This is why I love sport. Yesterday, 19-year-old Australian Sally Peers huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow second seed Kim Clijsters house down at the US Open, but it’s an experience she’ll never forget.
Peers, from Melbourne, had to go through the qualifiers just to get to the main draw of the last grand slam of the year. After her first round round victory over Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak she was a bundle of energy.
I believe her exact words were “I’m so happy right now, it’s insane”.
It is insane. She had just booked a date against the defending US Open champion. A woman who she once chased down at a Davis Cup tournament to get an autograph and a photo.
A woman who was plastered all over her bedroom walls as she dreamed of the moment she experienced yesterday.
Suddenly she found herself on centre court, at Flushing Meadows in New York, in-front of a world-wide audience and battling for her survival in the singles draw.
Who needs to go to the theatre when you have a story line like this?
Sport is often labelled as a passion of the dullard. But sport brings together all the things that make life interesting, in one package. The first set flew by 6-2 in 32 minutes and the match would’ve been over before she realised what hit her.
Drama, intrigue, passion, triumph, defeat and despair. How good is it!
Peers was never going to get past Clijsters, but that’s not that point. The point is that for 51 minutes I sat intrigued as Peers launched everything she had in her arsenal at her world class opponent. It’s a great lesson for the Victorian. Wally Masur made the point on the Fox Sports coverage that he was happy with the way Peers had to qualify for the singles draw and that not being given a wildcard will help her in the long run.
Too many Australians are handed wildcards into grand slam tournaments. They haven’t deserved their spot and are inevitably bundled out in the first round.
Being gifted a passage into these tournaments paints a false picture of where these athletes are at in their careers.
Peers has a lot to learn. Her best strokes were returned with interest by Clijsters. Shots that won her points in the junior ranks won’t cut it on the professional tour. Their is, though, immense potential.
Her coaching staff and Tennis Australia need to make sure this isn’t the high point of Peers’ career. The next two or three years of her development are crucial.
She should use Samantha Stosur as an example and mentor. Stosur, too, had promise. But she didn’t see results until she knuckled down in the gym and on the court and decided to work harder than she ever had before.
Now, she is the 5th seed at the US Open, and aiming to push deep into the draw. As always, with any young Australian athlete, we wait and watch with interest.
You can follow Luke on twitter @luke_doherty and on Sky News Australia.
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