Lucky Losers and Unbreakable Grit at the Mubadala DC Open

You can lose in the semis of the soccer World Cup and still you get an opportunity to win third place behind the winner and the finalist by playing the loser of the other semi. Thus England beat France, as they did in the French and Indian War. Justice of a sort prevailed, as the better men — the better team, the team more fed up with losing — won,

If winning is satisfying, it’s hating to lose that motivates.

Some sports, notably tennis, allow for “lucky losers” in the preliminary (or qualifying) rounds to fill a last-minute withdrawal. Thus, two qualifiers who had not made the cut, Zachary Svajda and McKenzie MacDonald, lucked out when handed first round slots into the Washington Open.

Each in his or her own way, Lorenzo Musetti and Alex Eola kept steadying their ships with grit and focus.

The old tournament in Rock Creek Park is currently called the Mubadala DC Open after being called the Washington Star Open, which may say something about losers in journalism, but I do not know what.

Svajda in particular must have liked the luck, as he had fallen apart in the tiebreak of the second set in the last qualifying round, then retired after two games in the decider, handing a walkover to Cruz Hewitt, whom he had crushed in the first set. Cramps or food poisoning, heat fatigue? Fact is, he dropped out.

Whatever happened to win or lose, ill or healthy, never quit?

Qualifiers sometimes surprise everyone and, energized, make a deep run, maybe win it all. This time there was no jolt, or the luck ran out. Svajda, who did not look well but never requested a medical timeout, went down in two sets to Alexander Vukic, himself a qualifier, while MacDonald, who also is from California and had lost in the qualies to Zachary’s younger brother Trevor, was stopped by Alex Michelson — still another Californian. Trevor himself lost to Jakub Mensik, a fast-rising 20-year old from Czech Republic.

All of which adds up to no great insight, just tells you losing and winning are like winning and losing, it all depends on your grit. How you react, what you do next, that’s the test.

Alexandra, or Alex, Eola, at 21 the most popular athlete in the Philippines (and wherever else she goes, evidently) beat Leylah Fernandez, the defending champion by means of grittying her way back from 2-5, or was it 1-5? in the first round. She sure did not want to lose, saving break points, building winning shots.

They were wearing very pretty, similar but different lime green outfits. The momentum kept changing sides, and you could blame the wind — it was very windy in the morning in the Stadium at the Rock Creek, aka FitzGerald, Tennis Center — but you know mind — and grit — beats wind.

Both girls — excuse me, young ladies, played beautifully in extended rallies until one or the other goofed or set herself up for a shot to her open court. The “bottom line” was that Miss Eola — the usage nowadays is to drop the honorific and I am unable to do so with young ladies, so nuts to usage — stayed cool calm and collected and maintained a steady pressure on Miss Fernandez whose moments of stunning brilliance she could not sustain. It was a tough loss; lose your grit, lose the match. But there were no cries of interference by political persons, notwithstanding this is their town.

In the men’s draw — here I accept the usage and do not say gentlemen — defending champion Alex de Minaur, pronounced demon-or due to his honey badger personality on court — prevailed in a three set power match against Sefanos Tsitsipas, also at the Stadium. He then took apart his fellow-Australian, 17-year old Cruz Hewitt, who had capitalized on his success in the qualies by beating Marcos Giron — yet another Californian — in the first round. It was no contest; it was actually a show of good sportsmanship on the part of the 28-year old, who plays for Australia in Davis Cup competition under Cruz’s father, former no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. He generously noted he expects to see him again, often on the courts.

It must have been pretty good but I was watching Vukic as he tried to upset Lorenzo Musetti, who at 24 has a gorgeous game with a one handed back hand that reminds you of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka. He pulled it out. Against the mighty power of the lower ranked and somewhat older Alexander, Lorenzo il Magnifico held his nerve, showed grit.

6-3, 5-7, 6-3 read the scoreline at the John Harris court, but outside the several aces both men hit, it was a nail biter for every point with shifts of momentum with clutch play and misplay alternating on both sides. They hit magnificent groundstrokes to tear the white paint off the lines, with Lorenzo using his backhand as both pace-changer and missile launcher.

Each in his or her own way, Lorenzo Musetti and Alex Eola kept steadying their ships with grit and focus, letting their opponents spoil their chances with impulsive shot choices. In sports and much else, he wins who more intensely hates to lose, and plays accordingly.

But though losing may be hateful, Well you know life is a ball game/But you’ve got to play it fair.

READ MORE from Roger Kaplan:

Win or Lose, Everybody Can Play

Glory Days at the All-England Club

New Winners in France