Do You Root For Players From Your Own Country?

[GameSetAndMath]

Not since Sampras..

MAGA

 

[Jelenafan]

The year he won the USO I believe a couple of nights later Agassi went on a late night talk show (Carson?) and the host asked him about his opponent in that final; Michael Stich. Agassi’s answer was basically. “ well he didn’t win and he wasn’t an American “... which just annoyed the heck out of me.

I admit I used to cheer against Agassi.

 

[Moxie]

Not since Sampras..Can I expand my country to the entire North America so I can root for FAA?

MAGA

There Serena and Venus are greats. On the WTA side, there are a lot of US players to root for, IMO.

 

[tented]

I suspect, since it's a one-sentence answer, that the longer version would be more complex. (See below.)

Even with only one Italian grandparent, the Italian traditions stay very strong in my family, and my extended family, which is large and close. We pass down the recipes from my great-grandmother, we all make our own bolognese/marinara sauces, which we learned to cook at the elbow of grandma or grandpa, and every family gathering includes at least one big Italian meal. But, because we're also Americans, it ends with pie. I'm the only fluent speaker of Italian in my family, now that my grandfather is gone, (he spoke only dialect,) but various others, including the young generation, have studied it, and speak some. One of my nephews will do his study abroad in Italy. My own family took a trip together to visit where our people came from. And let's face it: nobody hates to go to Italy.

All of this to say that, even though we've got a mixed background, certain traditions from the Old Country linger strongly. But you can't decide for other people how much they embrace their new country, and how much holding onto family traditions means conflicted loyalties. Just because Denis Shapovolov and Alex Zverev might embrace or appreciate their own Russian roots, (or not,) who's to say for them that they don't "feel" Canadian and German, respectively? Where you grew up, who your friends are and the cultural coding that you grow up with matters, too. Maria Sharapova has spent essentially her entire life in the US, and yet her choice "feeling" for herself is that she's Russian. Living in the US is for her tennis. For her, it's went the opposite way.

Americans have the unusual habit of defining themselves as being foreign while in the US: “I’m Italian”, “I’m Polish”, “I’m Irish” — even though they were all born in the US. Yet I’m not aware of anyone who would go to Poland, and proclaim, “I’m Polish.” There, they would say they’re “American.”

 

[tented]

For me, players’ nationalities have nothing to do with whether or not I root for them. I don’t reflexively root for players from the US. This is the same for the Olympics — the most nationality-driven sporting event. I will root for Nadal this summer, even though he will be playing as part of the Spanish team. I suspect a lot of people will do the same, and this will also be the case for Federer.

Some people in the US would consider me to be un-American for doing this, but I don’t care. I like who I like, regardless of nationality.