Jannik Sinner, the defeat in Vienna and the lesson for those who break the racket
Losing the semifinal of an ATP 500 tournament in Vienna and reacting like a man. Even if you are twenty years old and, in short, that tournament will return there only in a year and it is not certain, it is not at all certain that you have the condition, the form, the stability and even the luck they need to win. In sport as in life. Jannik Sinner, however, gives everyone, with the simplicity that is proper to him and that we hope never for ever, a life lesson worth a thousand, ten thousand hours of tennis on the court to repeat serve, forehand, answer and cross passer. Of course interpolation. A step back: yesabato the semifinal in Vienna, for the South Tyrolean phenomenon there is the possibility to go to the final and find Zverev, play on almost equal terms and make an even bigger leap in the ranking. Now Sinner is number 9 in the world, it should be remembered that he turned 20 on August 16. Twenty years, an age in which many of his peers still pick their noses. Instead, he is asked to carry on his shoulders a weight that is not for everyone, indeed it is for very few, because among the top ten in the world in tennis there is not a hundred thousand but, in fact, ten. Otherwise the logical thread never comes back. And the talk of earnings is worth nothing, because there is no figure that holds when you are alone in front of yourself, whatever you do.
The game and the “show” of Tiafoe
Let’s go back to tennis. Jannik is one set ahead of the American Frances Tiafoe, he can go 5-2 in the second and, in short, he can close it there.. Instead, what happens in tennis happens: no reservoir of muscles, we begin to draw on the reserve of nerves because Tiafoe, dominated by Rosso di Sesto until then, clings to what is left of him. He throws it in the caciara: he laughs, jokes with the audience, throws himself on the ground after a point, ends up in the stands hugging a spectator. AND Jannik shows that he suffers from this change of context, he makes a mistake and fails to react in the best possible way, he loses his serve and leaves the game there, one point after another.. It happens, and how if it happens. Tiafoe has put his shrewd and at ease into a climate that is congenial to him and that he created himself. Find the inner charge he needs, put his shots (and there are some really deadly ones, because he is a player), snatches the ticket for the final. Ok, that’s how it went.
The press conference
After the game, at the press conference, Sinner will say that yes, Tiafoe has exaggerated a little but that he has allowed himself to be surprised. He didn’t answer right. “I should have made myself heard with the referee but I wasn’t sure what to do, Tiafoe went further for me with his show. I have to get to know myself but I’m not the type to get nervous and then break the rackets. I don’t break a racket, it’s my work tool. If you break it, what do you play with? And then it takes respect, there are so many people that even if they can afford a racket. He was good at shooting it, but I made mistakes that I shouldn’t have made. I will need experience, it is a situation that at twenty I still have to learn to manage ”.
The lesson
There it is, the point: “There are so many people that even if they can afford a racket”. A lesson in serenity, awareness, conscience. In a world where everyone screams, absolutely everyone, calmness can make more noise. The right noise, a willingness to listen to it. And from a twenty-year-old boy, even if he may not yet be able to manage a difficult situation in a match like this, a straight and strong message arrives: it takes respect.. Respect for work, for fatigue, for those who have less than you. But that doesn’t make it worth less, on the contrary. Jannik Sinner makes noise, you just need to want to listen to it and not stop at the obvious, or at the surface, otherwise triggering the criticism for the competitive slip is like scoring a goal into an empty net. Too easy. Because everyone likes success, as long as it is not that of others.
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November 1, 2021 (change November 1, 2021 | 17:05)
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