An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
A fun thought exercise for the week is to rank the first three stories in order of credibility: A) That IOC president Thomas Bach is an unbiased source of the well being of Peng Shuai, B) any future Novak Djokovic vaccination claim without independent verification, or C) that the Serbian legal system legitimately investigated the irregularities in Djokovic’s positive Covid test at the center of the Australian Open kerfuffle.
Malcolm Gladwell penned a powerful essay praising the WTA response to the Peng Shuai crisis, ESPN drops the ball on a significant match at the Australian Open, and other stories from the margins of the tennis world.
Chris Evert announces a cancer diagnosis and Netflix is filming a documentary series with behind-the-scenes look at life on the ATP and WTA tours. Australia makes a final decision on the immigration status of Novak Djokovic who continues to be one of the most divisive figures in tennis. Australian Open play is underway!
Novak Djokovic get his day in Australian court as his immigration status dominates tennis news heading into the Australian Open.
The Australian Summer of Tennis is underway, more positive COVID-19 tests following the exhibition in Abu Dhabi, and Billie Jean King’s “All In” headlines a recommended reading list for business leaders.
Sorting out all the twists and turns in the Peng Shuai saga. The ATP and WTA release a highlight reels featuring the top 100 points of 2021.
USTA CEO Michael Dowse abruptly resigns, the ITF confirms that there are no World Tour events in China in 2022, and tennis great Darlene Hard passes away.
The WTA takes bold and decisive action on the Peng Shuai crisis propelling Steve Simon to sports leadership prominence. Meanwhile the ATP decided to “monitor the situation” which is only marginally better than the IOC’s “quiet diplomacy” of complicity.
Details on how I approached the November challenge in the USTA Tennis Champions Program. Criticism mounts over the IOC’s handling of the Peng Shuai disappearance.
Concern continues to mount in the tennis world as it is becoming increasingly apparent that WTA Tennis Star Peng Shuai has not been seen in public since raising allegations of sexual assault against a top official in China’s Communist Party. The WTA has signaled a willingness to walk away from doing business in China.