It is always difficult to talk or even write about a player when that player keeps throwing curveballs at you, especially when you are trying to define them. People have different ways of looking at players, and defining them. Some are warriors because of their fight on court, or the feistiness that comes from how they perform both on and off the court. Others are icy because they show coolness and detachment throughout the course of their careers. They never seem to be bothered. With Naomi Osaka, I see all of those attributes and then some. She is to me the quintessential Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde.
What history looks like 👀#AusOpen #SleepIsForTheWeak pic.twitter.com/UCqiMmr503— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2019
In her match against Pliskova, on almost every single point that I watched in the third set, she was screaming at her fist and shouting come ons. She was as in your face as I have ever seen her. In her match against Kvitova, there seemed to be some amount of restraint, especially as the match got tight. This was even more pronounced during the trophy ceremony when neither woman seemed to be enjoying the spotlight that was about to be thrown on them.
Petra appeared less than exuberant about reliving what must undoubtedly have been a tragic situation when she was attacked in her home, but there was also the look of complete and utter disappointment. That was understandable, but usually players are able to hide that disappointment either behind tears or a smile. This time, there was nothing. On the other side of the court there was Osaka, looking as glum as I have ever seen her. It could have been because she was dreading the fact that she would have to stand in front of thousands of people and speak or maybe she was sad because she had beaten someone who everyone was rooting for. Who knows but the trophy ceremony was a downer.
The tennis media, always ready with the narratives about players, have taken up the baton (championed by none other than Jon Wertheim) who started the ball rolling that Osaka would now be able to have the celebration that she did not have in New York. He said this when Osaka was 5-3 up and with 3 match points on the Kvitova serve. As we now know that was a bit premature as Kvitova would stage a comeback (there is that word again) while Osaka had a monumental brain fart on court.
Watching from the comfort of my living room, Osaka’s celebration was just as muted as it was in New York. Never forget that during the trophy ceremony when the announcer wished to make it about the controversy between Serena and the umpire, it was Serena who stopped everyone in their tracks and told the crowd to celebrate Osaka. Imagine being able to stand on the biggest arena in tennis, swallow your disappointment about losing and tell a crowd of over 30,000 rowdy fans to stop booing and start cheering the champion. That little nugget of information seemed to have escaped everyone when they write about the US Open.
In the lead up to the Australian Open final, the media, as it does, decided to turn a young woman who had fought and clawed her way from No. 72 in the WTA rankings a year ago into a victim. They did not celebrate her rise. They did not celebrate what she and her team were able to do. They did not talk about her fitness regimen. They did not talk about her tactics or the improvement in her mental game. All they did was make her into someone that we needed to feel empathy and pity for, because she did not allegedly get to celebrate a championship win. If that is not the definition of sexism, I don’t know what it is. The fact that many women in the tennis media chose to jump on that particular bandwagon really grates on my nerve.
Osaka is not a champion who is going to hit you with her bombast. She is not going to have cheery responses or fantastic one liners. She is shy and a bit timid. That side of her goes off into a place to hide once she steps onto the court. The difference between the in your face challenger and the almost child is stark. It reminds me of another entertainer who said a long time ago that she has dual personalities. She is Beyonce in real life but once she steps onto the stage she is Sasha Fierce. To me that is Naomi. It could partially stem from her dual heritage. Watching her bow solemnly to everyone on the stage, all the while not realizing that she could have placed that huge trophy on the pedestal (why it took everyone so long to realise that she could barely lift the trophy is for another time) a long time before she realized it, shows just how much of an introvert she really is.
She is now the No. 1 ranked female tennis player in the world. That is a fantastic accomplishment. It solidifies her growth. I am hopeful that the WTA, alongside her team, help her to overcome her fear of speaking before large audiences as it is going to get a lot harder from here on in.
Will have a wrap up post some time soon as there are some intriguing stories that came out of the AO that the Spin Team will be exploring.
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