![\"American](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/c_Opelka_Fritz_20200821.jpg\")
<\/a>American tennis players Reilly Opelka and Taylor Fritz getting ready for the US Open. At least they’re wearing masks.<\/p><\/div>\n
In a move I totally disagree with, the US Open is going ahead for the next two weeks. The French Open was postponed in May, and the July Wimbledon tournament was cancelled altogether this year. (Big props to those two.)<\/p>\n
So I absolutely cannot understand why the New York-based US Open would choose to go ahead in the middle of a global\u00a0\u00a0pandemic!!! That\u2019s such an irresponsible decision. Do they feel that playing, or working with, tennis is worth risking lives?! It appears so. That\u2019s just insanity. Frenchman Benoit Paire<\/strong>, the #17 seed, just tested positive yesterday! And one of the fitness trainers did, as well. I\u2019m expecting the dominoes to start falling pretty soon.<\/p>\n To take at least some precautions, there will be no spectators, which is as it should be, but makes the whole shebang extra crazy. I guess the players will have to dig way back into their beginnings and bring up sense memories of how to deal with that circumstance. But it makes it sad to watch. Especially because it will be a constant reminder of the all the misery that surrounds us now.<\/p>\n Nick Kyrgios is as upset about all these sports happening during the pandemic as I am, so good for him!<\/p><\/div>\n The field of world class athletes has been very whittled down by the brighter ones declining to risk their lives, and those of their team members, by staying put in their own countries. Some of those smart ones are, on the women\u2019s side: World #1 Ash Barty<\/strong> from Australia, and Simona Halep<\/strong>, Elina Svitolina<\/strong>, reigning US Open Champion Bianca Andreescu<\/strong>, and Kiki Bertens<\/strong>, who are #s 2, 5, 6, and 7, respectively. Chief among the wise men are: very entertaining young Aussie Nick Kyrgios<\/strong>, #2 Rafa Nadal<\/strong>, and, of course, the most mentally stable athlete in history, The Stranger I Love Most, my beloved Roger Federer<\/strong>. (Okay, old Rog is also nursing a knee injury, so he would have probably had to sit out anyway.) Always outspoken Nick wisely stated, “Think of the other people for once, that’s what this virus is about. It doesn’t care about your world record or how much money you have.”<\/p>\n The bad news, for me, is that, with so many top females not playing this tourney, and Naomi Osaka<\/strong> incurring a hamstring injury last week, (which forced her to drop out of the Final of the warm-up tournament,) it gives always-bad-sport Serena Williams<\/strong> more of a chance to win it all, which makes me sick. She\u2019s the #3 seed, but could have been beaten by Ash, Simona, or Bianca. After all, those and more have done it in the recent past. Let all us fairness-lovers root for Naomi to get better in time!<\/p>\n Novak Djokovic (facing us) running his own tennis tourney that should be nicknamed “The Coronavirus Tour” because he had the virus and spread it to others.<\/p><\/div>\n And on the men\u2019s side, #1 seed Novak Djokovic<\/strong> has a clear path to win it all again, which also makes me sick.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve stuck-up for him for sooo many years when others always deemed him to be obnoxious, and worse. I thought of him as just funny and driven. But when he hosted a\u00a0\u00a0recent tournament in his native Serbia, right smack dab in the middle of the the Covid threat, catching the virus himself and giving it to some of his fellow competitors, I lost\u00a0all\u00a0respect for him! And he\u2019s an anti-vaxxer, to boot, so there\u2019s that. I\u2019m just praying that one of the young bucks can defeat him now. (And always, actually!)<\/p>\n Glowing Victoria Azarenka with her trophy the other day, her first in four years!<\/p><\/div>\n But there are still a couple of people to root for. \u00a0The only really<\/em> good news is that we get to see the lovely Kim Clijsters<\/strong> play again!\u00a0I hadn\u2019t realized until this morning that she\u2019s back on the court after many years of retirement! So of course, I\u2019d love to see her win the whole thing!<\/p>\n Then we have young American Sofia Kenin<\/strong>, who was the surprise winner of the only tournament in 2020 so far, the Australian Open, and is the #2 seed here. She could become the only female Majors Champion of 2020 with a win here! (And I have a feeling that most of you have never even heard of her. Am I right or am I right?) And I always hope that Victoria Azarenka<\/strong> will triumph. I\u2019ve been a fan of hers from the get-go. As a thirty-one-year-old now, she\u2019s been through a lot, and could have easily retired from tennis at several points in her career. She just won the Western & Southern Open the other day, so I really hope that bodes well for her at this one. Another one of my faves is the always-lovely Petra Kvitova<\/strong>, and I also root for Karolina Plishkova<\/strong>, who has now moved up to be the #1 seed in this tournament. I would love for Kim, Victoria, Petra, or Karolina\u00a0to win! (But I still feel that playing pro tennis is not worth risking one\u2019s life.)