I love tennis. If I’m not burned out (I rarely am with tennis), I’ll practically always have the sport on TV or highlights on my phone. I like watching for analyzing purposes, and I like watching when my mind is blank. I love to write about it, too — so far this month, I’ve published fifteen articles. For the past five years, tennis has been my go-to, practically without fail.
And I’m certainly not tired of tennis at the moment. Watching Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal go at it on a heavenly plane of quality in the third set of the Roland-Garros semifinals was as much fun as I’ve had watching tennis this year. Wimbledon had plenty of excitement too, particularly on the WTA side — Ash Barty won the tournament in impressive fashion and Angelique Kerber made an emphatic return to top-level tennis. Sara Sorribes Tormo, who has one of my favorite styles of play on tour (amazing defense, lots of topspin, makes her opponents hit bunches of quality shots to win points) took part in the match of the tournament, falling to Kerber 6-4 in the third.
The Olympics also have interesting storylines. Naomi Osaka has the chance to win gold in her home country after enduring slights from the media and fans for taking time for her mental health. It’s the fourth leg of the potentially in-progress Golden Slam for Djokovic, who is striving to attain immortality that current and future ATP players will never reach. There are countless first-time Olympians, all of them looking to make a mark on the Games.
But no matter which player or storyline I think about, I can’t make myself look forward to the Olympic Games. That’s primarily because they shouldn’t be happening. COVID-19 is still running rampant in areas of the world. New variants are popping up and vaccine rollout has been slow in places — crucially, including Japan.
This ESPN article shows that there are red flags all over the place. Two thirds of Japan’s population don’t think the Games can be held safely. Fewer than 20% of the population have been vaccinated. Japan is in a state of emergency due to COVID-19, yet is hosting an competition with athletes from 206 countries. Over 11,000 athletes are taking part. How insane does that sound? Cases in Japan are also on a severe upswing. Over 3800 new cases were recorded in the country yesterday compared to less than half that (1733) on July 1st.
While I’d like to entertain the notion that the athletes are going to do a great job following guidelines, it’s just not a realistic hope. 67 athletes have already tested positive for COVID-19, including tennis’s own Coco Gauff. And the Adria Tour, brainchild of Djokovic, resulted in a handful of positive cases for players, some of whom are also going to Tokyo. I’m not even convinced that Djokovic has learned from his mistakes — he mentioned that he wouldn’t lose sleep over the fallout from the Adria Tour and has expressed that he’s keeping his vaccination status private and hopes the ATP doesn’t mandate a vaccine.
Plus, how am I supposed to have faith that these Olympics will be run without incident when Tennys Sandgren is attending?
And what of the Japanese public? It must be some kind of spirit drain to push through another wave of the virus as the government hosts a huge event (that they won’t be able to watch), all for a punishing loss of money. They didn’t want this. It’s just ridiculous to me that a community could be forced to host the Olympics with the majority of them against it.
Incredibly, Japan doesn’t even have the power to back out of the games. Only the IOC (International Olympic Committee) does. And cancelation would result in an even bigger loss of money, of course. The prioritization of money over general human welfare — though there is often an intersection — is endlessly frustrating to me. At what point does health or even lives take priority over profit?
Yet another depressing aspect of this episode is the likelihood that Japan’s stadiums will soon be abandoned thanks to the maintenance costs proving too much for yet another country that jumps at the chance to host the Olympics, regardless of their ability to actually afford it.
The Olympics often sell themselves as the essence of sport, of international collaboration, of pure athletic excellence. But the upcoming Games in Tokyo poke some holes in this façade. Rotating the host of the Olympics is a sexy idea, but it makes so little sense in light of how tough it is to make the money spent building gorgeous facilities worth it. Just take a look at the abandoned stadiums around the world. The image of the tennis courts in Atlanta makes my heart hurt a bit.
Due to COVID risks and huge losses to the Japanese community, even the idea of an explosive gold medal match isn’t that appealing to me. That could certainly change; I’m far from being immune to good rallies or shots. But as of now, Olympic tennis is completely separate in my mind from the rest of the calendar. In my view, the Olympics can best live up to the pure spirit many think they have by calling off the Games, or by giving the hosts the ability to pull the cord on the event.
I may watch matches in the upcoming weeks, and I’ll certainly check scores. But I’ll do so with detached interest while I wonder what the layered cost will be for these 2021 Olympic Games. May the inevitable damage be as limited as possible.