August 2021 – Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

Grand Slam

Like golf, the sport of tennis has four major tournaments. There’s the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. If you win all four in the same calendar year, that’s called winning a “Grand Slam.”

That achievement is so rare that it has been accomplished by only five human beings — of the estimated 107 billion people that have inhabited Planet Earth. Don Budge was first in 1938; Maureen Connolly followed in 1953; Rod Laver did it in 1962 and 1969; Margaret Court in 1970; and Steffi Graf made it the “Golden Slam” when she also won the Olympic gold in Barcelona in that historic 1988.

Novak Djokovic can become the sixth human being if he wins in New York City next Sunday.

To win a major, you’ll need to beat seven players in 14 days. Can the 34-year-old Serbian do it?

Consider this: Djokovic owns 20 major titles. The rest of the 127 players in the 128-player draw? Four majors. And if we take out Andy Murray and Marin Cilic, that figure drops to zero. “Overwhelming favorite” is an understatement.

The only blemish in Djokovic’s year was his Tokyo Olympics sojourn. He lost in the men’s singles; lost in the men’s doubles; lost in the mixed doubles. In between, he lost his mind, smashing his Head PT113B racket before hurling it to the empty stands; he also crushed the bronze medal hopes of his compatriot Nina Stojanovic when he defaulted their mixed doubles match.

This is not the first time that Djokovic lost his temper. A year ago, he was on track to win the US Open when he accidentally swatted a ball that struck the throat of a line judge 40 feet away. Djokovic was given an automatic disqualification.

But that was 12 months ago. And, with the case of the Olympics meltdown — when he was expected to showcase two gold medals to a thunderous crowd in Belgrade, instead going home empty-handed — the Tokyo nightmare was one month ago.

Djokovic has not played a tournament since the Olympics. Will any of that matter? I doubt it.

As hot-tempered as Djokovic is, his mind is also his greatest weapon. No player, maybe with the exception of Rafael Nadal, possesses a stronger will and spirit than tennis’ all-time leader in prize money ($151 million).

The US Open is a near-perfect venue for the world No. 1. He triumphed in Flushing Meadows in 2011, 2015 and 2018. Of his 20 majors, 12 were collected on hard courts — the same surface as the Big Apple’s.

And the big plus: the minus of Roger Federer and Nadal in the draw, both with a combined 40 majors (including nine US Open crowns). Also, the defending champ Dominic Thiem is out injured.

What also works for Djokovic: the three-out-of-five scoring system of majors. It’s tough to take a set off Novak; it’s very tough take two sets off him; it’s very, very, very, very tough to take three sets off him.

Which brings me to the three people who have the slimmest of chances to accomplish this: Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Can Djokovic achieve the Grand Slam?

Only if he doesn’t slam his racket.

Vaccine + Tennis Shot

The year was 1999 when my dad Bunny and I visited New York to watch the US Open. For two weeks nonstop, our eyes enlarged gazing at Andre Agassi winning the trophy and Serena Williams defeating Martina Hingis to collect her first major prize at the age of 17.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators — including our companions Fabby Borromeo and his dad, the late Kits Borromeo — trooped to Flushing Meadows as we all cramped maskless and side-by-side, far from knowing about the Covid-19 pandemic that would terrorize us two decades later.

Tomorrow, the US Open begins anew and an estimated 750,000 fans are expected to flood the 14-day-long tournament.

Yes, it’s just like the Pacquiao-Ugas brawl in Las Vegas where 17,438 screaming fans were in attendance. Same with Wimbledon last July. While the London-based grass court event was canceled in 2020, this year’s different: a full 100% crowd was welcomed. This included the Centre Court’s 14,979 capacity and the No.1 Court with 12,345 seats.

At the US Open, it’s the same mantra: “The US Open is fully open!”

But there’s a catch. While the officials previously announced that the spectators can roam around the 46.5-hectare grounds freely, a new ruling just emerged yesterday: No entry for the unvaccinated.

“Given the continuing evolution of the Delta variant and in keeping with our intention to put the health and safety of our fans first,” said the statement, “the U.S.T.A. will extend the mayor’s requirement to all U.S. Open ticket holders 12 years old and older.”

No proof of vaccination, no entry.

The US Open officials were concerned about the “indoor” court. The facility has 22 outdoor courts but the 23,771-seater Arthur Ashe Stadium (the world’s largest tennis arena) has a retractable roof that closes during bad weather.

This is a good move on the part of the organizers. My question: How about the players? If all the fans are subjected to this ruling, aren’t the players supposed to also comply?

No. Just like the Olympics, the athletes who hit tennis shots are not forced to get vaccine shots. Players are tested upon arrival and get tested again every four days thereafter. If a player tests positive, he/she has to withdraw.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has declined to get the jab. And there’s Novak Djokovic. He has never given a categorical yes-or-no answer when repeatedly asked if he’s vaccinated.

“I feel like that should be always a personal decision, whether you want to get vaccinated or not,” said Djokovic. “So, I’m supportive of that. Whether someone wants to get a vaccine or not, that’s completely up to them. I hope that it stays that way.”

The Serb won the first three major singles titles in 2021 and will become only the third male player after Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) to capture the “Grand Slam” if he beats seven players and collects the trophy on Sept. 12.

Still, at the US Open, it’s clear that there’s a double standard at play: One (stricter) ruling for the fans; another for the players.

Lucky for No-vax Djokovic.

Weightlifting 101

It’s been 97 years since our first Olympic appearance in Paris. In total, we have joined 22 Olympic Games. The only times we skipped were in 1940 (World War II) and 1980 when we boycotted the Moscow Olympics.

