Tennis Related - Off Court Serious Issues

[ponchi101]

Wow. I mean, Aryna:

[Deuce]

As Jazz said that family needs the services of a real PR agency but it doesn't seem that they want one.

And as I said, hiring a PR agent will only serve to mask the real beliefs, real opinions, real feelings, etc. of people - which will make the situations even worse.
People argue in favour of transparency, and then at that same time call for PR agents to come in... It doesn't make sense. It's rather obvious that PR people HIDE transparency, and put a 'pretty mask' over anything that could be considered even remotely 'bad' or 'wrong' or 'questionable'. Their job in situations like this is to HIDE THE TRUTH in order to make the person(s) appear to be wonderful when they are not truly wonderful.

I say that it is MUCH, MUCH BETTER to have things like this (Djokovic's father with the pro-Putin people) occur publicly and transparently than for the true feelings of Djokovic's father to be hidden behind some manipulative PR garbage.
Either way, Djokovic's father's true opinions will not change, of course - so it is much better for him to display them openly so that we all can decide how to react to that, how to view him, etc., rather than have us think that he's a good guy just because some PR agency succeeded in hiding the truth.

[nelslus]

Wow. I mean, Aryna:

The following is NOT meant to be anti-ponchi:

Look, Sabalenka, of course, can make the choices that she feels is best for her, now and always. If things works out well, and if her issues perhaps aren't so deep- good on her. But, still- I ain't applauding this. I don't think she means anything bad from her statements. Nevertheless, I find the comment, about being your own psychologist, glib. I'm more into giving the to those who are self-aware, smart, strong, and even brave enough to get and continue with the mental health care that they need. Because there is still a lot of stigma everywhere concerning those of us who need mental health services.

[JazzNU]

Seems like a much better way to phrase this would've been to say that she got the tools she needs to manage on her own now. Maybe thank the psychologist she worked with to help her get past what was clearly a difficult time with her serving yips last year. But it's not her first language, so hopefully people give her a break on this phrasing. People don't necessarily stay with therapy forever, so nothing wrong with stopping in most cases, but this sounds like, "Ah, I don't need it, what can a psychologist do for me?", when she very clearly did need it and she's on the other side of her main problem now.

[Deuce]

Leylah was having a lot of problems with her service toss in 2021 before she made that U.S. Open Final. She was sometimes catching 5 or 6 tosses in a given service game. This endured for several months - basically the first half of 2021. It was obvious that she was over-thinking it, and it was thus snowballing (which is what seems to have occurred with Sabalenka).
Leylah's father eliminated the service toss problem via a simple, fun exercize in practice that was designed to take her mind off of the toss. The solution was quick and easy. No psychologist - just her dad.

Psychologists can help, or they can hurt. They tend to have a lot of power because people usually consult them when they are in a vulnerable state. Bad advice to a vulnerable person can do lots of harm. They are not universally good or inherently competent.
We don't know whether or not Sabalenka was given advice or tools by the psychologist she saw. And, if so, we don't know if that advice was good or bad.

The bottom line is that a person cannot be helped by anyone - not a father, not a psychologist, not a friend - unless the person is willing to help him/her self.
And if some people figure things out and help themselves without the aid of anyone else, that's ok. The only important thing is that the destructive and/or harmful behaviour ceases.

[nelslus]

Seems like a much better way to phrase this would've been to say that she got the tools she needs to manage on her own now. Maybe thank the psychologist she worked with to help her get past what was clearly a difficult time with her serving yips last year. But it's not her first language, so hopefully people give her a break on this phrasing. People don't necessarily stay with therapy forever, so nothing wrong with stopping in most cases, but this sounds like, "Ah, I don't need it, what can a psychologist do for me?", when she very clearly did need it and she's on the other side of her main problem now.

Well put.

