra 3.2 years of life.
But these gains were notably less than for playing tennis, which was linked to 9.7 added years of life, or badminton, which was linked to an extra 6.2 years, or soccer, which added almost 5 years to players’ lives.
These associations remained unchanged even when the researchers controlled for people’s education, socioeconomic status and age.
Why and how some sports might add more years to people’s lives than others is impossible to know from this kind of observational study, says Dr. James O’Keefe, a study co-author and the director of preventive cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute at Saint Luke’s Health Center in Kansas City.
The differing physical demands of some sports could play a role, he says, although little of the exercise in this study was heavily intense, whether people were cycling or backhanding a shuttlecock.
Income and other aspects of people’s lifestyles also likely matter, he says. The researchers tried to account for socioeconomic factors, but it remains possible, he says, that people who have sufficient money and leisure time to play tennis live longer because they have sufficient money and leisure time, not because they play tennis.
Still, he suspects that the social aspects of racket games and other team sports are a primary reason that they seem to lengthen lives, he says.
“We know from other research that social support provides stress mitigation,” he says.
“So being with other people, playing and interacting with them, as you do when you play games that require a partner or a team, probably has unique psychological and physiological effects,” he says, amplifying the benefits of the exercise.
That possibility requires verification, he says, especially in randomized experiments directly comparing different types of exercise.
But for now, people who run or ride solo might consider finding a group or partner with whom to work out, he says.
“Raising your heart rate is important” for health, he says. “But it looks like connecting with other people is, too.”
NYT: How Walking Can Build Up the Brain
/in Ask the Pro, News, Tennis4Life /by RobHow Walking, Dancing, Tennis Can Build Up the Brain
Exercise can freshen and renovate the white matter in our brains, potentially improving our ability to think and remember as we age, according to a new study of walking, dancing (tennis) and brain health.
Read More | Print & PDF
Face mask rules | NSW Government
/in COVID, News /by RobWhen to wear a face mask
There are rules for wearing a fitted face covering (face mask)
You do not need to wear a face mask when you are
Public transport
You must wear a face mask in NSW when
Residential buildings: Greater Sydney
From Tuesday 13 July 2021, in Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour, residents, staff and visitors must wear a fitted face mask in indoors area of common property in residential buildings.
You do not need to wear a mask inside your own apartment.
Find out more about the Greater Sydney rules for wearing a face mask in a residential building.
Non-residential indoor areas
You must wear a fitted face mask when you are in an indoor area of a non-residential premises in NSW.
Examples of the areas where a face mask must be worn are
indoor areas on common property of a strata titled, community titled, or company titled building
indoor areas of construction sites
any part of a licensed premises that is used for the purposes of gaming, and gaming lounges
You must wear a face mask if you
Premises that are used for the purpose of providing health services are not retail or business premises.
Airports and commercial domestic flights
Face mask rules apply to airports and commercial domestic flights across NSW.
You must wear a face mask when
www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/face-mask-rules
Restrictions to further limit the spread of the COVID-19 Delta strain
/in Club News, COVID /by RobGiven the number of infectious cases in the community, the following changes will be made to further limit the spread of the COVID-19 Delta strain.
On the basis of updated health advice, the following changes come into effect across Greater Sydney including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour until 11.59pm on Friday, 30 July:
From 11.59pm on Saturday, 17 July:
From 12.01am on Monday, 19 July:
From 12.01am on Wednesday, 21 July:
We are constantly reviewing the health advice and will continue to update the community if any changes are required.
All other restrictions currently in place across Greater Sydney including the Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour will remain in place.
These decisions have not been made lightly and we understand this is a difficult time for the community and appreciate their ongoing patience.
It is vital people continue to come forward for testing to help us find any COVID-19 cases in the community.
Restrictions in regional NSW remain unchanged.
Read the latest COVID-19 information.
www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/restrictions-to-further-limit-spread-of-covid-19-delta-strain
Why Tennis Stars Are Saying No to the Tokyo Olympics – WSJ
/in Goss /by RobThe sport’s biggest names are withdrawing from the Games left and right. Even Novak Djokovic is on the fence during his historic season.
