Like all tennis fans, I spent much of yesterday evening sitting on my rear end taking in the spectacle that was John Isner vs. Gael Monfils in the second round of the US Open.
This one had all the makings of a classic and while it didn't go five sets like many had assumed it would, it did not disappoint.
As much fun as it was, I'm not here to talk about the match. I'm here to discuss the mini-firestorm that started up late in the third set.
I'm sure by now you know what happened. Monfils came alive in the third set, broke Isner and somehow got a crowd full of Americans to chant his name in a match against the top-ranked American.
No one seemed quite sure how to react. The ESPN announce team spoke about it with thinly-veiled disgust in their voices. Members of the crowd that weren't behind Monfils took matters into their own hands.
At one point, someone in the crowd yelled something to John along the lines of "kill the Frenchie" and Brad Gilbert reported that a woman sitting near him (who was wearing a Georgia Bulldogs hat, mind you) got into a verbal altercation with the fans around her that were cheering for Monfils.
To top it off, Twitter, the ultimate gauge of what the populous thinks, blew up. Every tennis writer was getting mentions from fans enraged that the spectators at Louis Armstrong had the nerve to cheer for someone other than the American.
Here's the thing, though. I don't think it's that big of a deal. And that's coming from a guy that wants another American champion more than anyone other than those that are employed by the USTA.
First off, it's not like the crowd turned on Isner or abandoned him. There were still plenty of people fired up when John let a huge serve fly or won a big point. Brodie, from the Mind the Racket tennis blog, had a great tweet that urged the ESPN crew to settle down because it's not like the crowd was throwing things at Isner on court and I was with him on that.
But my bigger point here is that the crowd acted as just about any crowd would have in that situation.
They wanted to see more tennis and they wanted to see a good show and Monfils was giving them both of those things.
Many of those fans made a point to be in that stadium when those two took to the court, so what's so wrong with wanting to get what they feel is their money's worth?
Those that have a real issue the crowd getting behind Monfils are really missing the point, anyway. When Monfils is on, and I don't necessarily mean tennis-wise, he's hard to resist rooting for. He never passes up an opportunity to have a laugh, he loves to interact with the fans around him and hey, while he's at it, he is capable of playing some fantastic tennis.
Honestly, how could you not enjoy watching a player like that?
I should know as well as anyone that it's tough to dislike him. I tried. I didn't like that he was capable of so much more than he was accomplishing with his abundance of talent. I didn't like that he didn't take the game seriously, even in big moments.
But then something strange happened. I got over it and learned to love Monfils for who he is. He's a showman first and a tennis player second more often than not and as far as I'm concerned, that's okay.
Tennis wins when we have a big match like that in front of an electric crowd. Thanks to Monfils and the fan support he got last night, that happened.
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