Bill Simons
ASTERISK FACTORS: When asked whether there should be an asterisk by the US Open due to this year’s diminished draw, Serena said, “It still has to be tennis that’s played, asterisks or not. I think this whole year deserves an asterisk, because it’s such a special year, history we have never been through in this world…not this generation, not this lifetime…So I think we are living a future history lesson…There is always going to be some asterisk by it, because it’s never been done before. And if you win, it was, like, ‘Wow, I was able to win in this crazy circumstance where there were no fans. It was just so sterile and weird. But I mentally came through.’ It might be a more mental test than anything. But it’s interesting, and we will see.”
COVID CONTROVERSY:
Inside the Western and Southern’s air-tight New York bubble, the physio for Argentine No. 2 Guido Pella and for Colombian No. 1 Hugo Dellien tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, both players were forced to withdraw from the tourney. Widespread grumblings soon arose from many players and there was a rumor of a petition to let the duo back in. Pella and Dellien tested negative. But authorities noted they’d had “close and prolonged contact” with a positive individual.
Andy Murray explained the players’ frustrations. “Our understanding was that if a team member tested positive, but you were not sharing a room with that team member, you would be allowed to play, providing you were negative. That’s what all of the players thought the rules were. So when [Dellien and Pella] were withdrawn from the tournament, the players were like, ‘…I wouldn’t have come with a trainer or a physio if I knew that was the case.’ The players were not clear as to what the rules actually were…They felt like the rules had been changed.”
Protocols originally dictated a 14-day quarantine for Pella and Dellien, which would have left them ineligible for the start of the US Open, but they have now been told to quarantine for 10 days.
WHY IS A BRILLIANT MAN SO FLAWED?
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Rarely has a top athlete been so bright and curious.
Novak Djokovic loves ideas. He likes to delve deep and climb high. A relentless seeker, he seems to be everywhere: on French peaks, at Spanish spiritual retreats or visiting cutting-edge schools in Bali.
In June, amidst the international pandemic, he promoted a well-intended fundraiser, the Adria Tour, that drew 4,000 tightly packed fans without masks. There were lots of hugs, high-fives, interactions with dozens of kids, and a tone-deaf, shirt-free night on the town in a rollicking night club.
But soon Grigor Dimitrov, Viktor Troicki, Borna Covic, Goran Ivanisivic, Novak and his wife, and others all tested positive. Dimitrov still hasn’t fully recovered.
In a daunting world of disease and isolation, the Adria Tour seemed irresponsible.
Novak feels otherwise. He said there’s a witch-hunt against him. Thursday, in a New York Times interview with Christopher Clarey, he repeated that claim and added, “Yes, there were some steps that could have been done differently, of course, but am I going to be then forever blamed for doing a mistake? I mean, OK, if this is the way, fine, I’ll accept it, because that’s the only thing I can do. Whether it’s fair or not, you tell me, but I know that the intentions were right and correct, and if I had the chance to do the Adria Tour again, I would do it again.
“I agree things could have been done differently with the nightclub,” Djokovic said. “The sponsors organized [the party]. They invited players. We felt comfortable. We had a successful event. Everybody was really happy and joyful.”
Djokovic noted that the tour was to help lower-ranked players in the Balkans and was staged with the help of regional tennis authorities, and he asserted it hadn’t violated any rules. Critics countered that it violated common sense – a willful ignorance had gone unchecked.
Nick Kyrgios called it “a bonehead decision.” Bruno Soares said it was “a horror show. Enormous irresponsibility and huge immaturity.” The New York Post’s Howie Kussoy suggested, “Novak doesn’t understand why irresponsibility is so unpopular.”
But Novak was unrepentant. He said, “I don’t think I’ve done anything bad, to be honest. I do feel sorry for people that were infected. Do I feel guilty for anybody that was infected from that point onward in Serbia, Croatia and the region? Of course not. It’s like a witch hunt, to be honest. How can you blame one individual for everything? We’ve done everything they asked us to do, and we followed the rules.”
The world No. 1 added, “When someone from Australia or America looks at what was happening in Serbia, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I mean, are you crazy? What are these people doing? So I really understand.”
But does he? Never mind that he questioned the value of vaccines and said human thoughts could purify contaminated drinking water. For the third time in 17 months his lack of remorse prompted critics to note Novak’s failure to take responsibility and be accountable. In March 2019, when he led the ouster of the quite popular Chris Kermode as the ATP’s CEO, he was roundly criticized for failing to clearly explain the reasons for the move.
His problematic leadership during the incident relating to a violent fight that ATP Council member Justin Gimelstob was involved in led to Stan Wawrinka’s now celebrated statement of conscience. The three-time Slam champ pointed to “a worrying decline in moral values.” He asserted, “I want to be represented by people with clear, strong, ethical values. This is a situation where silence amounts to complicity.”
Djokovic is undefeated this year. He may well become the best player ever. But there is a problem.
