Wimbledon is something special, they always say: the green lawn, the white clothes, the tradition and all the pipapo. But what particularly distinguishes the most famous of the four Grand Slam tournaments is that Church Road is civilized.
The English audience has just as much inclination towards their own compatriots as the Australians in Melbourne, the French in Paris and the Americans at the US Open. But the Englishman largely follows events with fairness and sobriety.
Each of the other three major tournaments, on the other hand, is loud, rude and shrill in its own way. This year, it seems, things are even worse. The audience at the French Open in spring treated foreign tennis professionals even more mercilessly than before.
Disgusted and horrified
The disgrace culminated in the behavior towards the American Taylor Fritz, whose winning interview on the pitch did not take place because hundreds of French whistled at him for minutes. At the current US Open, improper behavior is even the order of the day: shouts in the concentration phases of the players between the first and second serve, insults that spectators get carried away in the expensive seats, bullying and whistles when a player even gets ready to ask the referee something. New York tennis fans, who have been attending the US Open for years, are disgusted and appalled.
Social scientists have explained that many viewers go to extremes and express their disapproval without any self-control with “offended freedom” and “mass radicalization”. In particular, the restrictions during the Covid pandemic and the escalation in social media have made people thinner.
At the US Open in New York, a basic capitalist attitude is added: If you have bought a product or service, for example participation in a tennis match, then you have also acquired the right to deal with it as you wish. In case of doubt, those who suffer are the producers, i.e. the professionals who want to put on a sporting show but count in vain on respect.
In this civilization battle, players are left alone. Professionals like Zverev, Djokovic and Medvedev not only identified New York troublemakers in the middle of the match, but also made sure that they were silenced or even expelled from the stadium. In most cases he tries to ignore the bullying, said Djokovic, but in sensitive moments his collar bursts.
Most of those who bully have been drinking
It is worrying that the players themselves (have to) become law enforcers. The referees rarely take action and may have already capitulated. After the introduction of electronic time, network and line monitoring as well as video evidence, the referees don’t have much more to say than just stating the score. This degradation harms their authority.
In addition, the organizers of the Grand Slam tournaments are quicker to punish a player for a curse than to attack spectators for constant insults. This, too, follows the logic of capitalism. Those who bully have usually drunk alcohol beforehand. Anyone who has consumed a lot of “US Open Signature Cocktails” containing vodka has paid a lot of money for it. Namely money that benefits the American Tennis Association, which organizes the US Open – and that is also put into the promotion of young people.
Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: , Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 6 Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 7
You probably have to look at the whole thing soberly. The three million dollars that the winners of the individual competitions receive are not only prize money, but also compensation for pain and suffering.
