Reminder that life is more than fun and games

Reminder that life is more than fun and games

Nothing brings into focus the essential frivolity of sport like the real world, and the ATP's security warning to players ahead of the Mexican Open in Acapulco is one of those reality-check moments.

A couple of generations ago, Acapulco was considered an exotic holiday destination for travellers from the United States and Canada. Warm, fun, friendly. Exactly the kind of civic characteristics one would associate with a professional tennis event.

That was before Mexico's drug wars became so deadly that only the most insensate of visitors discounts the potential for random violence.

Fourteen headless corpses were found near a shopping area in Acapulco last month, a reminder that drug cartels view the handsome beach city as just another battleground in a ruthless push for control and profits.

Mexican authorities have taken pains to remind visitors the violence has occurred almost entirely outside areas frequented by tourists or, say, elite tennis players.

Still, the ATP is urging caution. In e-mails to players, it suggests they stay near their hotel, when not at the tennis grounds, and that they arrive in the country as late as possible and leave as soon as they are out of the tournament.

It all seems unfair to the nation of Mexico and to the tournaments in Acapulco that criminals can have such a negative influence on their events.

But sometimes we in the world of sport need to be reminded that real life is more than fun and games.