The Millennials, or Generation Y, have been called many things in recent times, mostly unflattering.
Born post 1980s, they have been described as "disengaged, narcissistic, distrustful, and anxious" by psychologist Dr Jean Twenge in her book Generation Me, while Mark Bauerlein has called them "the dumbest generation" in his book bearing the same title.
Others have called them the lazy and coddled “Entitlement Generation”, while in some countries of Asia, they are referred to as the “Strawberry Generation”. Why? Because they are really soft.
That, perhaps, explains Nick Kyrgios’s “When things get tough, I’m just a little bit soft” comment following his drubbing by Andy Murray at Wimbledon. And also Bernard Tomic “The Tank Engine” and his “Would you care if you were 23 and worth over $10 million?” taunt.
Those descriptions, in fact, would sit well with many of tennis’ Millennials. The immensely talented Grigor Dimitrov is a great example. He might have never said it, but the Bulgarian has been guilty of being as soft as Kyrgios when things have got tough. Once billed as the future world No 1, “Baby Federer” – which now seems an apt description – is currently No 40 in the world.
Look at the list of the men’s grand slam champions and you will not find a single Millennial on it. The nearest to the 1990s-born are Juan Martin del Potro and Marin Cilic (both born in 1988), and then we have Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray (1987).
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If you believe the youngsters on the men’s tour have had it tough because of the unrelenting hold of the Big Four, then, pray, why are the Millennials missing from the honours roll on the women’s tour too?
There are two grand slam champions from their lot – Petra Kvitova (1990) and Garbine Muguruza, who won the French Open last month, born in 1993.
Serena Williams, who will be celebrating her 35th birthday in September, has won nine of her 22 grand slams since turning 30. Francesca Schiavone (1980), Li Na (1982), Flavia Pennetta (1982), Samantha Stosur (1984) and Marion Bartoli (1984) all won a first major over the past seven years. In that time, Kim Clijsters (1983) has retired, returned after giving birth to win three grand slams, and retired again.
So, as the grand slam plaques suggest, tennis’ Generation Y have not done much to disavow the tags their fellow Millennials have earned elsewhere and, sadly, the withdrawals from the Rio Olympics, starting next month, only serves to ensure some of that dirt sticks.
Look at the list: four of the six top 20 men’s players to withdraw from the Rio Games, for reasons ranging from genuine to laughable (schedule conflict), are Millennials: Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem, Kyrgios and Tomic. David Goffin is the only top 20 Millennial who will probably be present in Rio.
On the women’s side, only two of the top 20 (aside from Victoria Azarenka who is pregnant) have pulled out and both are Millennials: World No 5 Simona Halep and world No 7 Karolina Pliskova.
To be fair, seven of the nine Millennials on the WTA top 20 will still be going to Rio. At least, that is what we can assume because they have not announced otherwise, and a big majority of the tennis players at the Games, men and women, will probably be members of Generation Y.
The problem is, the ones who will be present in Rio, at least on the men’s side, are not the faces of the Millennials. The Kyrgios, Thiems and Raonics are.
Kyrgios pulled out citing the “unfair and unjust treatment” he has received from the Australian Olympic Committee, like he had no role to play in their public mudslinging.
Tomic, on the other hand, has made himself unavailable because of his “extremely busy playing schedule”. Was he not aware of the Olympic dates when he drew up his 2016 schedule?
Thiem has not offered a reason for his decision, but reports suggest he shares the same belief as John Isner, who has been honest enough to say tennis “is not really a traditional Olympic sport” and without ranking points (and the prize money, perhaps) the Games are not worth attending.
Raonic, along with Halep and Pliskova, have opted out because of their concerns over the Zika virus. Tomas Berdych, not a Millennial, has given the same reason for his withdrawal from the Games.
To each his own, and Zika is indeed a legitimate concern, but if Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer, all with young families, are getting ready to board their flights to Rio, along with an estimated 500,000 athletes and fans, then the explanations of the Raonics and Haleps sound a little weak.
If an injured Rafael Nadal says he will do everything possible to be in Rio and a 22-time grand slam champion Serena Williams is willing to put her aching limbs to the test, then all that whining about schedules, points and prize money seems lame.
But then, Nadal and Williams belong to a different generation. The values of “Generation Me” seem to be completely different.
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