....AND, we will have to see if she truly is on the "other side" now. I mean, if she serves 43 double-faults, loses after having 12 match points, loses 6-0, 6-2....AND, if she wins, that's not gonna tell the story, either. LOL, she might win 20 Grand Slams and turn evil....Be your own psychologist at your own risk....IN any case, of course I wish her well. I want them both to win tomorrow. For sure, Sabalenka is of a talent level to win multiple singles Slam titles.

I also agree that all of this could, at least in part, be a language issue.

[ti-amie]

Not too many tennis fans are going for the okey-doke Mr. Clarey. If you can read the remarks. If you can't here's a small sample.



To avoid reposting Clarey's tweet over and over...

Kathleen Mellor @KathleenMellor6
Replying to
@christophclarey
Did he also eloquently explain why he himself took selfies with these people?

wb @iamjwb5
Replying to @christophclarey
Sounds like a tweet by a djokovic pr, not by a journalist.

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

He considers Russia his homeland? That is a peculiar statement.
Was he born there?

[Owendonovan]

Reminds me so much of how Federer's, Nadal's, Murray's, Sampras's, Agassi's etc. parents act publicly for the betterment of their son's career.

[ponchi101]

Reminds me so much of how Federer's, Nadal's, Murray's, Sampras's, Agassi's etc. parents act publicly for the betterment of their son's career.

And that, cracked me up.

[JazzNU]

wb @iamjwb5
Replying to @christophclarey
Sounds like a tweet by a djokovic pr, not by a journalist.

I didn't know Christopher was one of the tennis journalists that would do this, but yes, this sounds like trying to aid Djokovic's PR here. I feel like a journalist that lists New York Times in his profile would ask follow up questions. Did his dad miss the large Putin heads and Z's on the flags? And when you say anti-war, does that include being against Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Generic statements like this typically get questioned by journalists.

Djokovic is the opposite of Rublev here, his life and his family's life are not in danger and they aren't in Russia unless his father is alluding to some kind of Russian lineage where there are cousins or distant family living there. He can actually say the specifics and doesn't need to echo Rublev's generic anti-war language with fear of repercussion.

Remember when Novak's family was becoming a progressively bigger problem being in attendance at his matches so they stayed home? Let's get back to those times

[Owendonovan]

^They read like such "hangers-on".

[JazzNU]

Also, let's not pretend Djokovic wasn't pictured 2 or 3 years ago breaking bread with one of Milosevic's commanders or henchman or whatever the right way is to refer to that supreme evildoer (war criminal is probably what I should be able to refer to him as).

And I'm going to repeat something I've said on here recently - while I will excuse second language snafus for many, Novak's command of the English language is superb. Better that plenty of native speakers. He is never reaching for the right word in English to describe something, it's truly remarkable. So that's not very likely to be what is going on here. This is what I meant about him never switching to his native language on more serious topics. This is time when almost anyone else asks to communicate in Serbian, not English so there's no misunderstanding. Yet he never does because his command of English is so fantastic. He knows perfectly well how to issue a more forceful statement, he just decided not to (yet - I hope).

[Deuce]

^ WHEN did Novak's father say that he considers Putin to be the "saviour of Russia and Russian people"? The date of the article is 2023, and I don't read Russian, and so can't make out any of the contents of the article.
Did he say it 3 months ago? 3 years ago? 10 years ago? The timing of the quote is extremely significant, obviously.
CONTEXT is very important - and yet it is the most ignored element when it comes to people judging other people.

Unlike the 'politically correct' plague, I have no problem with people judging, assessing, etc. - because I know that it is absolute human nature to judge and assess, and that everyone does it dozens of times each day - even (and especially) those who claim to be 'non-judgemental'... But it is important to judge, or assess, only after you have the pertinent and relevant information. And context is definitely a necessary ingredient in making proper and accurate judgements/assessments.

I don't particularly like what I've seen from Djokovic's father over the years. But, like everyone on this planet, he is entitled to be viewed fairly and accurately.