From LA fires to Israel versus Palestine, tennis players do get affected

For the average tennis fan, players and superstars are supposed to just perform on stop. If they do well, there is cheering. And if they do badly, harsh comments are passed, more so on social media. At the Australian Open in Melbourne a couple of topics are raging, notably the wild fire in Los Angeles, which has destroyed so many homes. The second, what someone like Aryna Sabalenka has to go through, where the Australian Open does not allow the Belarus flag to be posted beside her name.

What has happened in LA, and still continues to traumatise so many lives is awful. At first, it was Naomi Osaka who spoke of how hard it was to focus on her matches even as she was seeing the red.orange zones on her cell phone which reflected fire raging around LA. Osaka holds a Japanese passport, but has lived most of her life in the USA. She was pensive when she spoke of how her young child Shai’s birth certificate had to be taken out of her home. As much as Osaka was disturbed by all that happening in her home state of LA and neighbourhood, to keep her focus on tennis has not been easy.

Yet, the common fan will never understand how hard it is for the players. As it were, competing in hard matches at the Grand Slams is demanding. One bad day, and even an unknown opponent can bounce you out. Osaka has been very frank in the assessment of her own tennis career. She has said she is not going to hang around if she is not winning. She has said multiple times at press conferences, if she does not perform she will retire. At this time of the year, when she has shown the fire is still there in her belly, she has competed to the best of her abilities. It is not easy to return from a maternity break, and she did hurry up her return. But spare a thought for how she puts away devastation from her head and heart when she plays. It is not easy at all.

If Osaka has been personally affected, Iga Swiatek has also opened up on the emotions of how a calamity like the one in LA affects her. The helplessness is natural, yet the heart goes out to see fire and flames ravaging poshest localities. All this chatter from the players is proof they cannot play tennis in isolation. Whatever is happening around the globe affects every human being.

As these players have talked, then a token gesture from Taylor Fritz on donating his prize money from the second-round win at the Australian Open sums up the mindset. Nobody is talking of making exact money but how they can give back to society. What matters is the thought of reaching out. After all, Fritz is from the USA and would be having friends and extended family around LA. In fact, many more players have mentioned LA and lent their voice.

At the other end of the spectrum, some players cannot ignore wars taking place. The forced ceasefire between Israel and Palestine is welcome. Players from Arab nations will certainly side with the horror images which come from the Gaza strip, now reduced to rubble. A player like Ons Jabeur from Tunisia will voice her views. Australia itself is on the side of Palestine as can be noticed from some banners and placards where fans are seated in Melbourne. They have taken a position on the war. However, when it comes to the Russia versus Ukraine war, again they are on the side of Ukraine.

For the Aussies, Aryna Sabalenka is also guilty as she represents Belarus. The number of times she has spoken she has nothing to do with the war is countless. Sadly, she plays tennis despite her national flag not being allowed. How she plays with intensity despite the negativity from Aussies is worth praise. Bottom line, tennis is not about forehand and backhand. What happens around the world affect every athlete.