Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[Deuce]

Tennis.com launched a redesign, and maybe I never noticed it before, but there's a prominent section called Betting Central, with articles such as tips and a glossary for new gamblers and also analyzing a match pick of the day. It's sponsored by Fan Duel but presented as editorial, not advertorial. I was stunned. If tennis is going to continue embracing betting, they have to let players be sponsored by betting companies, in my opinion. They can't keep letting everyone else (particularly tournaments) cash in and not players.

I've said it before: Betting stands a good chance of ruining tennis - and perhaps other sports, as well.
If people think they can keep a control over betting, they're fooling themselves. As betting infiltrates more and more sports, and becomes a more pronounced presence, we will see an increasing number of Pete Rose situations, and even Black Sox scandals.
It's well known that the criminal element (aka organized crime) is very prevalent in the betting scene. Plus, there is the addictive nature of betting - which sports participants are not immune to... this often results in rather extreme negative and destructive behaviour.
As well, if the presence of betting continues, we will see more and more players being caught tanking games and matches...
Allowing betting companies to sponsor players is simply asking for even more trouble.

[ti-amie]

[mmmm8]

She's agreed to paying the fine, so it's her right to make that choice.

[ti-amie]

She's agreed to paying the fine, so it's her right to make that choice.

Beyond that though doesn't this raise issues about tennis "journalism" and the fact that you can name professional reporters and may barely need ten fingers.

Venus, on Instagram, has already given her a shout out of support. It makes you wonder if she and her sister would've if they could've.

[mmmm8]

She's agreed to paying the fine, so it's her right to make that choice.

Beyond that though doesn't this raise issues about tennis "journalism" and the fact that you can name professional reporters and may barely need ten fingers.

Venus, on Instagram, has already given her a shout out of support. It makes you wonder if she and her sister would've if they could've.

I'm sure it's not irrelevant, but I'm not sure that better tennis journalism (and especially more numerous tennis journalists) would've had a more positive effect on athlete mental health.

And they could've but didn't....

[ti-amie]

She's agreed to paying the fine, so it's her right to make that choice.

Beyond that though doesn't this raise issues about tennis "journalism" and the fact that you can name professional reporters and may barely need ten fingers.

Venus, on Instagram, has already given her a shout out of support. It makes you wonder if she and her sister would've if they could've.

I'm sure it's not irrelevant, but I'm not sure that better tennis journalism (and especially more numerous tennis journalists) would've had a more positive effect on athlete mental health.

And they could've but didn't....

Actually no they couldn't have. They would've been attacked mercilessly by the media and their careers could've been affected. Today isn't then. I don't know if they'll ever detail all the crap they went through so that Naomi can do this and not suffer any consequences she's not prepared to accept.

[Suliso]

Not convinced, how about all the other professional athletes giving interviews after both wins and defeats? NBA for example. Male players don't seem to be complaining either. Doesn't make a good impression of WTA, does it?

[Suliso]

As for Naomi and RG in particular she's not taking this tournament seriously anyway. I'll be very surprised if she wins more than two matches.

[Deuce]

This is a tough one for me...
I've long said that no-one should be forced (as in with the threat of a fine or other consequences) to speak with the media. And I maintain that position - it should be entirely up to the athlete - whether in an individual sport or a team sport - to decide whether he/she gives interviews, does press conferences, etc. Their interaction - or lack thereof - with any media should be entirely their decision, and not the decision of any governing body, or the team they play for, etc. And the athlete should be able to decide this on a day-to-day basis.
The jobs of those in the media should never override the basic right of each individual to decide whether to speak with another individual or not - and perhaps especially when knowing that what is said will be transmitted to millions of people - and at times even inaccurately so.

But, while I applaud Naomi's initiative, I have a problem with her reason. As Suliso mentions, many athletes do media after losses - even after heartbreaking losses. And despite the terrible 'political correctness' movement insisting that everyone should be emotionally weak and overly sensitive to the point that they are hurt or offended by something/someone at least 3 times every day, I feel that the much healthier course is to work toward being emotionally strong enough to not be hurt or offended by what others say or do - especially people with whom you have no emotionally invested relationship (and the members of the media would fall into this category for most athletes). I can understand being hurt by criticism coming from someone you know well, care about, and trust - that's simply being human... but criticism from people you're not close with should be able to bounce right off of you with little to no effect.

Of course, the 'x factor' is that when the media criticize, it goes out to millions of people, and is bound to influence more than a few. I've never been in the position of my performance being criticized by a multitude of people in a public manner, and so I can't really speak on that element. I'd like to think that it would all just bounce off of me, but until I'm in that situation, I can't say for sure.

[ti-amie]

Isn't RG the Slam where only certain people are allowed to interview players? I know they don't post the post match interviews on their site. Maybe she's not there for having her comments taken out of context in a Tweet? I think there might be more to this.

[ti-amie]

Pierre Hugues-Herbert is part of a group that owns the WTA Strasbourg tournament.

https://www.20minutes.fr/strasbourg/264 ... is-feminin

[dmforever]

Interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/spor ... views.html

In case you hit a paywall, Osaka is saying she won't go any press at the French Open and will pay all fines. She cites mental health as the reason why and has said that it would be great if the fines she will have to pay can go towards groups that help tennis players / athletes with mental health issues. I appreciate her voicing this issue. Obviously she can afford the fines and maybe it will bring the issue of mental health in tennis and sports in general to the forefront. The ironic thing is that she is the only tennis player I have ever heard who directly answers what she is asked. Maybe that's part of why this has caused her to do this.

Kevin

[meganfernandez]

Funny, because there’s hardly anyone the press loves more than Naomi. But I won’t miss her press conferences. God’s speed.

[mmmm8]

Beyond that though doesn't this raise issues about tennis "journalism" and the fact that you can name professional reporters and may barely need ten fingers.

Venus, on Instagram, has already given her a shout out of support. It makes you wonder if she and her sister would've if they could've.

I'm sure it's not irrelevant, but I'm not sure that better tennis journalism (and especially more numerous tennis journalists) would've had a more positive effect on athlete mental health.

And they could've but didn't....

Actually no they couldn't have. They would've been attacked mercilessly by the media and their careers could've been affected. Today isn't then. I don't know if they'll ever detail all the crap they went through so that Naomi can do this and not suffer any consequences she's not prepared to accept.

I agree in that respect. But Serena and Venus took other stands (like not playing IW) that unfairly gave bad publicity. I was just saying the rules would have been the same for Serena and Venus (or anyone else). Agree that a number of circumstances have changed to make this easier for Osaka.

[Liamvalid]

Interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/spor ... views.html

In case you hit a paywall, Osaka is saying she won't go any press at the French Open and will pay all fines. She cites mental health as the reason why and has said that it would be great if the fines she will have to pay can go towards groups that help tennis players / athletes with mental health issues. I appreciate her voicing this issue. Obviously she can afford the fines and maybe it will bring the issue of mental health in tennis and sports in general to the forefront. The ironic thing is that she is the only tennis player I have ever heard who directly answers what she is asked. Maybe that's part of why this has caused her to do this.

Kevin

I always say they should scrap the post match pressers that the losers have to go through anyway. Nothing worse than watching a player have to squirm through an interview when they would obviously rather be anywhere else but there-and that’s just the players who don’t suffer from mental health issues. Once again, good on Naomi