By Pavle Ristic
Sports Editor
Tennis has recently returned amid the COVID-19 pandemic with the U.S. Open and the Italian Open, and has made headlines with tournament drama.
According to the U.S. Open website, the tournament marked the first Grand Slam to make its return since the global COVID-19 outbreak. Health and safety protocols were implemented to ensure the safety of participants, and commenced without a live audience. The website stated, “With the right amount of health and safety protocols […] tennis can more than exist during a pandemic — it can thrive” (usopen.org). With appropriate guidelines implemented, global tennis resumed in a big way.
According to ESPN, in the fourth round of the U.S. Open, world Number One Player Novak Djokovic was playing poorly in his match against Pablo Curreno Busta, and accidentally hit a lineswoman in the throat after hitting balls against the stadium wall. Following standard procedure and the rulebook, the tournament-favorite Djokovic had to be disqualified from the competition (espn.com).
All this was welcome news to the hoards of tennis fans who support the next two best players in the world, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Due to the huge followings of Federer and Nadal and their rivalry with Djokovic, he has long been out of favor with most tennis fans. This particular situation was blown out of proportion and attributed to him being short tempered, despite the fact that this is disproved by a simple look into his history.
At the Italian Open in Rome, soon after the conclusion of the U.S. Open, Djokovic marched his way to the finals and the tournament win, according to CNN. The comeback was a surprise to many after his exit in the previous tournament and the public criticism that followed (cnn.com).
As of publication, the French Open is underway, and Djokovic looks to add on to his record of 32-1, with the only loss due to his disqualification, according to ATP Tour. The rest of the season is also very important as Djokovic, with his 17 Grand Slam titles, is rapidly closing on the record for most of all time which is currently held by Federer at 20 (atptour.org).
Junior Cissy Letter is a member of the UC High Girls Tennis Team, and is a tennis fan. Letter shared, “I’m happy that tennis was able to return and I’m extremely excited to see what this season has in store.” As a Roger Federer fan, Letter is cheering for him to hold off Djokovic in his quest for the most Grand Slam titles of all time.