Monday, January 31, 2022

World of Tennis needs a power shakeup

Monica Seles, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic

In no other sport are the major events held at the same venues year after year after year. Australia,France,UK and USA have been holding the grand slams among them forever. These countries are way too similar to each other economically, culturally, militarily and demographically. It actively hinders the players from different cultural and economic milieus to rise up. Think of the cost of travel for someone from India to these countries especially for an upcoming player who doesn't yet have much in the way of earnings. Or the hostile crowds which have greeted players like Novak and Medvedev. Why can't the Grand slam venues rotate like other sports? Won't it result in better opportunities for players in India, Russia, Bangladesh etc?

Monica Seles was playing in Germany when she was stabbed in the back by a fan of Stefi Graf. Had she been playing in her home country that day, she wouldn't have been stabbed and would have won 40 slams. Graf would have been the dirt of her feet.

Had that stabbing incident happened in any non-western(non-white) country, chances are that country would have been blacklisted from holding international matches. But it's Germany. Everything goes.

Same for the booing of players like Medvedev, Novak. If audience of other countries indulged in this shitty level of booing, international media would explode in outrage. But who can rage against NATO allies?

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