Roger Federer won’t be playing in the Tokyo Olympics. He won a silver medal in men’s singles at the 2012 Games.
PHOTO: CARL COURT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES Joshua Robinson
Novak Djokovic entered the tennis season aiming to pull off something no man has ever managed in the sport: a sweep of all four major tournaments, plus a gold medal in the Olympic singles tournament. And after dominating Wimbledon earlier this month, he’s now most of the way there.
Yet even with history on the line, Djokovic is having second thoughts about making the trip to Tokyo. So are plenty of others in the tennis world with far less to play for. There are no rankings points or prize money on offer and these summer Olympics are set to be the most restrictive in history due to pandemic regulations.
So while athletes in most Olympic sports are determined to get to Tokyo no matter what, the list of tennis stars who have already withdrawn reads like a roster of the sport’s most famous names. Roger Federer on Tuesday became the latest to withdraw from contention, citing a setback to his surgically repaired right knee. He joined Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem, 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, top-ranked American Sofia Kenin, and Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, who all pulled out to better prepare for the U.S. Open, which begins in late August.
“Obviously I want to play the Olympics, I want to represent my country. It’s a dream for me,” said men’s No. 10 Denis Shapovalov, of Canada. “But it’s really tough with these restrictions. It puts a lot of pressure on you.”
Serena Williams won a gold medal in women’s singles in 2012 but won’t be going to Tokyo.
PHOTO: TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS
One player with definite plans to be there is Japan’s Naomi Osaka. After skipping the French Open and Wimbledon, citing mental-health concerns, she is set to be one of the faces of the Games.
WSJ NEWSLETTER
Notes on the News
The news of the week in context, with Tyler Blint-Welsh.
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Women’s world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty said after her Wimbledon win on Saturday that she also plans to go—even though it means she will now spend a total of up to eight months away from her native Australia. But Djokovic, her counterpart on the men’s side, remains on the fence.
“My plan was always to go to the Olympic Games,” he said after winning his 20th Grand Slam title at the All England Club on Sunday. “But right now I’m a little bit divided. It’s kind of 50/50 because of what I heard in the last couple days.”
Djokovic was stunned that the bubble around the Athletes’ Village might be so tight that he wouldn’t be allowed to watch other events in person or bring along key members of his team, like his racket stringer.
So rather than strain to fly halfway around the world, many would just prefer to head straight to the North American hard court circuit and prepare for their runs at Flushing Meadows, where a round of 16 appearance alone is worth $250,000 in prize money. Kyrgios, for instance, said he felt less than 100% physically and preferred to spend the time recovering than taking a chance at a tournament that had so little going for it.
“It’s been my dream to represent Australia at the Olympics and I know I may never get that opportunity again,” he wrote on Twitter. “But I also know myself. The thought of playing in front of empty stadiums just doesn’t sit right with me. It never has.”
Athletes have known for months that no fans from outside Japan would be allowed to attend events. But Tokyo organizers only announced in the past two weeks that not even domestic supporters would be in the stands.
Rafael Nadal won gold in men’s singles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
PHOTO: ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
For tennis, that would be a return to the dark days of last fall, when the U.S. Open and Roland-Garros unfolded in virtual silence. Players hated it. And this season, every new tournament has brought them closer to the atmospheres they remembered in the pre-pandemic world.
This June in Paris, authorities unexpectedly lifted a curfew so that 5,000 people could watch the epic conclusion of the French Open semifinal between Djokovic and Nadal. And by July in London, British authorities had opened up enough to fill the stands completely at the men’s and women’s singles finals on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
Players also enjoyed looser controls than they did during last year’s brutal season. The idea of going back into that environment in Tokyo is more than some can handle.
“It was a lot to do with the restrictions, being in the bubble again, this whole situation,” Shapovalov said. “It’s not easy mentally for anybody. That was a big part of the decision.”
www.wsj.com/articles/tokyo-olympics-tennis-djokovic-federer-serena-11626275677