Two weeks ago, I was not a Victoria Azarenka fan. Like many of the female tennis players, she’s a bad server but a great returner. She was # 1 in the world but tennis rankings have always baffled me because there’s so many tournaments, I feel it’s unrealistic that a player can play that often and travel as much as they are required. But, if you miss a tournament, your ranking gets affected in a larger amount than is fair. True, every player has this same problem but this is how Caroline Wozniacki was # 1 but never won a major, she played more tournaments than anyone. So, I could believe the “experts” when it was all about Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova and nobody cared about Azarenka. That being said, I still picked Azarenka to make it to the finals and lose to Sharapova so I did trust her over Serena. But, nobody really believed me.
I am one of the few people that is not in the closet about being a WWE fan. I’ve had to defend my fanship to almost everyone for over a decade. After watching Azarenka win, I realized one more reason I’m a WWE fan. The superstars in the WWE treat their audience like adults. Yes, you can insult us. You can insult the city where we live. We’ll get over it, it’ll be okay. Right now, CM Punk has been going on for months about how sheepish the masses are and how all someone has to do is mention the city they’re currently in and they go nuts. Fans boo him immensely but then he mentioned the town they were in right after mentioning that if he did they’d cheer. The crowd cheered loudly at the mention of their city. He then rested his case. He openly talks about how he doesn’t need the people and the people don’t matter. Tomorrow is the Royal Rumble; the writers of the WWE have expertly set up the championship match of CM Punk vs. The Rock. The dichotomy is obvious. The man who despises the people vs. the man who calls himself “The People’s Champion.”
Interestingly, the women’s tennis final was set up in the same way without any script (I think). Usually the crowd unfairly attacks Azarenka for her grunting. The William sisters, Sharapova along with many other women grunt. It may not be as loud or as long as Azarenka but Azarenka is the only one that constantly gets mocked and ridiculed by the fans for it. In the semi-finals, Azarenka got hurt so left the court for a training break. This is completely legal. When she came back, she ended up beating Sloane Stevens, the 19-year-old sensation that the world, including me, fell in love with. International news syndicates came out attacking Azarenka for manipulating the rules. CM Punk has been champion for a modern-era record of 434 days, and a lot of matches he too gets counted out or disqualified since the title can’t change hands on these things. Again, CM Punk is well within the rules to do it. He is not the only champion to do it by a long shot. But, he gets vilified more than anyone else. Same thing happened to Azarenka. So then the finals took place. Sure, Stevens captured the fans attention with her charismatic, funny and charming interviews but now we have one of the oldest women on tour, Li Na. Li Na has been cracking up fans for years with her surprisingly candid and honest interviews. One of the reasons I like tennis is that interviews aren’t all the same, they are quite funny and Li Na is one of the best. Li Na plays her best at Australia Australia
So, at 3AM eastern time, I sat down on my couch to watch Victoria Azarenka, the woman that has been attacked and crucified in newspapers across the world for the last two days vs. Li Na, the woman that everyone loves for her charm and hilariously candid interviews who loves Australia, battle it out for the championship in Australia. The fans didn’t boo Azarenka except for one time during the match. But they were notably silent when Azarenka did well and cheered much louder for Li Na. It was obvious who the fans wanted, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Li Na would collapse on the court twice for a twisted left ankle and had to receive help from the trainer. Nobody cared, unlike when Azarenka did it once just two days ago. The 2nd time Li Na fell, she banged her head pretty hard and they were worried about a concussion. If the fans didn’t love Li Na before, they certainly did now. The woman has come back from twisting the same ankle twice, possible concussion, but she’s going to fight to the bitter end. She’s not tapping out, she’s not going to quit, she’s going to stand on the opposite baseline and battle the number 1 player in the world. Victoria Azarenka would beat her in three sets.
I loved the match but at the end during the ceremony I watched intently to see Azarenka’s speech. Unfortunately, she did the classy thing. She got up there and thanked the fans. I know the logic, without the fans there couldn’t be the large prize money reward for playing tennis. But, I’m an economist, if it wasn’t for what these players could do, the way they can entertain the masses, they wouldn’t show up. There are much more people that like watching tennis than can play tennis at the ability of those on court. Lower supply, higher cost, Azarenka deserves the money. If CM Punk beats the Rock, he will come out on Monday Night Raw the next day and say, “Once again, I have beaten your hero. Once again, I have proven that you don’t need the people to be successful. Once again, I can’t be stopped and have beaten everyone in my path for 435 days to prove that I am the Best in the World”
Now, I didn’t expect Azarenka to say that. If she did, I’d love her for it. But, if I were her, I wouldn’t have thanked the fans. She broke down crying after she won. I understood it, through all the adversity, having a nation against her, she walked into enemy territory and still got the job done. Athletes should be mentally tough, but what she went through is unfair and it had to be tough. I normally dislike crying in sports by male or female but this time I was okay with it. So, I know I don’t have a big following. But I will say it for Azarenka since she’s too classy to say it herself. “I have come out here, and I have beaten your heroes. Back to back I took out the two non-Australian players you love the most. Boo me if you want; mock me if you want; but this (as she holds up the trophy) says that I am the champion, this solidifies that I am unquestionably, undeniably, indisputably the Best in the World!
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