In our 97 years of participation and 22 appearances, we have sent a total of 517 Filipino Olympians. Out of that, we have medaled 14 times — that’s eight bronze, five silver and one golden Gold.

Our 14 medals were won by 12 athletes. Teofilo Yldefonso (200-meter breaststroke) snapped our first hardware in 1928 in Amsterdam and he won bronze again four years later in Los Angeles. Our heroic Hidilyn Diaz, of course, won silver in Rio and gold two weeks ago.

Of our 14 Olympic medals, eight were won in boxing, and two each in athletics, swimming and weightlifting.

Weightlifting was one of the attractions in the 1896 Athens Olympics. Only 43 events in nine sports were played in the first Olympics and this included the sport of Ms. Diaz.

The first weightlifting event? One hand lift. They used dumbbells and the man (no women joined the 1896 Olympics) who could lift the heaviest dumbbell won. If they tied, the judges would pick the man with the best style and adjudge him the winner.

Fast forward 115 years later, the Tokyo Olympics featured seven bodyweight categories each for the men and women. What’s the goal of this sport? As stated in the Olympics website, “The aim of weightlifting is simple: to lift more than anyone else. The result is pure sporting theatre and a real spectator favourite.”

Weightlifting might appear to be purely a physical sport but it’s just as mental. Lifing more than double your body weight requires explosive strength, focus, technique and unreal mental fortitude.

Hidilyn Diaz weighs 54.90 kgs. (121 lbs.). Her gold-winning lift in the clean and jerk event was 127 kgs. (280 lbs.). This means that she carried 2.31 times her bodyweight. Think about that for a second. Multiply your weight by 2.3 and carry that weight. I doubt it if we’ll be able to lift it a few inches off the floor.

Among the men, the greatest is Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia. Two weeks ago, I watched him (via Cignal cable) lift world records in the snatch (223kg.) and clean and jerk (265kg.) for a total 488 kgs. He won the Olympic gold and set the world record. He’s planning to become the first human being to lift a combined total of 500 kgs. (1,102 lbs.).

This is the good news. The sad news? There’s a chance weightlifting will be stricken off from the 2024 Paris Olympics. Corruption and doping issues are prevalent and these have tainted the sport. Some countries have incurred violations and been given outright bans. No less than the IOC has issued warnings to the International Weightlifting Fedeferation (IWF). Their mandate: Clean up or good bye, clean and jerk.

Yesterday, I messaged Monico Puentevella, our nation’s weightlifting chieftain. He’s hopeful the sport will continue, mentioning our Cebuana weightlifter (who placed 7th in Tokyo): “Glad (Elreen) Aldo will be in Paris 2024, too. She’ll be ready for a medal then.”

Wonder Women

The Summer Olympics that started on July 23 will end today. The Closing Ceremonies will commence at 8 p.m. (Tokyo time) or 7 p.m., Philippine time. Our silver medalist Nesthy Petecio is expected to carry the Philippine flag tonight as we celebrate our most successful Olympics ever.

Team PHI first joined the quadrennial meet in 1924 in Paris. (Coincidentally, the 2024 Olympics — our 100th anniversary — will also be held in Paris.)

There’s a saying that goes, “Ang una ra’y lisod.” (Only the first is most difficult.)

I believe this holds true for Philippine sports. After a 97-year-long wait before Hidilyn Diaz won our first Olympic gold medal last week, it’s possible that we’ll achieve another golden moment three years from now in the capital of France.

Petecio has gained extra Olympic experience in Tokyo. Carlo Paalam is only 23 and will be in his prime in 36 months. Same with Eumir Marcial, only 25 years of age.

Margielyn Didal is our Cebuana hero. In a field of 20 skateboarders, she placed a highly respectable 7th place. Didal, the Asian Games gold medalist, did better than the world’s No. 1 street skater, Pamela Rosa, in the Olympics. Only 22, she’ll inspire many in the Philippines to try skateboarding. She’ll also be aiming to compete and medal in Paris 2024.

Hidilyn Francisco Diaz is the gallant and gritty champion of the world. The tens of millions of pesos that she’s receiving — plus the cars, Manulife insurance, houses, PAL free flights, free food, etc. — will only motivate so many of our Filipino youth to take up sports and “Be like Hidilyn.”

Thanks to Hidilyn and Nesthy and Margielyn, the Tokyo Olympics is also a celebration and triumph of the women.

The same is true for the entire Olympic movement in Tokyo. Of the almost 11,000 athletes, nearly 49 percent are women. This is up from 45.6% in Rio and 44.2% in London. This focus on “gender equality” is good.

We only need to remember the lone athlete who lit the Olympic flame during the Opening last July 23. It was Naomi Osaka.

Mixed-gender events — a total of 18 — were included in the Olympics. These included archery, athletics, badminton, equestrian, judo, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis and triathlon.

Four sports federations (for the first time) have moved to gender-balanced events. These include canoe, rowing, shooting and weightlifting.

One example of mixed teams is triathlon. Each squad is composed of two women and two men. Each triathlete has to swim for 300 meters, pedal for 6.8K and run a 2K before tapping the hand of a teammate for him/her to continue.

“The mixed events are truly important because they really embody the equality of male and female athletes on the field of play,” said IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell. “There is nothing more equal than a male and female competing as one team on the same field of play towards the same sports performance.”

The Tokyo Games is a winner — the most gender-balanced Olympics ever. To our Philippines, this is affirmed by the golden Ms. Hidilyn Diaz.