The Tennis Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

 

The French ceased to be in my top tier of tennis tournaments about a decade ago. The FFT is trash, even to some of their own players.

[Faulkner]

Naomi has withdrawn from Roland Garros:

 

[ChitHappens]

Apologizing to them?  UGH!

[DramatistDreamer]

Well damn.

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I wish her well. RG and the rest should feel embarrassed. They handled this situation very poorly. Having every single player they could find comment their disagreement with her choice right as the tournament was getting underway seemed to be in particularly poor taste. It was meant to sting and they achieved their aim.

[Faulkner]

And Halep couldn’t even play.

 

 

[ChitHappens]

 

[Toups]

As a sports fan, I don't care if athletes do press conferences or not.  I just want to watch them perform/play their sport.   It makes no sense to force athletes to talk to the media.  I definitely was on Marshawn Lynch's side whenever he showed up to press conferences and just said, "I'm just here so I won't get fined," to every question.  

[janea4old]

 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/may/31/were-not-the-good-guys-osaka-shows-up-problems-of-press-conferences

 

Quoting part of that opinion column:

 

On Monday night, after being fined and threatened with expulsion, Osaka quit the tournament altogether. Meanwhile her stance has been universally scorned by the print media, who as we know have traditionally been the best people to judge standards of behaviour. An “uppity princess”, one newspaper columnist wrote. Others have more soberly pointed out that for any athlete, facing the media is simply part of the job, and that by seceding from the process entirely Osaka is setting a “dangerous precedent”.

 

At this point, it’s worth considering exactly what this “danger” consists of. All over the world, the free press is already under unprecedented assault from authoritarian governments, tech giants and online disinformation. In many countries journalists are literally being killed for doing their job. Meanwhile in Paris, tennis journalists are facing the prospect of having to construct an article entirely from their own words. One of these things is not like the others.

 

End quote.

[Cat]

Maybe players should send their coaches to answer questions. As a result, questions are kept strictly on the game/performance.

 

Sad that Naomi Osaka pulled out. She was arguably one of the most exciting players to watch in the tournament. I hope this triggers positive change in terms of the issues Naomi was trying to raise with regards press intrusion and mental health. As she pointed out in her original post, most journalists have been fine and stuck to questions about tennis and technique. I think we can all guess which outlets want to provoke a specific, emotional reaction from her -- most of them are owned by the same Australian.

[DramatistDreamer]

A lot of people speaking about specifics of this don't seem to know just how dysfunctional the pro-tennis tours and industry are. People claiming that Naomi is under contract to fulfill these post-match press conferences. Wut? The only contracts Osaka has is with her sponsors and those are almost always based on her on court results. Others saying that Osaka should consult her union. Wut?! Tennis players don't have a union. 

Anyone who has ever read a transcript or seen one of these post-match press conferences know that these journalists don't even identify themselves before asking their questions. When the US Open wanted to live stream the journalists asking the players questions, many balked because they didn't want to be seen on the Livestream. Anyone who has read a transcript from or seen one of those post-match press conferences has heard some of the most ill-informed questions and ridiculous comments like asking women players why they don't smile or if two black players are playing each other in a match, trying to draw similarities simply because both are black and female. Picture the Hollywood Foreign Press, but tennis.

Naomi suggested that perhaps the tennis press could ask better questions and they are fuming.

I haven't really paid attention to these post-match press conferences in a decade (other than a clip, here and there) because most have been pointless. I haven't read a transcript in over a decade because they don't even bother to release on time (if it's so vital to people's understanding of the sport, why not?) and the questioning often offers very little insight. At worst, it is usually an effort to break down players who are already down from a loss (or confident from a win). I will never forgive them for how they treated Venus after that fatal car accident she was involved in. Why ask those questions at a post-match press conference after a tennis match? And Billie Jean King saying that because players in her day had to endure this that so should Naomi? It's so obvious that King has a business stake and she is no longer interested in the players, her concern for their well-being is conditional. 

[ChitHappens]

Talk about driving a point home.  Mugu just walked off the court into a presser after a first round loss that has to sting and...

 

 

[Faulkner]

She gives no fûcks.

[DramatistDreamer]

Petra just announced her withdrawal from the tournament after injuring herself during a...wait for it...press conference.

 

 

Meanwhile, Naomi's sponsors (the only entity she really is contractually obligated to) are beginning to speak and guess what, tennis? They are standing by their player.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Don't know what is going on with Venus but her spirit looked depressed out there. It's up to her how long she wants to be out there like this. Maybe it's not just about the coaching situation but he has done next to nothing for her.

 

After colluding behind the scenes with RG, looks like Wimbledon is going to leave RG to stand on their own in their criticism of Osaka.

 

[ChitHappens]

I will stan the William sisters to my grave but if Venus wants to be the horse that should have been taken out back long ago, so beit.  She has nothing left to give the sport and its time to retire.  I don't believe a new coach can help her movement and endurance.  There's a lot of mileage on that body.  At least Serena is in the top 10 but she needs to stop embarrassing herself as well.  I don't believe 24 is in the cards and even if she achieves it, the finish line will move again.  What's the point?