Last Saturday, the Italian Fed Cup team beat the Americans 3-0 to clinch their second ever title, with Flavia Penetta beating the young Melanie Oudin 7-5, 6-2 in the deciding match. The Italians won the title through their brilliant play which came from love of their team, country, and team work. Three concepts which Serena Williams does not even know how to spell.
The younger of the Williams sisters, current world number one, and recent winner of the year-end WTA Championships, had agreed to play against the Italians and lead the team which neither she nor her sister had been a part of in quite some time. Instead, claiming "exhaustion" after defeating her sister in the WTA tournament, Serena backed out at the last minute, leaving the just-now 18 Oudin to shoulder both the responsibility of lead and the blame in the loss (which she personally decided to take in interviews).
And Serena was exhausted. So exhausted that she was forced to sign copies of her autobiography in London and appear on the Jonathon Ross show, England's equivalent to David Letterman. Indeed, she's still so exhausted that she's appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight, and will be a guest on The Joy Behar show at some point this week.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! Are these the actions of someone who has an ounce of team spirit or takes a moment to think of anyone other than herself? Is this really the kind of sports star people look up to now? Is this who children aspire to be? Someone who is so obviously self-absorbed that she'd gladly take whatever opportunity that benefits herself and to hell with anyone else? Someone who is so arrogant and deluded that she can actually go on The David Letterman Show and say with a straight face that she always gives "200%" in every match when anyone who's ever watched her outside of Wimbledon and the US Open knows damn well she doesn't?
Now, lightening up your schedule or even not putting as much into tournaments outside of the majors in the interest of your career's longevity is understandable in women's tennis (hell, they play about eight or nine months out of the year total). But blowing off your country's Fed Cup team in the Championships to plug your book literally makes me want to vomit, preferably all over Serena and whatever outfit she's selling in stores now instead of playing tennis.
None of this is meant to imply that the Italians didn't deserve their victory. Not only did they consistently outplay the Americans, but two of the Italians skipped the lower-tier year end WTA tournament to play in the Cup Champioships. Had team leader Flavia Penetta (already the highest ranked Italian woman since they started the modern ranking system) played in this tournament, she could have ended the season ranked in the top ten, which would have meant more money and an easier time at tournaments. Instead, she decided to think of someone else and focus on her country and her teammates. What a novel concept, eh Serena?
And I'm not alone in my Serena bashing, this time. Sandra Harwitt, a tennis blogger for ESPN.com lays blame on Serena for forcing the still-inexperienced (despite what she wants to think) Oudin on becoming team leader, both on court and off. And Oudin, when asked if she could understand someone skipping on representing the US, had this to say, "I wanted to come here. I wanted to play for my country. Other people... choose different things. Some people... didn't want to play as badly as I did."
Now, I'm not going to watch Serena's interviews on either the Daily Show or Joy Behar Show unless I hear that one of them asked, implied, or at least hinted at what I really want to know. "You bailed out on your country, teammates, and sport to raise sales of a book that, to an outsider, just sounds like more stroking of your already inflated ego. Mind answering WHY?"
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I do have some thoughts on your post, which I agree with totally, and will say that Serna's actions and behavior on and off the court proves that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, i.e., just look at her Dad to see why Serna acts the way she does. I will leave the rest of my thoughts for later, and the reasons why Serna and Venus rarely play for the U.S. in any international tennis team event and don't seem to care that they don't while the top men's tennis players (especially Andy Roddick) really try to play in the Davis Cup, but you will just have to ask me about them at a later date. Very good points throught out the blog, though, and one surprsing one...you read ESPN.com?
ReplyDeleteAsk you about them at a later date? What are you, in a hurry? Are you speed commenting? Are you commenting while driving, and were coming up to traffic or something? WTF?
ReplyDeleteAnd I didn't really expect Serena to play in the Fed Cup finals after making it to the Final in the previous tournament; she just doesn't usually play those high level matches that close together. What angered me was her claiming "exhaustion" and then proceeding to go off and plug her damn book!!
And yes, I have to read ESPN.com, because my cable doesn't have the tennis channel or any of the various soccer channels, which are two of the sports I follow most closely. So, I'm stuck with checking up on what's going on via some bloggers opinions.
I actually was afarid what I was going to say may sound racist, which is why I didn't post it, but since you insulted me, here it goes. I think the main reason that the Williams sisters have never shown much inclination for "playing for their country" in the Fed Cup is because they were taught at on early age by their father it is us aganinst them, and the them not only included the tennis estblishments (i.e., the white country clubs and junior curcuits) but also the U.S. tennis federation in general, who he saw never giving him any help whatsoever because his girls were black. Richard Williams I am sure faced more racism and racist feelings and thoughts then I or anyone else can imagine, but every slight and percieved slight has turned him paranoid and angry beyond what is called for in most cases. Just look at his reactions to what happened at Indian Wells so many years ago and the US Open judging controversy with Serena this year for proof of that. For all his paranioa and angry, he know lords it over everyone when his daughters succeed despite what he sees as never getting any help (witness his ridiculous celebration after Venus's first Wimbeldon) and probably encourages his girls to never give the U.S. Tennis Fed Cup team any help because they never helped them. Since Serena more takes after her father than her mother (Venus is the other way) she not only won't play for the Fed Cup team, she will rub their noses in it with that lame excuse of "exhaustion". There is my two cents on the matter. Hope it doesn't sound too bad
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't sound racist at all, Adolph. J/K.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, Richard Williams is, well... an asshole. He speaks when he shouldn't and admits more to the public than a father of two professional atheltes ever should. As to his paranioa, I don't know. I've been ignoring the guy or just shaking my head and shrugging at everything he says for so long, I've honestly stopping paying attention to him.
Serena is the louder and much more fame-hungry of the sisters, but I don't think her or Venus's indifference towards Fed Cup is because of some left-over hatred of any organization. I think it's just that they have always stressed their indiviual achievements
over anything else, so they don't care as much about representing anything not involving themselves. So, I think they're more insulated than they are "us versus them;" though of course not being psychic, I have no idea.