Tiktekno, 26.1/Sport1
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Nick Kyrius' commentary at the Australian Open is everything that is wonderful about tennis.
One might think that the so-called "bad boy" of tennis is actually a wild and emotional person, but Kyrius in his interpretation illustrates the vast professional knowledge required of tennis players, the depth and control of details.
When he's on the court, Kyrgios may represent a wild side of tennis, with a loss of control and a deviation from the strict rules, but in the commentator's chair he reminds how sharp a tennis player must be, to react to the opponent's tactics, to improvise strategically, to stop for a moment and look at the full picture and understand the situation.
That is, even those who break rackets, curse and riot, even those who seem to pull from the hip, have an understanding of the game at the highest level.
Sports fans have always been able to recognize the benefits of the commentary of a former player, who was there and experienced everything, but Kyrgios shows what a luxury it is to hear the commentary of an active player.
He not only knows the pitch and the conditions, but also the characters in action.
He knows what it's like to go up against Djokovic, how difficult it is to take a point from Medvedev, how determined and fast Alcarez is.
It tells of the tense silence when the two opponents share a dressing room, or what a tennis player mutters to himself while taking a bathroom break to stop his opponent's momentum.
He lets you in naturally, without pretensions.
View from a different angle.
Kyrius/GettyImages, Graham Denholm
Of course he also knows the strengths and the intensity.
He feels them.
Mats Wilander and John McEnroe also know the court, but it's different when two boomers admire a racket, compared to Kyrius.
After all, until recently, he was the one who hit them, and answered them.
So when Kyrius gets excited about a point, it's different.
When he gets up from the commentator's chair, and shouts "Nooooo!"
Live after an impossible hit, the viewer realizes that there was something special here.
He also looks sharply at the events, analyzes them, but at the same time still expresses appreciation and admiration for the players (colleagues, friends, opponents) and manages to admire them.
He manages to convey the complex image, and make the viewer feel a strange sensation - that for a moment he really feels what goes through the tennis player's head.
A 36-year-old tennis player, losing to the 6th ranked in the world, and this is considered a "sensation".
Djokovic/Reuters
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For older tennis fans, who still remember the previous generation, the standards were different.
Andre Agassi, for example, was a giant, who won eight Grand Slams in 11 years.
Boris Becker, a true star, won six majors.
Stefan Edberg won six Grand Slams in his seven successful years, an average of one per year, in the seasons when he was at his peak.
These were the big ones of old.
Today 36-year-old Novak Djokovic loses to a 22-year-old opponent ranked 6th in the world, and the feeling is of shock.
After big points he still puts a finger to his ear and looks at the audience.
Sometimes he tries to say "I can't hear your applause", sometimes it's gagging in the sense of "Did you say something?", but his messing with the audience still continues.
Still hated and loved and adored at the same time, still looking for recognition, probably still hungry.
The very fact that Yannick Sinner's victory was seen as "sensational", illustrates the crazy world that Djokovic has built around him.
Recognize who is in the picture?/GettyImages, Cameron Spencer
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After Diana Jastremska qualified from the qualifiers to the semi-finals, I came across a statistic that said she knocked out the two-time Australian champion (Azarenka) and the reigning Wimbledon champion along the way.
I used the few brain cells I had left trying to remember, who the hell is the Wimbledon champion?
I checked and found: Marketa Vandrushova.
Czech ranked 7th in the world.
If she walked past me on the street I wouldn't recognize her, even in tennis clothes.
that I have no memory of her, no impression.
With all the love for Savalanka, Shabiontek and Koko, women's tennis continues to search for a star.
Not just new champions, but characters.
There are no differences between all the robustness and power of today.
The feeling is that Justine Henin would have dismantled them all.
Can we also take into account the tens of thousands in the stands?
Australia/GettyImages
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The new law in Australia, which allows the audience to move in the stands at the end of each match (and not just during the break), is an interesting change, which examines the fundamental assumptions of tennis.
Anyone who has paid huge sums to watch tennis and had to wait in frustration for long minutes for a break to return to their seat, understands the decision, which is in favor of the audience.
On the other hand, the tennis players claim that it interferes and creates distractions, and harms the flow and the unique tradition of the game.
So what is true?
What is more important?
Consideration of the audience, or order in the stands?
As usual, everything.
It is amazing to discover every time how tennis players have difficulty concentrating when there is a slight movement in the stands, which disturbs the concentration of their majesty.
On the other hand, there is nothing like the silence in a tennis stadium during the point, when there is only a murmur while the crowd holds itself, stops the excitement, and erupts in roars at the end of the point.
Will the tennis fans be able to watch the finals without bothering with petty rivalries and historical numbers?
Medvedev/GettyImages, MARTIN KEEP/AFP
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The last time the Australian final was without Nadal, Federer or Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin met.
It was in a different era, before the three superheroes, before the obsessive rivalries, the petty camping and the "historical" numbers, an era when the love of the game was greater than the love for the players.
In tomorrow's final, Danil Medvedev and Yannick Siner will meet, and many feel empty, that they have no one to encourage or wish for his downfall.
Happily, I am excited.
More on the same topic:
Novak Djokovic
Nick Kyrgios