The Tennis Thread

[Faulkner]

The British press are going to build Emma up just to tear her down. How they went after Jo Konta will look innocent by comparison.

[Soapsuds]

Yup she was and crying. The NY fans were for her. She got a louder applause when they were introduced.

[Faulkner]

Leylah’s sister looks ready to throw hands.

Leylah’s nod to 9/11 in her speech was perfect. Wow.

[Soapsuds]

She blew Emma out of the water with that speech.

[Faulkner]

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by Faulkner

[I Am A Swede]

What an amazing journey for Emma. Playing in only her second Major ever, going through the qualifying rounds, reaching the final and winning the title, all without losing a single set! That's 10 matches and 20-0 in sets!

Edited September 11, 2021 by I Am A Swede

[Soapsuds]

Haha...Virginia Wade....Billie Jean King?? Where is the love for me as she stares down Emma..lol

[Toups]

And she had a mental breakdown at Wimbledon? That’s what they said on the broadcast.   I hope she’ll be able to handle all the pressure and spotlight from the media, social media.  
 

 

Too bad Emma’s parent didn’t stay in Canada or else we would’ve had Leylah, Bianca and Emma.  LOL

[Faulkner]

Yeah, she had a panic attack during her match against Tomljanovic at Wimbledon and retired. 

The Queen has congratulated Emma:

 

And William and Kate:

 

[Faulkner]

I’m seeing that Emma might get an MBE or even an OBE (two steps down from being a Dame) for her USO title. These Brits go apesh!t for their sporting stars, especially in tennis.

[Cat]

They need to cool it with the hype, because just as quickly as the British press pack can build Emma up, so it can tear her down and try to destroy her on a dime. The tabloid press's butt-monkey Piers Morgan tore into her mere months ago when she withdrew from Wimbledon because of panic attacks (he did the same too Naomi Osaka at the French Open). He and his ilk will be ready to attack her again as soon as they can. Not least because she's young (the press hate i-gens with a passion -- they smear them for being 'too woke' and 'spoiled'), she's female, she's beautiful, she has anxiety, she keeps them at arm's length, and most of all, she has a 'foreign'-sounding surname. Heresy! Burn her!

I hope they don't give Emma an MBE or OBE just yet. This win is a stunning achievement, and she, Fernandez and Osaka are making women's tennis very exciting to watch. She's a major star in waiting. But these titles and constant attention and Wills & Kate salivating over her and all that -- it is just almost as much pressure as the hatred and press attacks. I just want Emma's support group around her right now to keep her grounded, focused and happy to play tennis. The hype will soon dissipate.

[Faulkner]

Yeah, it’s way too much too soon. Just calm down, folks. It’s a weird national inferiority complex, among other things. And where there’s money to be made, they won’t hold back. She’s a super lucrative commodity now, and like you say, ticks a lot of boxes that make her an object of fascination as well as potential scorn.

She’s not a Brit, but Leylah may have dodged a bullet by not winning just yet.

[Faulkner]

Wow. I didn’t even think about this lol.

 

Just 40 points but still lol.

[Cat]

Totally the bolded. Some say that the UK never really got over losing a colonial empire on which the sun never set. Brexit and work-shy Boris have further sealed the country's waning influence.

(I thought it was interesting that Duchess Kate in her Tweet mentioned Leylah, maybe because she is a Canadian and there are very strong cultural, historic and Commonwealth ties between Britain and Canada. A small part of me wonders whether this was a way of claiming some small 'imperial' stake in a second potential future champion!).

Brits love their sports and lately they have had triumphs at the World Cup, Olympics and US Open. I can't blame them from getting uplift from this -- the pandemic has been tough on everybody and I, too, have loved watching this summer's sport events!

However, many talented sportspeople may have greater ambivalence towards British (or English) nationalism and the remnants of empire. The braying press pack (which endlessly pushes the Brexit narrative on the basis of 'national pride') has struggled with that ambivalence, to say the least.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Cat

[Faulkner]

Yeah, I thought about that too. Trying to figure out a way to hop on the surging Leylah train through the Commonwealth ties. I don’t remember them embracing the far less charismatic yet equally Canadian Milos Raonic as much when he beat their god Federer and played that Wimbledon final against Andy lol.