Bathroom Break - Namaste Tsitsipas
The Tokyo Olympic Games were finally held, and the US Open tennis tournament was also successful. Now the delightful and eventful summer is over. And the equinox flowers in my garden are in bloom, announcing the beginning of autumn.
The US Open this year was only open to vaccinated spectators.
It is reported that there were fewer admissions, but I found that there were lines at the entrances to all the 15 field courts when I visited on the first round of the tournament.The spectators got fired up, smiles returned to their faces, and their cheers were so high in spirit.
In this newsletter, I’d like to talk about a bathroom-break problem stirred up by one tennis player in the Open. Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece took frequent bathroom breaks during one match, and his opponent objected. First of all, US Open regulations do not specify a time limit for a bathroom break––it is just supposed to be an “appropriate length of time.” Tsitsipas seemed to change his clothing during the breaks. The two bathroom breaks he took during the match, which lasted 8 minutes and 30 seconds and 7 minutes and 30 seconds respectively, incited his opponent’s complaint. Tsitsipas is infamous for the long duration of his bathroom breaks—one of the longest was 10 minutes and 30 seconds. I found myself wondering if the muggy and hot weather in other countries might be unbearable for a Greek player who is used to the climate in his home country.
What’s problematic is not how long his breaks were or whether he changed his outfit or not. These physical issues are not the point. Rather, it’s that many players take a bathroom break mainly for the purpose of changing the course of a game—a psychological reason.
“I haven’t done anything wrong, so I don’t understand,” he told reporters when asked about the crowd’s reaction. “The people love the sport––they come to watch tennis. I have nothing against them. I love the fans. But some people don’t understand. That’s all. They don’t understand. They haven’t played tennis at a high level to understand how much effort and how much difficult it is to do what we are doing. Sometimes we need a short break to do what we have to do.”
Tennis is a very introspective and lonely sport. Players have to solve problems by themselves during their matches. For them, the bathroom can be a psychological refuge. More and more junior tennis players are turning professional. These young players might copy what the senior players are doing and think they can do anything as long as their actions do not violate regulations. Should they be respectful toward their opponents? These ambiguous regulations are being criticized.
Tennis legend Roger Federer is known to be well-mannered now, but he was once a rascal. His improved character reflects the work he has put into developing into a perfect player, I think. But he behaved like the rascal he used to be at the French Open this year. This was caused by a time violation warning given to him for the way he slowly walked to pick up towels during the match (the rule that players must pick up towels themselves was introduced because of the pandemic). He argued with the umpire about it for several minutes and lost that set (though he went on to win the match).
Then there are players who smash their rackets––their most important item––in order to vent their frustrations.
Naomi Osaka was booed by audiences at the US Open because she smashed her racket repeatedly. Her young opponent, Leylah Fernandez, seemed to have the crowd's support and received thunderous cheers. Osaka lost in the end. In the post-match press conference, Osaka said, “When I win, I don’t feel happy. I feel more like relieved. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don’t think that’s normal….” It was a painful interview to watch.
Novak Djokovic, the king of tennis and a philosopher to me, inspires me. But in the final of the US Open, he also smashed and broke his racket, showing his bare anger. I was shocked by his rage.
Professional tennis requires such a high level of competition, exceeding normal human ability. Players must push the limits of their physical and mental strength. Why do they keep playing? (I played tennis every day when I was in middle school, but I did not have a competitive mind at all.) In order to climb up the world rankings, players have to participate in championships held worldwide every week. It’s a professional sport that has a very short off-season. Players have only about one month off at the end of the year. It is not enough for players to fix their injuries and problems, rehabilitate, or strengthen their bodies, so players are forced to keep playing with their problems unsolved. They are really bruised, I think...
The bathroom is the only private place where players can reset their minds. So I think it’s okay to allow them to determine their own “appropriate length of time” and not regulate this so strictly.
Taking inspiration from this bathroom-break debate, I have created “Namaste Tsitsipas” scarves. As a tennis fan, I cheer tennis players from the bottom of my heart.
Nothing is easy, So take a moment and breath deep, and find yourself. Namaste.
So I drew them on my scarves this month.
Yuh Okano, 9.2021
