Originally Posted by
BetCheckBet
I don;t disagree that she has been a bad ambassador. But no one says the same about Agassi, Connors, or McEnroe. All of them were applauded for their behaviour and often rewarded. I admit I don't follow tennis as much anymore. But I played competitively and watched regularly throughout the nineties and it was clear there was a bias. Maybe not as bad today but from this thread it still seems pretty prevalent.
Again not excusing her behaviour at all but Tennis is notoriously sexist (ah the days of Kournikova). Hell there are still tons of clubs where women must wear skirts. You are blind if you don;t see major hypocrisy on how women and men are treated.
Connors was absolutely hated most of his career. It wasn't until he had a deep run at the US Open and he gave the speech telling the crowd he knows they don't like him but he loves them that he started to win them over. It took time, as an old guy competing his ass off he became loved but most of his career he was a villain. At all the local stops in California where Connors played most of his juniors he was despised by the tennis directors.
The same is true for McEnroe, he was booed mercilessly when he would rant and lose the plot. Who was booed yesterday? Osaka of all people and it brought her to tears. As far as the men being rewarded for bad behaviour any examples? Mac was the villain vs the well mannered Borg. I've seen Mac and Agassi kicked out of matches for bad behaviour. Let's not forget that Serena is loved, cheered at nearly every tournament despite her consistent bad behaviour. Mandatory tennis skirts haven't been a part of tennis for a long time but why is different dress code for the genders sexist? Men deal with dress code as well. Go to a tennis club now and a large % of female players prefer to wear a skirt.
That's cool you played competitive tennis in the 90's. I did as well, I'm Canadian but travelled to the US regularly to play tournaments like Orange Bowl and Fiesta bowl as a junior. I also played satellites and worked my way up to challengers where my game stalled out. Where did you grow up playing? Do you still play now?
I'll also tell you this about Serena, she's a bitch and a diva. At all the tour stops she hit with male partner's before she hired a full time hitting partner. At the Rogers Cup my buddies would all relish the opportunity to hit with her just to kick her ass and watch her be miserable.