Any time someone commiserates about the so-called state of American tennis, or quips that this is the first American to....fill in blank here.....I shake my head. For me at least -- and I would guess for most tennis fans -- tennis is not and never has been about nation. Setting the Davis Cup and the Olympics aside, I rarely find myself -- who grew up loving Bjorn Borg and his wooden racquet -- cheering for an American tennis player over a tennis player I really love.
This past week during Wimbledon a friend messaged me in the middle of the Taylor Fritz/Carlos Alcaraz match, asking if I knew anything about Fritz that would be compelling enough to make her root for the American over her favorite player, Alcaraz.
Absolutely not, I told her. Fritz has a big serve, a wanna be influencer girlfriend, and a less-than-perfect return game that has been good enough to get him into the world top five. Alcaraz is likely a generational player with an arsenal of tools that is almost unmatched. Vamos, Carlos, she replied.
When people talk about the problems with tennis in America (and to be clear, I hope they are referring to men’s tennis, because the women are populating the top of the charts in good number and, honestly, there’s a handful of men in the top 20 as well) or when someone like Tommy Paul rues the lack of interest in tennis in America (and honestly, Tommy, maybe you should come walk around the pavilion at the US Open during the first week if you want to put to bed your worry about a lack of American fans), they are really missing the point. In addition to all of the reasons I love tennis -- debates over how many hands a backhand deserves, baseliners versus serve-and-volleyers, serves that clock speeds that defy common sense -- I love the fact that it is not a sport based in national devotion.
Please take a breath as you clutch your patriotic pearls and let me explain.
So often in sport, allegiance is preordained. I grew up in Massachusetts, so I am a Red Sox fan -- I have known nothing else. My daughter, who has grown up in New York, is also a Red Sox fan -- she was not allowed to know anything else. But tennis is wondrously without borders, which seems miraculous in the current political moment. Tennis rewards style and power and intelligence, not citizenship. I don’t care where you’re from -- I care how you play.
Have I loved American players? Absolutely -- and still do. I worship at the feet of the deity we call Serena. I am devoted to Coco Gauff. I can still picture the poster of Andre Agassi that adorned my childhood and then college bedrooms, and I am devoted to Andy Roddick on Instagram.
And, of course, I truly believe that Billie Jean King should run for president.
But I have brought and bring equal devotion to Roger Federer, whose surgical unpacking of tennis remains unmatched, Rafa Nadal, whose spirit of the game is second to none, and Andy Murray, the curmudgeon whose pressers and post-match interviews are legend. And you are correct: I am leaving out Novak Djokovic, the anti-vaxxer whose cringe-worth gamesmanship leaves him off my list of favorites, regardless of his generational record.
In tennis, the amalgamation of personality and playing style, the variety of surfaces, and the range of artistry and tactical brilliance mean I get to cheer players (and yes, I am currently an Alcaraz devotee) for so many things but not for the passport that they carry. But, with all of that said, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that American women have reached the last four Slam finals -- and while Amanda Anisimova went down 6-0, 6-0 on the grass of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, she won six matches to get to that final and beat the number one player in the world in the semifinals. So, if you are someone who needs to watch tennis and get on your red, white, and blue? At this year’s Wimbledon, it was one and the same.
Advantage: us.
Amy Bass is professor of sport studies and chair of the division of social science and communication at Manhattanville University. Bass is the author of ONE GOAL: A COACH, A TEAM, AND THE GAME THAT BROUGHT A DIVDED TOWN TOGETHER, among other titles. In 2012, she won an Emmy for her work with NBC Olympic Sports on the London Olympic Games.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.