On a day that marked the 9th anniversary of the attack on the US at the Twin Towers and the Pentagon (which happened 2 days after Lleyton Hewitt won the 2001 US Open) and a day where an obscure Florida preacher promised to burn the Koran (but was talked out of it), there was tennis being played.
Although the record books will show the Bryan brothers won their third US Open, it is rare indeed for a doubles team to transcend their tennis careers. Rohan Bopanna, a Hindu from India, has partnered with a Muslim from Pakistan, Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, and this team beat Zimonjic-Nestor en route to the finals. When Gandhi used civil disobedience to rouse Indians to fight against British occupation and eventually secure Indian independence, it came under some strife as a Muslim population in the north split off to become Pakistan. The two countries have gone to war with one another, though not terribly recently.
Although the alliance between Bopanna and Qureshi is meant symbolically, as two countries, normally at odds with another over religious and political differences, the fact is, they’re still a very good doubles team. And, with the US Open always falling near 9-11 and with recent anti-Muslim sentiment, it’s nice to see that there some who choose to look past the differences. It may only be a small thing, two tennis players playing doubles together.
Even the Bryan brothers seemed a bit humbled at the situation. They’ve spent most of their lives playing tennis and like many, aren’t probably the most politically astute folks out there. Still, they did the best they could given their lack of familiarity with the issue. Although the Indian and Pakistani ambassadors were hoping for a win from Bopanna and Qureshi, they gave some cloth from the respective countries to the Bryan brothers, who put them on like a shawl during their interviews.
Tennis Channel also did a very nice job highlighting this team.
In the end, tennis history may simply judge these two for their tennis and they may split as many doubles teams split due to personal issues. But in the meanwhile, despite their 7-6, 7-6 loss, the team of Bopanna and Qureshi have the capacity to show that even people who have traditionally warred against one another can sometimes look past that and see one another as people.
