The scene is recurrent, whatever the tournament: a tennis player, mobile in hand, scrutinizing what is going on in the cybernetic entrails of the device.
Of course, it also happens in Paris, where Paula Badosa (7-5, 3-6 and 6-2 against Kaja Juvan) arrived with her nerves on edge.
Two weeks earlier, the 24-year-old world number four had decided to cut to the chase and removed most of the social media apps she had installed on her phone.
“Yes, almost all of them.
I only keep those in which I can control who can contact me, ”she answers this newspaper, while the buzz spreads and the professionals explain themselves.
Tennis and nets, nets and tennis;
a strange contradiction.
Exposure, fame income.
Also a source of trouble.
"I have made this decision because they leave me with more than what they give me," says the Catalan, who has more than a hundred thousand followers on Twitter and more than half a million on Instagram.
“I think that giving, they give you little.
Perhaps they make you known and can serve brands, although the most positive thing is the closeness they generate between fans and athletes, something that was not possible a few years ago.
That is very good, because the future is in the digital, but I think that an athlete also has a lot left because some people or the press see themselves as entitled to be able to judge you without knowing what is behind it, ”extends the player from Begur about an issue that worries the entire tennis environment, from the organizations to the coaches.
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"It's a losing battle," says Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Alcaraz's coach, when asked about the degree of dependence of players on mobile phones, an element that for a few years has become an extension of the tennis player and that, in many cases, it makes you lose focus and leads you astray, especially the younger ones.
“Networks generate a lot of stress.
I use them, today they are part of our lives, but it is important to learn to control them.
I don't think it's good to take them away from a player, but you have to find a formula.
We must try to understand the young people of today.
For them, life on the circuit can be lonely.
Most of us players spend a lot of time with our mobile, and that is not ideal, but we must control it, ”says the male number one, Novak Djokovic (35 years old).
Twitter, “the most negative place”
"We have to guide the new generations," said Roger Federer (40).
"I can't imagine the beginnings of my career with the networks, I don't know how I would have handled it... For every ten nice comments, there is always one negative and, of course, that's the one you focus on," added the legendary Swiss tennis player.
The trainers maintain that the technology is directly related to the progressive loss of the culture of effort that characterized the players of the past.
That is, they train less and spend more time in front of screens, feeding egos and also one of the most substantial sections of their future income.
Osaka checks the mobile at the 2020 Australian Open.ISSEI KATO (Reuters)
“Why am I still in them?
Because it's my turn, because tomorrow goes that way…”, simplifies Badosa after the Japanese Naomi Osaka –2.8 million followers on Instagram– recognized a few days ago that she does not consult them after a defeat and that she has forgotten about Twitter because “it is the most negative place”.
Numerous professionals denounce that extreme borders have been crossed.
“We are going to kill you”, they recently dedicated to Frenchman Benoit Paire after falling in Estoril.
“
You are an insult to the sport.
I hope you break both legs.
Die.
You've made me lose a lot of money.
I hope they rape you and you die of cancer”, they threatened the Argentine Paula Ormaechea after losing in Bogotá.
And between the two, a link: the bettors.
Abuse and long-term damage
Last year, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) issued two statements to request greater control of the platforms.
“Time and time again, we see the devastating impact of abuse, threats and discriminatory language online.
The level that the players must endure in many cases is unacceptable, ”explained the president of the first body, David Haggerty.
"Many cause long-term damage and great anguish," they stressed from the second.
“If you have messages telling you to kill yourself and quit tennis, it will affect you.
I have learned not to pay too much attention to it, but there are players who are different or more sensitive to some things.
I know some of them have a hard time dealing with that, ”says the American Coco Gauff, 18, representative of that new batch of young people who grows with TikTok and other applications as essential tools to transmit and make themselves known, also to project themselves and bill thanks to the marks.
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The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (24 years old) is another example of round trip.
“They are a good distraction.
I think it's okay to spend my free time productively and doing something good, entertaining other people, and seeking a better world.
I think that some kind of impact can be generated;
you can help and not only through tennis, but beyond sports, ”he points out.
However, two years ago he had temporarily dispensed with them due to saturation and disenchantment, and had delegated directly to his agent to coordinate the commercial exposure before the million and a half fans who follow in his footsteps through Instagram: "You have to take this very seriously.
Definitely, I want to live a little reality.”
Badosa lives it these days in the rest strips, when instead of picking up the mobile he walks near the Eiffel Tower or accompanies the members of his team during golf games on the green of ParisLongchamp.
“I felt very pressured.
I am the first one who does not want to lose and that she is mean to herself, so that kind of extra comments are not necessary.
They don't help me, I'm not a robot.
I have decided not to read them anymore, ”she ends.
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