One of the big stories at the Pacific Life Open yesterday was the conference call Serena Williams held on behalf of the upcoming NASDAQ-100 tournament on Key Biscayne, during which she revealed and spoke at some length on why neither she nor her sister Venus is likely ever to play in Indian Wells again.
You can read Leighton Ginn’s full report on this in the Desert Sunhere.
But here’s the money quote from Serena: “I don’t know how you can play there. If anyone can be in my shoes, be 19, and I have a whole crowd booing me, I can’t explain that feeling. I’ve never felt that way in my career, and I hope I never feel that way again. I enjoy going places where people enjoy watching me play. It’s one place where not everyone, but a majority of people didn’t want to see my play there.”
This is exactly the kind of awful controversy that seems to occur only in tennis, and which makes the sport look a cross between Jerry Springer and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous—and it has the same tedious, manufactured feel as some of those shows.
Serena and Venus are not capable of destroying this tournament. (Last year, without the Williamses, Indian Wells actually attracted more spectators than Key Biscayne, its East Coast rival—the Williamses “home” tournament.) But by boycotting this event (ignore the disclaimer that they are neither upset nor lingeringly bitter; they just know revenge is a dish best served cold), they send the message that tennis stars are prima donnas (duh!) who can’t get over their issues to play what is either the second or third most important regular-season tournament in the United States (the U.S. Open, of course, is tops).
And that’s a waste and a pity.
Imagine Curt Schilling refusing to pitch at Fenway Park this year because the Red Sox fans boo and taunt him; or Lance Armstrong refusing to ride the Tour de France because some hecklers called him a “stupid American.” Dealing with those kinds of situations is an implicit part of a pro athlete’s professional obligation.
There’s no point in rehashing the entire, nasty, “he said, she said” elements in this story. But here’s a reality that Serena ought to contemplate: She wasn’t booed because people don’t enjoy watching her play but because they do. She was booed because she and Venus refused to play, and came to that decision rather impetuously—just minutes before they were to start playing before a pumped up, SRO crowd. A crowd that was, in fact, dying to see them play.
My take—they were lucky they just got booed, instead of being pelted with hot dogs and sun visors, soccer-crowd style.
It makes the game look ridiculous that Serena can now avoid this event—one of the gemstones of the game—and take potshots at it from a safe distance. It’s a travesty born of an astonishing flaw in the WTA rules, which do not require the top players to commit to a core number of top tournaments (of which Indian Wells surely would be one). That’s a worse comment on the so-called professionalism and integrity of the tour than anything Serena says or does.
Get real, players and WTA officials—you’re making the sport look stupid.