Good for her. She sounds like such an interesting person.
When on tour, Roger Federer loved traveling with Mirka. They would see the sites, go to concerts and plays (Hamilton!), etc. I think he studied Chinese a little one year when he was on the Chinese swing.
The whole idea that the women's tennis world needs to be polite to China and/or bridge cultural divides with China is insane to me after the Peng Shuai horror show. Shuai is being treated by the WTA the way Ukraine is being treated by Russian players like Blinkova: don't mention the subject, don't acknowledge the subject even exists anymore, and just talk about anything else.
I think it’s important to separate the people from the country … as an American I would hate to have people not want to interact with me because of my government.
For sure, and I think it’s good for players to make an effort to bridge cultural gaps with people themselves and try to differentiate the people of any country they’re playing in from the government. But with tennis in particular, I’ve been so uncomfortable that the WTA returned to China at all after the Shuai uproar. Obviously the WTA is now playing in other autocratic countries with human rights-violating governments but the women’s tennis connection with China - which literally disappeared a women’s tennis player after a rape accusation and only perfunctorily showed her in a pic with CCP minders glaring at her after the WTA protested - makes the women’s tennis tournament there especially weird to me. I keep wondering what Peng must think while under house arrest (at best; no one knows what they are doing to her or her fam) watching the tennis world’s cute promotions, marketing events, celebrations of players that speak Chinese, and general embracing of a country that had the gall to do this to one of the WTA’s stars.
Really refreshing to read. Too often players stick to their comfort zones in Europe or the U.S.—Blinkova’s curiosity and effort to connect feel like a breath of fresh air. Thanks, Ben.
Thank you so much for sharing this. Blinkova has just become one of my favorite players! This is the dream to me - to get to see the world and interact with different cultures because of tennis.
Cool girl. She passed on the French
citizenship question when I asked it as well.
Good for her. She sounds like such an interesting person.
When on tour, Roger Federer loved traveling with Mirka. They would see the sites, go to concerts and plays (Hamilton!), etc. I think he studied Chinese a little one year when he was on the Chinese swing.
Thanks for the great article!
Thanks so much for offering a perspective that is relevant to but not regurgitating the headlines. I appreciated this piece a lot!
I loved this piece - how interesting!!
The whole idea that the women's tennis world needs to be polite to China and/or bridge cultural divides with China is insane to me after the Peng Shuai horror show. Shuai is being treated by the WTA the way Ukraine is being treated by Russian players like Blinkova: don't mention the subject, don't acknowledge the subject even exists anymore, and just talk about anything else.
I think it’s important to separate the people from the country … as an American I would hate to have people not want to interact with me because of my government.
For sure, and I think it’s good for players to make an effort to bridge cultural gaps with people themselves and try to differentiate the people of any country they’re playing in from the government. But with tennis in particular, I’ve been so uncomfortable that the WTA returned to China at all after the Shuai uproar. Obviously the WTA is now playing in other autocratic countries with human rights-violating governments but the women’s tennis connection with China - which literally disappeared a women’s tennis player after a rape accusation and only perfunctorily showed her in a pic with CCP minders glaring at her after the WTA protested - makes the women’s tennis tournament there especially weird to me. I keep wondering what Peng must think while under house arrest (at best; no one knows what they are doing to her or her fam) watching the tennis world’s cute promotions, marketing events, celebrations of players that speak Chinese, and general embracing of a country that had the gall to do this to one of the WTA’s stars.
I had forgotten about that. Thanks for sending me down that rabbit hole for a bit.
Really refreshing to read. Too often players stick to their comfort zones in Europe or the U.S.—Blinkova’s curiosity and effort to connect feel like a breath of fresh air. Thanks, Ben.
How interesting! Love this
Thank you so much for sharing this. Blinkova has just become one of my favorite players! This is the dream to me - to get to see the world and interact with different cultures because of tennis.
This might be the channel Blinkova mentioned: https://m.youtube.com/c/EverydayChinese/videos