Your character is unique

You have a character who you empathise with when you're watching a soap opera, or a tennis match. For each, the elements are the same. You have a personality that you empathise with, and you put that person into a crisis situation. That personality is either a goodie or a baddie. You either gun for him, or you want him to suffer.

A tennis match is on the TV from Basel - Chiudinelli against Gasquet. It's a one-sided game, and I have no particular interest in either player (although I do wish Gasquet had pushed for honours in his career - he's a lovely technician). However, I'm more interested than I would otherwise be, because I watched Chiudinelli win his previous round yesterday. I believe he's a Wild Card for this tournament, so normally his ranking doesn't justify his acceptance into this 500 series event. But players are helped. There's nothing wrong with that, except you do feel that Chiudinelli has had more than his fair share of chances. He's fortunate in that his age is not yet a real handicap (although he's been on the tour for a long time), and after Federer and Wawrinka Switzerland need a strong No. 3.

SWISS PRECISION

So what is it like for Mr. Chiudinelli being the confirmed No. 3 in Switzerland? What's it like continuing to get chances to improve his ranking, but in fact having a slight suspicion that his game isn't really moving in the right direction.

Yesterday, his first match in main draw, he won though. He won a match he shouldn't have. Clearly he was helped by a partisan crowd. But it was one of those matches where he beat a player who was better than him, but due to the fact that he had had a wild card into his "home" event, he had something extra to prove. This can clearly help lots of players, but effectively what you are doing is inflating Chiudinelli's ranking and kudos more than it really is. He'll get back on the Challenger tour next week, and the week after, and then spend the whole year defending the gratefully-received points. He may not only defend these points, the Swiss Federation may even have found a player who will make a real and permanenet breakthrough from this chance.Then they won't need to give him a wild card any more.

As it is, he's taking the place of another player. In fact, you could argue that he has received enough chances, and surely there is another Swiss player who is more worthy, less experienced probably, maybe with a bit more risk.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

The question I ask myself - is how this has affected Chiudinelli's character. Clearly he's a pro player. So he's dedicated, and talented and strong, and he has experience, so he's not going to embarrass anyone. But his defeat, at some early point in the tournament, is inevitable. The whispers that abound about any justification for his Wild Card place in this tournament must play on his mind.

He plays many tournaments throughout the year, and makes little progress at his lower level. Why should he make progress at a higher level? Everyone knows that there are no short cuts. If you can't win at a lower level, for sure you won't cut any ice at a higher one.

SHORT CUT

For his character this must begin to irk.

Yesterday when he won, he didn't really deserve to win. His opponent didn't play well, maybe tired at the end of the season, going though the motions. The match dragged on into a third set, and Chiudinelli found himself within a couple of games of victory in a game that didn't have a real rythmn or pattern. Then Chiudinelli became nervous. He probably entered the match with low expectations, then found himself with a bit of effort and a bit of a push from the crowd, and some lacklustre play from his opponent at the finishing line. The end of the match was excrutiating, both players not really ready to win it, both wondering how they got to that point, and Chiudinelli scraped home. Was it his character that proved good enough?

Apparently, yes, this is a confirmation that his character is holding up well. But, for me, this sort of match is played in a vacuum. A player artificially placed in a small draw, faced with enough players making a final effort for end of season ranking points.

When Chiudinelli came onto the court against Gasquet, he gave a cheeky smile. The smile said to me, " I 'm truly lucky to be here, but I'm probably going to lose this one." This is very disappointing for a paying public to be given, brutally speaking, a mismatch.

Worse, the match before was a real match with the current World No. 1, Federer. The stadium was packed. Ten minutes later, for another home player, Chiudinelli, it was almost empty.

LOYAL FANS

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