1. The Crowd
Tennis has been committed to China for a long time now, but it hasn’t always been apparent how committed the country has been to tennis. Traditionally, what you notice most during the early rounds in Beijing, and especially Shanghai, are acres of empty seats. But when the fans do appear, as they did yesterday in Beijing, when home-country hero Li Na was playing, they make the sport fun. They certainly aren’t as blasé about the experience as we Westerners have been taught to be.
Tennis, in this atmosphere, became comic theater on center court. Challenge replays were turned into moments of noisy suspense. Players who acted out were greeted with an excited hubbub—not boos or cheers, just a hubbub made for its own sake. Girls in the audience who were caught on camera between games reacted with real embarrassment. Hands were clapped over mouths, faces were buried in the coats of neighbors, phones were hastily whipped out and stared into. One girl even turned around and walked out of the building when she saw herself on the big screen.
The best part of the fan reaction, though, was the way that great shots were cheered. The audience, in their amazement, made you remember that winners hit from behind the baseline, which can look routine these days, really are pretty amazing.
