Coco Gauff Wins the U.S. Open

I am quite sure those of us who are tennis fans very much appreciated the women’s finals this year at the U.S. Open featuring Coco Gauff against Aryna Sabelenka.  The U.S. Open is the final tournament of the four tennis events that make-up the Grand Slam.  Matthew Futterman, the reporter of the New York Times who covers tennis, recently wrote the U.S. Open, unlike the other tournament locales, is much “more welcoming with limited emphasis on staid decorum.”   For example, the stuffiness inherent at the Wimbledon in England, where tennis has been thought of as an elitist sport, is simply not present at the Arthur Ashe Stadium where the U. S. Open is played.  Arthur Ashe, who died prematurely of a faulty blood transfusion, was the first Afro-American to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.  Another accolade held by the U.S. Open is that it was the first of the big tournaments to offer equal pay for both men and women.

In the past, I personally have enjoyed watching women’s tennis more than men’s tennis because the women’s baseline rallies are, generally, longer and more interesting than the men, where in the latter, points are often scored more quickly.   As I watched the U.S. Open finals broadcast from New York, I observed an integrated spectator audience watching the 19-year-old Afro-American, Coco, play Aryna who is from Minsk, Belarus. Any racial issues in America, so often seen in the news these days, appeared non-existent as blacks and whites, many seated together, cheered for Coco, the home favorite.  But much to the chagrin of the fans, Coco did not appear to be on her game in the first set as she quickly lost a game when she was serving (called a service break).  On the other hand, her opponent, Aryna, deftly was making all the shots necessary to take control and the lead in the first set.

Tennis, like other sports, has a psychological component.  If an athlete let’s his/her poor performance get the best of him/her, a tennis match can rapidly come to an end.  Coco lost the first set 6 to 2.  In women’s tennis, the match is the best of three sets so if Coco were to lose either of the next two sets, she would have lost the match.  A player with less skill and confidence than Coco may have lost in straight sets but her grit and determination became apparent in the second and third sets.  As one of the sport’s commentators pointed, Coco had gone from playing her “B” game in the first set to her “A” game in the second and third sets.  It was exciting to see.

In the second set, Coco promptly broke Aryna’s serve and played flawlessly making almost no unforced errors.  The latter are misplays made of shots that ordinarily could be made.  Because Coco was covering the baseline anticipating shots and making great returns, it appeared that her rival was becoming flustered, and Aryna was beginning to miss shots that she had earlier made with ease.  As Aryna’s unforced errors continued throughout the second set, the look of the match was changing with Coco, steady as ever, taking the lead and winning the second set, 6 to 3.  Now Coco had the momentum in the match, having summoned the strength in her play, whereas Aryna continued to make unforced errors.  The games in the third set became lopsided in Coco’s favor with the result being an easy win for Coco:  6 to 2 and the match.

Coco’s triumph at the U.S. Open reminded me of a match I observed when I was on the tennis team at my high school in my sophomore year.  Andy Kimmel, a senior, was our top player so he played first singles.  Because his opponent that day had been known to be high ranking in the county, we wondered if Andy had any chance at all to beat this guy.  As the match began, Andy’s rival made some good smashes for points but then missed a few easy shots.  Andy was a good but not a great tennis player, who, nevertheless, had a sense of tennis wisdom, and he must have spotted a weakness in his rival’s play.  Whereas his opponent would return anything hit hard, he appeared to miss the softer lob shots.  He would smash them into the net in utter frustration. His fits of anger resulted in his throwing his tennis racquet on the ground and cursing at who knows what.  Smiling, rather than serving overhand, Andy began to serve underhand, patty balling the ball over the net.  Each time Andy did this, his opponent would hit the ball as hard as he could with little control resulting in the ball going out of bounds or into the net.  Andy won the match in straight sets.  He had found a way to cause his rival to make several unforced errors and to never regain his ability to play at his expected level.

Coco won because she did not lose a grip on herself after her defeat in the first set.  Unlike Aryna, she made few unforced errors.  Andy used his wits to win.   The goal for athletes is to perform at their peak and experience what is called an ultimate flow.  Flow, according to the Hungarian-American psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the inventor of the concept, is “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.” This highly focused mental state is conducive to productivity and, for athletes, high performance. To arrive at this stage, athletes’ psychological composure and confidence are as important as their physical conditioning and well-being.  Athletes, such as Coco and Andy, possess that savoir faire that allows them to stay focused on their play and navigate their way to victory.