Inspired to highlight a photo please click on itInspired by tennis, sport is my topic this Friday. About 10 days ago I watched the Women's Singles Final of the US Open. Against 19 year old Leylah Fernandez from Canada, 18 year old Emma Raducanu from Britain won. Astounding. I thought she was phenomenal. So did the Queen. Amazing shots. So young. So new. The day after the final, here's what tennis journalist Tumaiini Carayol wrote in The Guardian.
To start our thinking please watch 2 minutes 28 seconds of the best shots from the final. Just click the arrow. I love the sheer power of her cross court passing shots. And some shots such as the high backhand drop are amazing in the sheer difficulty of their execution. How quick she is. I guess her anticipation just shows the working of an agile trained brain. Let's spoil it as soon as we canBuzzing with human achievement, I watched the women's presentation but felt a dent of blackness as I saw an enormous check value-named and handed to the winner. Sulliying? Then, a day or two later I happened to read another Guardian journalist, Adrian Chiles, who wrote this headliner:
Too lateFrom what I've been reading I'd say the brand thing is already powerfully in action. Tiffany & Co for jewellery, Chanel for clothes, Aston-Martin for a car. All those connections and more are rumoured. Some of these things Emma will certainly enjoy. Will she be taken over by them? She wore a cross when playing. Statement or decoration? She and her parents (they both work in the finance sector according to Wikipedia) will have plenty to think about. Emma's fame will not be easy to manage. Whatever happens I'll enjoy her tennis. ThinkingI like sport. I play it and I watch it. When I see something as impressive as the US Open Women's Singles Final I embrace it as I would a great piece of music or a great painting. It's a mark of human achievement. I like, that these days I can keep it and watch it again. As I was growing up I couldn't watch over and over Jack Lovelock winning the 1500 metres in Berlin accompanied by the famous Harold Abrahams "My God he's done it!" commentary – but I'd have liked to. I know that sport can be bad, ugly and dishonest, as can most areas of life. However for me that doesn't take away sport's allure. Even now as an older person, sport remains for me a pursuit to pursue. It's not only fun (Emma and Leylah both said over and over that playing in the US Open was fun) but it challenges me to be human to my limits. I want to play my indoor bowls in the winter and my croquet in the summer in the way those two young tennis finalists played – same mental verve, same focus, same honesty, same enjoyment but commensurate with my age and consequent ability. Perhaps you might feel the same about whatever it is you pursue. Watch some more.If you'd like to finish this post by watching more exhilarating tennis please click the video below. It shows remarkable Emma Raducanu rallies from matches over the whole tournament. Like it! □ John McInnes 24 September 2021 References: please click anywhere on the text Tumaini Carayol in The Guardian 12 September 2021 Adrian Chiles in The Guardian 16 September 2021 Postscript: Croquet seldom gets any main media coverage but Saturday 18 September Kim Hill radio interviewed top NZ woman player Jenny Clarke on RNZ National. Good explanations. Just click here. ##########
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