By: Sienna Lovelock-Burtt
In the Covid Era, tennis is one of the only sports that has continued undaunted. Tennis is an isolated sport. Unlike many other mainstream sports (e.g. basketball, football, or even hockey), tennis is a sport of only two, or four players. This can be draining on the players, as they are often quite mentally taxed. However, the isolation presents advantages as it is one of the few sports that has consistently continued through COVID, through lockdowns and new waves. Through Covid, the only time a grand slam was cancelled was the Wimbledon Slam in April 2020 - showing the unwise position tennis, as a sport has been in, and the insights it has offered us.
Tennis organisers have had to deal with the unique challenges of COVID. How should players be isolated? As professional athletes, should they have access to training equipment? Can their spouses, and teams travel with them? Should vaccines be mandatory? The 2022 Australian Open just finished, and as one of the four biggest events in the world for tennis, it came out with a firm stance on these rules. As always, the rules will change based on country, and circumstance, but notable moments in Australia include protests and uproars over players and entourages being allowed in under looser quarantine restrictions and a brief period where the open banned “Where is Peng Shuai'' t-shirts.
However, the controversy is the reason that everyone should be keeping their eyes on tennis. Tennis is leading the way on what sports in a COVID world, and possibly a post COVID world must look like.
Over the past couple of years, there's also been a social and political reckoning, that has been echoed in tennis. Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star, came out with rape accusations against a party official in November, joining women worldwide in the #Metoo movement. The post was quickly taken down, and she hasn't been seen in public until recently. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has taken a hardline stance, by suspending all future tournaments in China, one of their biggest markets. In a world where profit is increasingly prioritised, the WTA has shown a commitment to protecting individual players, so far unmatched by other sports.
When Peng Shuai was interviewed recently, she denied her own accusations, however, many suspect the Chinese government may have re-educated her (using forced brainwashing) to change her public opinions.
Examining the latest results of the Australian Open, with Rafael Nadal winning his 21st Grand Slam at 35, breaking his tie with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the title of man with the most grand slams, the standards of fitness are changing. Most tennis players previously peaked in their late-20s. Our culture around fitness and aging, is developing, and the standards have shifted.
The last two years have ensured this world will never be the same - the pandemic has created both challenges, and meaningful opportunities, especially in the realm of sports and fitness. In a digital age, what do sports look like? Who gets to play it? And under what circumstances? Tennis is smashing it.
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