Are bad shots, blown leads at Australian Open ‘choking’?
By SIMON CAMBERS and HOWARD FENDRICH
Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The term “choke” is often used when describing a tennis player who misses what looks like an easy shot or loses a match at the Australian Open and other tournaments. The attention falls on one athlete when there are no teammates to cover for mistakes or provide help at key junctures in an individual sport. That means plenty of praise for the winners and accusations of “choking” lobbed at the losers. Sometimes it’s used when a high-ranked player is defeated by someone much lower-ranked that they’re “supposed” to beat. Or when someone throws away a big lead. It is not surprising that most players are not fans of the term.
