What's The "Take Away" from Today in Tennis?
On and off the court today were examples of actions by current, i.e. Victoria Azarenka, and former, i.e. Andre Agassi, tennis players of how NOT to act both on and off the tennis court. For Azarenka it was her temper, which flared (yet again) at a critical juncture late in the third set in her match against Caroline Wozniacki at the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships in Doha. Azarenka, upset at having lost match point, hit a ball out
of the court for which she received a code violation. A few points later, Azarenka smashed her racket and received another code violation for racket abuse which resulted in a point penalty which came on game point down and therefore handed Wozniacki the lead 6-5 in the third. In the end, Wozniacki overcame a 3-5 third set deficit and played her way to a 7-5 victory in the third. Wozniacki showed poise and heart while Azarenka allowed her emotions to hinder her performance.
Off the court, there have been several excerpts published from Andre Agassi’s forthcoming memoirs, “Open,” which will be released in early November. In his book, Agassi admits having used crystal meth in 1997 and Agassi also admits that after he failed a drug test he lied to the ATP about how the drug got into his system. As a result, Agassi was never suspended for drug abuse. Clearly, there will be much more to say in the future about the revelations in Agassi’s book and what they mean for both Agassi’s legacy and the sport of tennis. However, the immediate reaction has to be the hope that there will be lessons learned from what Agassi did and how he chose to “come clean” so many years after the fact. Agassi’s actions should clearly never be condoned, but his decision to admit his faults should be acknowledged.
In the end, the best lesson may be to never give up… when you are down and things look grim… when you are in the lead or on top of the world and the bottom falls out… never give up.
Off the court, there have been several excerpts published from Andre Agassi’s forthcoming memoirs, “Open,” which will be released in early November. In his book, Agassi admits having used crystal meth in 1997 and Agassi also admits that after he failed a drug test he lied to the ATP about how the drug got into his system. As a result, Agassi was never suspended for drug abuse. Clearly, there will be much more to say in the future about the revelations in Agassi’s book and what they mean for both Agassi’s legacy and the sport of tennis. However, the immediate reaction has to be the hope that there will be lessons learned from what Agassi did and how he chose to “come clean” so many years after the fact. Agassi’s actions should clearly never be condoned, but his decision to admit his faults should be acknowledged.
In the end, the best lesson may be to never give up… when you are down and things look grim… when you are in the lead or on top of the world and the bottom falls out… never give up.
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