A question I never thought would be worthy of GM, but the day has come.
YonaMX
Joined
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1,667 Posts
Love team tennis. United Cup, Davis Cup, & Laver Cup. Even BJKC, at times.
The pressure of playing for team / country is a different kind of intangible stakes. A more overt form of soft power. A person's ability to rise and represent matters. In general and in terms of the HoF. They look at that metric when voting.
Team tennis requires mental toughness & clutch play. As such, it often shows who is truly in form, who isn't, & who can find it when they need it most. Team tennis also serves as a harbinger for younger, emerging stars finding a new level of form.
Williams sisters gold medals aside, the Olympics, for me, are more about watching all the other truly niche sports I don't typically see. I still don't know where to watch fencing, speed climbing, or water polo. Apparently, volleyball has a subscription platform like tennis, but the price was more than TC, so I passed.
2024 Paris Olympics were great! Thanks to the women, USA did very well, so there was a lot for me to watch. As for tennis, Shelton wasn't playing and it was on clay which is a very rare OG occurrence, so I barely watched.
The pressure of playing for team / country is a different kind of intangible stakes. A more overt form of soft power. A person's ability to rise and represent matters. In general and in terms of the HoF. They look at that metric when voting.
Team tennis requires mental toughness & clutch play. As such, it often shows who is truly in form, who isn't, & who can find it when they need it most. Team tennis also serves as a harbinger for younger, emerging stars finding a new level of form.
Williams sisters gold medals aside, the Olympics, for me, are more about watching all the other truly niche sports I don't typically see. I still don't know where to watch fencing, speed climbing, or water polo. Apparently, volleyball has a subscription platform like tennis, but the price was more than TC, so I passed.
2024 Paris Olympics were great! Thanks to the women, USA did very well, so there was a lot for me to watch. As for tennis, Shelton wasn't playing and it was on clay which is a very rare OG occurrence, so I barely watched.
Joined
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1,667 Posts
Seriously? You've never heard of Eurocentrism...
Inspired by golf's Ryder Cup which is New World (USA) vs Old World (Europe), Laver Cup is funny in that way. Honoring and naming the event after an Aussie (Laver, Team World) whilst also managing to have Europe as its own entity pitted against the World.
A shady, soft power re-imaginging of Old World, colonialist bragging rights. This is why it's so annoying when TE wins and why the sloppiness of TW in LC24 isn't easily forgiven.
You can have one player who flops, but you can't have three (Tiafail, Tabillow, Cockynotkiss) & still expect to win. JMac failed hard with the lineup. Shelton & Fritz were let down. Cerundolo gets a pass.
Joined
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1,667 Posts
Laver Cup is anything but boring. It is known for its striking aesthetic, lively atmosphere, and profanity-laced sit down exchanges. You want to know what the players really think of the game? Watch them advise each other during Laver Cup. It's fascinating. You could see the respect for Ben Shelton increase in real time on both teams. It's a shame he's injured this year.
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