TELEVISION: Gods of Tennis
Jun. 24th, 2023 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllEpisode 2 focused on Borg versus MacEnroe and followed the same pattern as the previous episode in that it cued us up for the 1981 Wimbledon final and then went back a bit to show how the players had got there and why it meant so much, other than the very fact of being a Wimbledon final. However, lacking the activism of the previous episode’s subjects and because it was about one head to head, it was essentially about two talents with different temperaments and playing styles. Yes, the intrusion caused by fame and being teenage girls’ favourite, and how that hounded Borg out of the sport, was covered in depth, and I felt very sorry for him in that it started when he was 17 and navigating the switch from juniors to playing men’s, and sad that it meant he retired so early when he’d achieved so much. (And though the programme didn’t make the link about the circumstances of her death, it did draw attention to the then Lady Diana Spencer coming to watch the tennis in 1980 and 81.)
There was also great play of MacEnroe’s tantrums, and how at first this made him unpopular, but gradually got crowds on his side. But it struck me, being mainly familiar with him now as the matured commentator, how young he was too. There was also the culture clash between a brash American from Queen’s and the upper-class English Wimbledon. It seemed like it was fairness that was driving him, whereas with Connors it was competitiveness and Nastase wanted respect, but the last two only got glancing mentions, with very little about how Borg had replaced Connors at the top of the sport.
It was all very Wimbledon centric – they had to mention the US Open, because MacEnroe was reigning champion by ’81, and it was after losing there in ‘81 that Borg retired, but there was no mention of the French (or the Australian) Open, just more pandering to the view that Wimbledon is the only tennis tournament that matters.
We got to see THE tiebreak in 1980, which was the year Borg got his fifth consecutive win at Wimbledon, and the following fifth set, which showed MacEnroe what he had to do if he wanted to win. Credit to him, he wanted to win, did what he had to and was ready the next year. You could understand his frustration that his great rival was leaving just when he felt he could compete with him. Both MacEnroe and Borg gave very candid interviews.
Watching back, the amount of smoking going on in Wimbledon was faintly shocking, as was how easy it was for people to come on court, mainly young admirers of Borg, or journalists. Of course, after what happened to Monica Seles, the latter came to an end.
Episode 3 focused on Navratilova v. Evert, making clear that that was a proper rivalry. By the time I got into tennis it was Navratilova vs. Graf, and I always sided with the German because I’d grown up with Navratilova winning. Watching this episode, which built up to 1990, when Navratilova finally got her ninth Wimbledon singles win (against Garrison, who remained as uninterviewed as Goolagong), I was offered a different perspective – seeing how a young Navratilova claimed asylum in the US, leaving her family behind, not being able to say goodbye to her mother. She still seemed young in her first Wimbledon final, as the show covered how she hadn’t got her emotions under control.
Much was made of the contrast with the already established Evert, the more ladylike, the all-American sweetheart whose biggest strength was her mindset. We saw how Navratilova steadied after a run of painful shots, and won her first final. Obviously, there wasn’t as much detail about every final, but there was a focus on how Evert came back, then how Navratilova started becoming an even better athlete, concentrating on gym work and bringing in an entourage (but still doing damage to her knee).
The message was that age catches up with you, as Graf appeared on the scene, seeing off Evert, who’d been the rising star in the King era. Evert was now making semis, not finals, and it was Graf who stopped Navratilova’s reign on the grass. When the German didn’t make it through to the final to defend, it was Navratilova’s chance, with King in her camp.
In between we’d also seen Navratilova’s search for acceptance, how she’d been outed as a lesbian just after receiving US citizenship, and how, perhaps, (this was how the narrative sold it) she’d gained the crowd’s acceptance by losing the US Open final and showing how much it hurt. Respect too for the Duchess of Kent for using the pull granted to her by marrying someone related to the Queen to persuade the Soviet Czech authorities to let Navratilova’s mother come to see her win at Wimbledon.
There was also great play of MacEnroe’s tantrums, and how at first this made him unpopular, but gradually got crowds on his side. But it struck me, being mainly familiar with him now as the matured commentator, how young he was too. There was also the culture clash between a brash American from Queen’s and the upper-class English Wimbledon. It seemed like it was fairness that was driving him, whereas with Connors it was competitiveness and Nastase wanted respect, but the last two only got glancing mentions, with very little about how Borg had replaced Connors at the top of the sport.
It was all very Wimbledon centric – they had to mention the US Open, because MacEnroe was reigning champion by ’81, and it was after losing there in ‘81 that Borg retired, but there was no mention of the French (or the Australian) Open, just more pandering to the view that Wimbledon is the only tennis tournament that matters.
We got to see THE tiebreak in 1980, which was the year Borg got his fifth consecutive win at Wimbledon, and the following fifth set, which showed MacEnroe what he had to do if he wanted to win. Credit to him, he wanted to win, did what he had to and was ready the next year. You could understand his frustration that his great rival was leaving just when he felt he could compete with him. Both MacEnroe and Borg gave very candid interviews.
Watching back, the amount of smoking going on in Wimbledon was faintly shocking, as was how easy it was for people to come on court, mainly young admirers of Borg, or journalists. Of course, after what happened to Monica Seles, the latter came to an end.
Episode 3 focused on Navratilova v. Evert, making clear that that was a proper rivalry. By the time I got into tennis it was Navratilova vs. Graf, and I always sided with the German because I’d grown up with Navratilova winning. Watching this episode, which built up to 1990, when Navratilova finally got her ninth Wimbledon singles win (against Garrison, who remained as uninterviewed as Goolagong), I was offered a different perspective – seeing how a young Navratilova claimed asylum in the US, leaving her family behind, not being able to say goodbye to her mother. She still seemed young in her first Wimbledon final, as the show covered how she hadn’t got her emotions under control.
Much was made of the contrast with the already established Evert, the more ladylike, the all-American sweetheart whose biggest strength was her mindset. We saw how Navratilova steadied after a run of painful shots, and won her first final. Obviously, there wasn’t as much detail about every final, but there was a focus on how Evert came back, then how Navratilova started becoming an even better athlete, concentrating on gym work and bringing in an entourage (but still doing damage to her knee).
The message was that age catches up with you, as Graf appeared on the scene, seeing off Evert, who’d been the rising star in the King era. Evert was now making semis, not finals, and it was Graf who stopped Navratilova’s reign on the grass. When the German didn’t make it through to the final to defend, it was Navratilova’s chance, with King in her camp.
In between we’d also seen Navratilova’s search for acceptance, how she’d been outed as a lesbian just after receiving US citizenship, and how, perhaps, (this was how the narrative sold it) she’d gained the crowd’s acceptance by losing the US Open final and showing how much it hurt. Respect too for the Duchess of Kent for using the pull granted to her by marrying someone related to the Queen to persuade the Soviet Czech authorities to let Navratilova’s mother come to see her win at Wimbledon.
