After Aussie Dasha aka Daria Gavrilova stormed into the last 16 of the Australian Open, our thoughts turned to how apt it was into the big celebration day on January 26.
There’s nothing more Aussie than giving someone who has been conveniently in the country long enough and has the requisite amount of talent (sporting preferred) the tag “Aussie”.
We did point out (and rightly so) for a while there about English cricket’s % of English born players, but now we have caught up to that level ourselves.
Onto Aussie Dasha then. And she is not the first Tennis player either to adopt the Aussie term as one remembers Aussie Kim Clijsters from her days as Lleyton Hewitt’s better half.
Although, given that was probably at the beginning of the height of Lleyton’s jerk period, we were probably proudly to call the Belgian our own.
What is great too about the term Aussie Dasha is that it wasn’t quite enough to give the Aussie, but a second change was required to Dasha. Given Daria isn’t quite as interesting and Daria sounds way too overseas to be adopted, it makes perfect sense. The best name bestowed upon a foreigner for convenience since a little lost girl of Asian heritage left at a Melbourne train station was called Pumpkin.
But why do we feel the need to import or claim other as Aussie?
Perhaps given our other tennis leading lights are two of the sports biggest jerks of all time we are right to adopt someone with slightly less potential but a hundred times more likeable. Indeed given they seem to dislike Australia as the country does in return is it any wonder we want to cheer for someone else.
Maybe the two Tennis Jerks could move on elsewhere and receuve a new moniker of “Norweigan Nick” and “El Mexican Bernardo”. Or both could move to the US. Or anywhere else.
But the Aussie Dasha story could make for an interesting thought for the future of tennis. Maybe tennis could introduce a draft system where slighlty unwanted tennis players from various countries could be up for grabs in the small window of an off season in Tennis.
Imagine the Tension where up to 50 players await the outcome of which country thet will represent for the next season. And, if it doesn’t quite work out, put yourself back on the draft for the following season.
It would make for a different path out of Russia and eastern countries rather than a sham marriage or internet prostitution. If you believe various Law and Order shows. And we do.
But the tag Aussie isn’t just limited to Tennis. Our friends from across the ditch will tell us that Australians are very bad at claiming their own as Australians. Crowded House is a good one we give the Aussie tick of approval to. As is any New Zealanders up for an Academy Award. In the same breath though, we also have to put up with the like of New Zealand born Richard Wilkins aka Richard Wilde and Russell Crowe aka Russ le Roq (both alias’ from less than successful music careers). So it does balance out to a degree.
Think of the many rugby league players that we call Aussie conveniently when they are good and we need them. Although again it was more of a convenience for Semi Radradra to call himself Aussie for the briefest of periods in 2016.
It is not even limited to the nation, states often, as NSW can confirm with Queensland’s Greg Inglis. As long as they are good, who matters where they come from.
So for those who anyone who heads into January 26 with thoughts about where what is Aussie or not, and where the real Aussies come from, just remember that an Aussie could be from anywhere. As long as they have some decent ability that we can briefly call our own whilst we wait for others to stop embarrassing themselves or start winning stuff.
As long as she keeps winning, she will always be Aussie Dasha to us. And we salute, for now.
