Poland’s No. 8 seed Iga Świątek beat the U.S.’s 13th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in the Wimbledon women’s final yesterday. That’s a slaughter in tennis, ending Anisimova’s feel good story as an underdog in humilation.
Świątek is one one of the best players in the world; though this is Świątek’s first Wimbledon title it’s her sixth Grand Slam title. She was favored to win, but no one has won the Women’s finals 12 games to none in a Grand Slam tournament since 1988. Anisimova’s wipe-out is being attributed to nerves; if she were a male player, the explanation would be “choking.”
Worse, however, is that after the match Anisimova started weeping, covered her head with a towel and left the court. When she came back to a huge reception from the crowd, she was still sobbing. After receiving the runners-up’s plate at center court, she cried some more as she addressed the crowd.
All of the accounts echo the Times piece, saying things like…
“…no sport is more psychologically brutal than tennis.
Anisimova’s first major final, everything her career had been building towards, was over in 57 devastating minutes.
In team sports, there is a place to hide. Getting hammered in a final can happen to any side, but teammates can share the pain. There are tactics that can limit the number of goals or points conceded. And there is a clock to be watched that ticks down toward relief.
Tennis has no clock, no bell, no ninth inning. Players just have to keep going. And in Anisimova’s case, she had to keep on going today against the most relentlessly dominant player in women’s tennis. Świątek, who races away with a lead like no one else, was still fist-pumping in the 12th and final game, when the destination of the title had long been decided.
Awww. Poor girl! This is a woman and a professional, and athletes are forgiven tear of joy when they win, but weeping after a defeat is poor sportsmanship regardless of who is doing the weeping. The narrative pretending that tennis players are under a special microscope is nonsense. “Casey at the Bat” immortalizes baseball’s infamous tendency to highlight failure. One of the most famous photos in sports is the aftermath of Bobby Thomson’s pennant-winning home run in 1951. The pitcher who gave up the crushing blow, Ralph Branca, can be seen walking off the mound, head down. There’s no place for him to hide. But he isn’t crying.
If women don’t want to be thought of as the weaker sex, they have to stop acting like the weaker sex, and sportswriters need to stop making excuses for them when they do.
Seems pretty straightforward to me…
Ethics Alarms 
I have participated in and coached both individual and team sports, years ago, but, do humans really change much over a few decades?
Emotions and feelings spring up unbidden, and our human reactions to them spring up unbidden as well. The saying that ‘There is no crying in baseball’ has been refuted over and over again. And, I don’t think there is a good comparison between baseball and tennis, especially singles. Singles tennis is one of those rare major sports where everything comes down to the individual, and individuals react to victory or defeat and the emotions that come with that in various ways.
Should Anisimova, somewhere during her training and preparation for world class status, have developed the ability to hide her emotions and her reaction to them? Well, I guess so if it is ethical to hide your emotions and your reactions to them. Have others of both genders done this before they achieved world class status? I don’t think so.
Or, perhaps, this another rant against reporters (which so many have shown they deserve)? The point of the post is not entirely clear to me. The reporting in the NY Times seems pretty straightforward; team sports are different than individual sports, and individual reactions therefore may be different.
The ability to hide or subdue emotional reaction may well be a male trait, but, frankly, I would need much more evidence than this. And, whether or not hiding that reaction is ethical, well, that one is open for debate.
HJ, the hiding of emotions in the course of doing one’s job is not up for debate: it’s not just ethical, it’s necessary. If this isn’t a female thing, show me an equivalent in a high profile sports event involving a male. Yeah, Lou Gehrig shed tears during his Farewell speech, but he wasn’t crying over a strikeout: he was dying.
“team sports are different than individual sports, and individual reactions therefore may be different.” This is called a rationalization. I think I was pretty clear: a player blowing a play, a pitch or a clutch situation in baseball is under exactly as much scrutiny as a tennis player, and whole cities care passionately about the result. The Times was making excuses (again) for a woman who can’t handle the pressures of her own profession.
I mostly agree with you on this subject, but……
Times have changed. It used to be de rigueur that players show no emotion trotting around the bases after hitting a home run. That one is totally gone.
I can recall, after a very good but not necessarily great play, or scoring a touchdown, people being admonished to ‘act like you’ve been there before’. Again, that’s lost.
The pendulum has swung a long way towards the open display of emotions being acceptable for players, rather than just fans. It can be jarring, but it is a fact.
So, in that context, I think her crying after a loss like that is today fairly acceptable.
The fact that its acceptable to people with lowered standards of conduct and professionalisn does not mitigate the offense.
The next time someone says that Americans won’t vote for a woman as President, I’m going to point to the way many of the act under stress in public.
Do you similarly excuse those broadcast journalists who can’t announce Trump victory in an election without signalling their despair?
Oh darn. On this one, I have to disagree. I totally understand the importance of keeping emotions in check during a match — it can be critical to staying focused and winning. But after a loss like that, on the biggest stage in the sport? That kind of heartbreak is human. The emotions are going to pour out, and I don’t see how anyone could — or should — be expected to suppress that.
This is also a player who’s already had to step away from the game due to burnout. That context matters. She put everything into this. So yes — she can cry her eyes out.
P. S. Can someone explain to me how I manage to sob like a baby every time I watch How Green Was My Valley — and I’ve seen it 50,000 times.
From Your Host: AF thinks a player crying on the field after being traded a gesture of loyalty and love toward a city and its fans, is the same as weeping because you lost tennis match to a superior player.
Not worth my time to explain the flaw in this…]
I followed tennis closely for decades, through the sport’s recent Golden Age, but stopped watching entirely more than two years ago.
Several reasons —
One of my commentary pet peeves was the frequency with which talking heads for women’s matches used the word “emotion.”
Everything for the female players was about “the emotion [the player’s] feeling right now.” Never, though (and thank goodness), for the men.
Laziness?
Pandering? (In some cases, in relation to some of the female players, yes.)
BTW, the only time I can recall a male runner-up’s crying at a trophy ceremony was when Federer collapsed in tears – and arguably upstaged the victor, Nadal – at the 2009 Australian Open.
“A rewrite to the sport’s behavior rules, reducing penalties, just at the time when an especially marketable player consistently refused to follow behavior rules.”
Mind fleshing that out?
PWS
I don’t recall all of the details. I believe the ATP reduced its behavior infraction penalties at a time when absent the changes Nick Kyrgios would have gotten himself banned from the tennis tour.
The King’s Pass exemplified. Tennis has been as hostage to that as any sport.
For sure.
When did Wimbledon change its dress rules? I saw the men’s final yestereday. Alcaraz was wearing a white shirt with no collar. Did I miss something?
jvb
I am not aware that Wimbledon has changed its recent dress code. Players are required to wear white, but I don’t think collars have been required in recent years.