You can’t be Kyrgios

This week John McEnroe urges tennis players to be more expressive on court like Nick Kyrgios with whom he does not see anything wrong. He can’t be serious. Kyrgios spat towards a spectator, among his many other rude antics. The brash Australian is more aggressive than expressive.

Maybe the American icon sees himself in the ill-tempered Australian who is busier fighting the umpire or the audience more than his opponent. Just like McEnroe who is notorious for his temper against close calls that didn’t go his way.

Conversely, he called out Elena Rybakina for showing less emotion after she won Wimbledon last year. Curiously, the Kazakhstani hardly smiled after winning the grandest slam of all slams like she just won a practice match. The 6-foot stunner neither jumped nor pumped her fist nor screamed nor cried, uncharacteristic of a first time major champion.

McEnroe is not amused at how incredibly well behaved Rybakina is. But her boyfriend must bask in the peace and quiet of a girlfriend as cool as ice. For, even if she narrowly lost this year’s first grand slam title, she neither smashed her racquet nor screamed in anger nor cried in frustration. That’s just the way she is, poised and evasive of a scene to avoid invasive attention. Imagine if she were dramatic and slaps her boyfriend like she aced the first serve.

But there is no standard human response to triumph, even in the majors. The 7-time grand slam champion must have missed Serena Williams whose overly dramatic reaction felt like it was her first to win her nth grand slam. Daniil Medvedev collapsed to the ground in jest. Roger Federer cried a river. Rafael Nadal dropped on his back. And this year Novak Djokovic wept in relief.

It’s self-expression. Asian athletes used to be timid and subdued even when crowned world champion. Ironically, their film counterparts explode in ham acting, the trademark of Latin American and Asian thespians, Filipinos included. One reason why the Oscars snubs them, the academy prefers under- or non-acting to over-the-top screaming. A role is felt rather than acted. Another is discrimination. You have to be like them to win them.

 But in recent years, the academy slowly recognized Asian films. This year it made Michelle Yeoh the first Asian best actress nominee with two other Asian actors in the supporting category. Although a few others who won or nominated before were reportedly of Asian lineage, at least one of them concealed her ancestry in blind inferiority to the imaginary white supremacy. Whether this year the Oscars compromised its acting standard for inclusivity is a curious case. Recognition is one thing, accommodation is another.

Regardless, the Malaysian actress is now her entire country’s expectation. But her countrymen and the Asian people should temper their expectation to avoid frustration. Expect the worst, hope for the best. But only after you have done your best. Hope is not a strategy, sometimes it ends up in tragedy.