Champions make most of US Open adversity
Osaka, Thiem seized the moment, unfazed by Covid-19 obstacles
Circumstances at the US Open in 2020 were extraordinary due to the Covid-19 pandemic but rather than getting deterred, champions Naomi Osaka and Dominic Thiem overcame them to fulfil their destinies.
Debate raged for months after the US Tennis Association announced in June that the hard court Grand Slam would go ahead in New York, which was once the global epicentre of the novel coronavirus pandemic, albeit without any fanse.
Top men’s and women’s players raised concerns and expressed doubts over travelling to the US.
The organisers tried to address their concerns but also continued their preparations for the Grand Slam, putting numerous rules in place to mitigate health risks.
One of those was mandatory face masks, which became a tool for Osaka in her activism against racial injustice.
For each of her seven matches at Flushing Meadows, Osaka walked on to the court wearing a different face mask featuring the name of a black American who suffered racial injustice.
The only way she could ensure that the names of Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile and Tamir Rice were once again etched into public consciousness was by making it to the final.
“I feel like I’m a vessel in order to spread awareness,” the twotime US Open winner said.
“I do think it’s a very big motivating factor for me just to try to get the names out to as many people as I can.
“So I’m not sure if that’s giving me extra power.”
While Osaka found extra power, Victoria Azarenka showed she still had enough motivation to claw her way back to the top echelons of the sport, reaching a Grand Slam final after seven years.
The unseeded Belarusian was also one of nine mothers in the women’s singles draw in 2020 and showed exemplary grit during her comeback victory in the semifinals over 23-times major winner Serena Williams.
The loss, however, prolonged the American’s pursuit of Margaret Court’s record 24 Grand Slam titles.
The wait for a first slam, however, finally ended for Thiem.
The 27-year-old had lost in three finals — twice to Rafa Nadal at the French Open and once to world No 1 Novak Djokovic at the 2020 Australian Open — and for the first two sets on Sunday he seemed to be heading for another heartache.
But he somehow managed to come back from two sets and a break down against Alexander
Zverev to crawl over the finishing line first.
Critics could argue that Thiem’s path at Flushing Meadows was without roadblocks as he did not have to face the “Big Three” of men’s tennis.
With Nadal opting out due to the pandemic, Roger Federer injured and top seed Djokovic defaulted in the fourth round for hitting a line judge with a ball, the stars seemed to have aligned for Thiem.
The Austrian dutifully took his chance, ending a six-year wait for a new name on a men’s Grand Slam trophy and a first winner outside the “Big Three” since 2016.
“Definitely I achieved a life goal, a dream of myself, which I had for many, many years,” said Thiem.
Among its many health measures, the USTA also used automated line-calls at the 2020 Slam on all but its two biggest show courts to reduce the number of people on site.
The experiment went smoothly and Djokovic might have wished it had been in use on Arthur Ashe Stadium too because then he would not have been disqualified for hitting a lineswoman accidentally.
That was, however, not the only controversys.
Frenchman Benoit Paire was withdrawn before the tournament started after testing positive for Covid-19.
Those who were deemed to have been in close contact with him had to face even stricter measures and were required to take daily virus tests.
Kristina Mladenovic, who was one of them, slammed the protocols and suffered more ignominy when she was pulled from the doubles tournament as health authorities ordered her to go into quarantine.
But once the tournament started, none of the 365 competitors tested positive, underlining the controlled environment’s efficacy. —