<\/p>\n I just realized that those five ladies are\u00a0just about the only bright spots I can think of. It\u2019s dawning on me that when Roger Federer finally retires, (bite my tongue,) I think he\u2019ll be taking my tennis-watching-fervor with him! The only thing that can save that sport for me is if he becomes a commentator. To hear his lovely, intelligent speech will be such a pleasure, (and such a change from the norm!)<\/p>\n Sofia Kenin with her Aussie Open trophy in January, right before the world went all haywire.<\/p><\/div>\n So, with me being so into the NBA Play-offs, that are, for the first time in history, running concurrently with the US Open, along with me taking a peek at the Yankees and Mets games when I have a free moment, and continuing to pen these columns, and doing all the cooking for Mr. X and me, (which has been the norm during the entire pandemic\u2014oysh!,) this will be the first year in decades that I don\u2019t watch every single second of the tennis. But don\u2019t feel bad for me\u2014at least I\u2019ll be spared having to listen to idiotic mispronouncer, ESPN tennis host, Chris McKendry<\/strong>, continually say \u201csawL\u201d for \u201csaw\u201d and \u201cdrawL\u201d for \u201cdraw.\u201d And now that Andy Murray<\/strong> is back playing, she\u2019ll be calling him \u201cAndy Merry<\/em>,\u201d and not as a cute thing. That woman needs speech lessons, pronto! So, I\u2019m happy to give my blood that break from boiling. (It’s been boiling enough, to the max, from seeing the LA Clippers’ Marcus Morris, the dirtiest player I’ve ever seen, continuously harm the Mavs’ wonderful Luka Doncic! I plan to explain more later this week, if I can clam down enough to write about it.)<\/p>\n Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton.<\/p><\/div>\n Lastly, since there was no Wimbledon this year, which is when I was going to tell this tale that has recently come to light, and amid all the ethnic turmoil of the current day and age, this is the perfect time for me to make everyone aware of this horrible anti-semitic and racist situation in the storied history of that tournament. It pains me to say it because I\u2019ve always been such a fan of Wimbledon, but they should be ashamed of themselves for the anti-semitism and racism of which I\u2019m about to tell you. Even though winners of that tourney are traditionally given lifetime membership in the All England Club, neither of the female doubles winners in 1956, American Althea Gibson<\/strong> and Brit Angela Buxton<\/strong>, received it because the former was black and the latter was Jewish! Shame on the All England Club!<\/p>\n They were both put on a waiting list, which they never got off for the rest of their lives. That is so disgusting. The official word on \u201cMembership of Club\u201d on Wimbledon\u2019s own website is, \u201cHonorary Members elected by the Committee and mostly past Singles Champions and other people who have rendered special service to the sport.\u201d These ladies were both Champions, (although of doubles,) and they definitely both rendered special service to the sport. And I repeat\u2014Angela was one of their own countrywomen!!!<\/p>\n (L-R) Angela Buxton, the Duchess of Kent, Althea Gibson.<\/p><\/div>\n The only reason the world is learning of this now is because Angela died recently, a day before her eighty-sixth birthday, with still not being granted membership! There\u2019s nothing that the powers-that-be in England can do to rectify the situation now, but they need to address it somehow<\/em>, and mea culpa themselves. She was even inducted into the Black<\/em> Tennis Hall of Fame! That\u2019s because of her doubles partnership and friendship with Althea Gibson, for whom she raised money when Althea was failing towards the end of her life. Here\u2019s the link to one brief story about Angela and her Wimbledon club exclusion, which I encourage you to read: www.jta.org\/quick-reads\/british-tennis-champ-says-she-was-denied-club-membership-due-to-anti-semitism<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whew. Enough with all the real-life tsuris already! (That means \u201caggravation\u201d in Yiddish, which I used in tribute to Angela\u2019s ethnicity.) Let\u2019s get back to the diversion<\/em> from real life, although no less irritating, watching sports!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE 2020 US OPEN BEGINS TODAY (BUT I DON\u2019T CARE MUCH RIGHT ABOUT NOW) First of all, these days I have to force myself to get started on each sport I\u2019ve always loved. Once I begin, though, as with the current NBA Play-offs, I do get back into it in a big way. But with<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>