The first week of Wimbledon has sucked

You can count on certain types of emotions bubbling to the surface over the first week of a tennis slam. There’s the optimism for an up-and-comer advancing a bit further than anybody thought. There’s the shock of the big, early round upset, even if some are bigger than others. There’s excitement for aging champions aiming for one more big title, and the young stars looking for a big breakthrough.

To be sure, the 2017 Wimbledon Championships have had all of that. Upsets to two big favorites have cracked the women’s bracket wide open, and the ongoing presence of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Venus Williams fills the Grand Old Champion quota.

The first week of Wimbledon, however, has been defined by other emotions.

During the run-up to the tournament, it was revealed that Venus Williams was facing a lawsuit after she was found at fault for a fatal car accident in Florida. There are few things in the world as emotionally demanding as that, and it almost went without saying that, when Williams was asked about the accident after her first-round win, she broke down.

Obviously the victim and his family are the primary victims in this ordeal, but there’s plenty of empathy to go around after something tragic has occurred.

Bernard Tomic, a 24-year-old Aussie with unique talent whose commitment to the sport has been questioned throughout his enigmatic career, gave a revealing interview after his straight-set, first-round loss to Mischa Zverev.

”Some weeks I play well and beat a bunch of players and do super well in tournaments. ... But now it’s a roller coaster, and I just can’t seem to find, like, the commitment to work hard, to enjoy [playing] and to lift trophies. [...]

I couldn’t care less if I make a fourth-round U.S. Open or I lose [in the] first round. To me, everything is the same. I’m going to play another 10 years, and I know after my career I won’t have to work again.”

There is an old school brain in all of us, one that responds to quotes like this with righteous, “Can’t he see how lucky he has it?” anger. It’s hard to feel too sorry for him when finding out he was fined $20,000 and lost his Head endorsement because of the interview.

Still, there’s another side of the brain that responds with simple pity. Tomic’s size and skill were a lottery ticket of sorts, and he has slowly found out through the years that fulfilling his potential has felt more like an obligation than a passion. It’s a lot easier to go through life when you’re also making great money, of course, but Tomic’s identity is tied to a sport he has apparently grown to dislike.

Petra Kvitova’s comeback was not the only one involving a former major winner. With Victoria Azarenka returning to the tour after having a child in late 2016, and with Serena Williams stepping away to do the same, pregnancy has become a topic on the women’s tour.

It’s not the first time, of course. There are pretty good mile markers for such conversations. Margaret Court had a child in the early 1970s and returned to win the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. In the late 1970s, Evonne Goolagong won the Australian Open not even a year after having a child, then won Wimbledon a couple of years later. More recently, Kim Clijsters had a child in 2008, then won the 2009 US Open (the third tournament of her comeback), the 2010 US Open, and the 2011 Australian Open.

Naturally, then, the person Azarenka was most notably asked about this week when it comes to motivation, precedent, etc., was ... Roger Federer.

“Probably the most special example for parenthood and playing tennis is Roger, four kids, touring around for so many years. He’s a man, you’re a woman. Did he kind of inspire you when you had to switch to become a mother?”

Granted, Federer did lose his pregnancy weight in record time, but ... guys, we don’t always have to insert ourselves into the story.

Early in the week, injury-related withdrawals — players qualifying for the tournament and playing to collect a check, even if they cannot complete the match — were a major topic of conversation. On Thursday, an actual, gruesome, real-time injury took over.

Let me describe this link to you so you don’t have to click on it: That’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 32-year-old American doubles whiz and seemingly one of the nicest, most well-regarded players on either tour, suffering what appears to be a gruesome knee injury and screaming repeatedly.

Her opponent, Sorana Cirstea, quickly made her way across the net and appeared to either gag or get choked up as she got close to Mattek-Sands. It took far longer than it should have for medical help to reach their court. Early indications are that her knee dislocated.

Ugh.

All this, and I didn’t even mention the fact that as the tournament began, we were all arguing about something John McEnroe said.

Let’s not mince words: The first week of the Wimbledon Championships has sucked. We should focus on the happy Jack Sock towel story and hope that better emotions rule the second week of the fortnight.