So Djokovic had to retire in his match against Berdych after trailing 7-6(2), 2-0 due to his old arm injury after having to play two days in a row when Wimbledon could have let him play on Center Court on Monday.
First of all, I have lost interest in this tournament after the biased behavior of the organizers. This will be my final blog post about the 2017 Rigged Championships unless Federer loses which is highly unlikely. It is more likely that he will win Wimbledon without dropping a set.
I don’t feel like a tournament which favors certain players over others with their scheduling deserves another post from me unless it is to celebrate their failure to get what they want. They already failed to get one of their favorites past the quarterfinals when Murray lost to Querrey which was great but if Federer wins the tournament they would still have gotten their way.
Federer winning a record 8th Wimbledon title is what they want to see and now they have helped to eliminate his nemesis through ridiculous scheduling. Djokovic was in pain from the start and hardly moved out of second gear. When he lost the first set it was obvious he wasn’t going to complete the match.
It was the old arm injury that never properly healed after he completed the personal slam. Djokovic is just as responsible for his retirement as Wimbledon but it doesn’t excuse Wimbledon’s pathetic behavior in any way. It was obvious to anyone who knows something about tennis that he never properly recovered from the historical 2015-16 run.
He was burned out and never gave his body the rest that it was constantly calling for. If Djokovic had taken the entire last year off and used a protective ranking he would be in a better position than he is now. In the last year, he achieved very little on the court and only made his arm worse.
I already realized Djokovic was doomed at the beginning of the clay court season. In hindsight, Djokovic should have shut it down post US Open last year. But he also kept making mistakes like playing Acapulco instead of sticking to his original schedule. At the beginning of the clay court season, I was already very concerned because I knew he was taking more risks by playing.
A sad sight.
An injured Novak Djokovic calls time on his 2017 #Wimbledon campaign, sending Tomas Berdych into the semi-finals pic.twitter.com/fN1yukjQ8U
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 12, 2017
I knew at any time during the clay court or grass court seasons the injury can come back. So I was never very optimistic about him playing the clay or grass court seasons but you are going to try to hope for the best after he decided to keep going. And sure enough, the arm came back to haunt him at the worst possible time.
Just as it looked like he was finding form again and before he would face Federer in the Wimbledon semis. But he probably wouldn’t have beaten Federer if he was 100% healthy anyway. So unknowingly Wimbledon may have done him a favor with the schedule. He wouldn’t have wanted to give Federer the satisfaction of beating him if he wasn’t at his best.
But again, that doesn’t excuse Wimbledon in any way. They made it clear who they want to help win the tournament. It’s like they realized Federer can’t beat Djokovic so they had to give him a little extra help to achieve the most profitable and sensational plot. It is actually quite sad that he may win his record 8th Wimbledon title under these conditions.
It reminds me of the changed court speed in Melbourne this year that helped shape the perfect script for Federer to win his 18th slam. This kind of bias from the capitalist model is just one of a million reasons that a GOAT can’t be determined. Djokovic is seen as the outsider so he doesn’t get the kind of assistance Federer gets.
I don’t care about slam titles for determining the GOAT anymore. Not as much as most people anyway. Deciding on GOAT is now an entirely personal thing for me. When people call Federer the GOAT that is just part of the mainstream sensationalism that makes ignorant tennis fans feel like they are supporting the best and that therefore their lives are somehow more meaningful.
Our whole society is based on a lie. And that lie is that some of us are superior to others. The same rigged system that exists in sport exist in politics and it is slowly but surely destroying us. It is this whole idea of superiority due to race, religion, country, gender, sexual orientation or whatever the case may be. The capitalist system is a rigged system based on inequality. And in the meantime, we are destroying the very planet we live on.
I don’t want this to be a political discussion but tennis is a part of this whole system. It’s not a fair system based on equality.