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2024 Australian Open Women’s Singles Final : O. Piastri vs A. Sabalenka (01/27)
The media seems to think that everything Oscar does is carefully thought out and strategically planned. They say she can envision her next move before she pulls it off, just because they notice the way she goes braindead focused the second she has a racket in her hand. But to her, it’s more instinct on the court and knowing who she is and what she wants off of it.
Bounce, bounce. Throw, serve — fault.
Oscar huffs, pulling out the spare ball tucked in her shorts. She shakes out her wrist, moving from toe to toe before settling. As usual, she bounces the ball twice before throwing it in the air; hitting it down at an aggressive speed.
It lands inside the lines.
There’s a quiet murmur that moves through the crowd alongside the echoing thwack of the ball against her racket. Her family is among them, sitting next to Carlos Sainz, who surprisingly managed to garner more attention than Oscar's mother and her manager, Mark — her PR team is probably jumping for joy at the sight.
Sabalenka moves to receive the ball.
A rumor had gone around last season that she obsessively watches her opponents' past matches the night before playing them. Oscar had joked “doesn’t everyone do that?”. Some people took it seriously, because they see her more as a robot than as a human. She's given up trying to convince them otherwise.
Oscar takes a lunge step to reach the ball; she hits it then steps back to the baseline, bouncing in anticipation; waiting for the return.
Maybe it’s true about what they say for the person she is on the court; the tennis machine with no space or time for emotions. But she'd like to believe that isn't who she is, at least when she doesn't have to think about tennis 24/7. If anything, she might just be the opposite of what people think her to be.
Sabalenka's return lands in the alley — point to Piastri: 30 - 0.
Because when the deal with Sainz finally went through her PR team and reached her, she didn’t even think before agreeing. She barely considered what she'd have to do because all she could think about were the potential benefits - even if they're not necessarily the greatest for her.
She takes two balls from the ball boy, tucking one in her shorts and bouncing the other.
Though she hasn’t talked to Lily since their breakup, she still feels the need to protect her. There’s no need for the real photos of them to come out; for both of them to get outed, especially when Lily isn’t even a public figure. The potential of that happening had haunted them for their entire relationship, and Lily got scared. Oscar understood. So five months ago she watched as Lily packed up her stuff and left for good. There's no more redeyes for Oscar from somewhere around the world to their London apartment, and no more midnight facetimes for Lily to wait up for.
But if everything with Sainz goes right, the media and her fans will be more focused on the F1 driver than the blurry figure she was occasionally spotted with around London. That's what matters, and so far it seems to be working.
Bounce, bounce. Throw, serve —
It’s just a bit of fake dating.
Fault.
What could go wrong?