11th July 2007.

Last week was the Wimbledon tennis tournament which meant some late nights and a bit of daytime television watching.
One thing that struck me was the demeanor of some of the players.
Top players like Nadal and Sharapova never appear to be enjoying the game when playing. Po faced, totally devoid of any expression, it's almost like watching automatons (except automations don't shreak every time they play a shot). It's only once they've won, they collapse on the court and maybe crack half a smile to the spectator crowd. No doubt these players are coached both in grunting techniques and not giving anything away in emotional signals to the opposition, but it's pretty hard to empathise with these people who are so focused that not a flicker of humanity can be allowed to show on their faces except maybe annoyance.

Perhaps it's faulty memory, but I'm sure this is more of a modern phenomenon. Maybe it's the big bucks they make these days, but displays of sportsmanship aren't very often evident once they've reached the pinnacle of their careers. Some of the 'up and comer' ladies like Vaidisova and Ivanovic behave like humans that you can warm to (being pretty possibly helps!), but whether they get that bred out of them once they get to the top remains to be seen.

I admire the consumate skill of all professional tennis players, but when watching a game, I will always cheer for the one who appears to play for the love of the game and not the fame or money. If you get two of them with those qualities playing each other then the enjopyment for me is sublime.

TC.