We are completing 11 months since the last time fans were able to fill a stadium in America to watch sports. Sometimes it seems that the restrictions on the pandemic will last forever. But on Friday in Adelaide, Australia, there was a glimpse of the future and the present that America could have had with competent leadership.
GOAT Serena Williams is the headline A day in the unit, a tennis exhibit that helped prepare players to embark on their Australian Open adjustments after leaving a 14-day quarantine upon arriving at Down Under.
Williams faced Naomi Osaka, each taking a set, 6-2, before the main champion 23 times prevails, 10-7, in a decisive tie-break. The other major women’s game, between No. 1 Ash Barty and No. 2 Simona Halep, also demanded a tiebreak, with the Romanian winning 10-8.
The results did not matter much, as the event was a celebration for fans and players to be able to return to normal. Some masks were visible in the crowd, but not mandatory, as the entire country in Australia has not had a day with more than 35 new cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the year.
“It was great to trust us with your laws,” said Williams. “And we were so happy to be here, and now it’s worth it.”
G / O Media can receive a commission
In an interview with Stephen Colbert earlier this week, Williams described the quarantine experience as “superintense, but … super good because after that you can have a new normal, as we were used to last year, this time in the United States.”
Williams is quarantined with his 3-year-old daughter, Olympia, and anyone with children in the pandemic can tell how silly it sounds when players like Roberto Bautista Agut compare for “prison … but with wi-fi.” Novak Djokovic, who was No. 20 on Deadspin Idiot of the year to 2020 for its superspreader event and its US Open default, also drew criticism for requesting that quarantine restrictions be relaxed for players, although he I tried to clarify that he was trying to “use my privileged position to serve as much as I could, where and when needed.”
Of course, just like Djokovic was just trying to make a point when he hit a ball in the throat of a line judge in Flushing Meadows.
Djokovic withdrew from A Day at the Drive, citing bubbles in his hand, but then appeared anyway play a set against Jannik Sinner.
At least Djokovic being a complete stranger is a form of normality that never stops.