Glad I’m not the only one baffled by the scheduling at Wimbledon.
- Women on centre court in week 1: Sharapova, Dulko, Wozniacki, Kirilenko, Azarenka, Cirstea
- Top seeds placed on court 1, 2, 4, and 18: Serena, Venus, Kuznetsova, Ivanovic
I hope the organisers eat Serena’s fist for this, since mine are rather small.
‘It’s the Wimbledon play committee, not us who decides on the order of play.
‘But obviously it’s advantageous to us if there are good-looking women players on Centre Court.
‘Our preference would always be a Brit or a babe as this always delivers high viewing figures.’ - BBC source
Source: Babe, set and match: Why looks count for more than talent when Wimbledon decides which girls will play on Centre Court
Filed under: WTA, Wimbledon | Tagged: Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Gisela Dulko, Maria Kirilenko, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Sorana Cirstea, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka
Hi Dootsiez!
Thanks for posting on this – disappointing comments by the BBC broadcasters and the AELTC spokesperson. (In the US we just put the Williams sisters on Arthur Ashe and are done with it.)
But I can’t help but think the press is sensationalizing the issue. Just the way the Daily Mail used photographs to “prove” its point was pretty rude – a photo of Kuznetsova on Court 1 – really? It spotlights players for two things that are completely out of their control: their looks and Wimbledon’s scheduling. Anyone want to ask Carla Suarez Navarro how she got on Centre Court?
The real issue to me is that the women only get one match on Centre Court each day. That’s the real reason that the schedule is so f’ed up. They’re not going to put the Williams sisters on every day (like we would at the US Open.) Obviously Kuzy, Safina and maybe Dementieva should have been on Centre by now (but wait, Elena’s hot, so what do we make of that?) instead of Azarenka, Woz, Kirilenko and Cirstea. Sharapova is a non issue for me because she won the title and is a major star. Even if she played a dog (see?!) she’d still have been on Centre. The fact that it was Dulko across the net, who happens to be good looking, just sensationalized the issue even more (mostly because of all the gross commentary written by middle aged men.)
I hope all this muckracking leads to more than more photo comparisons of female tennis players’ looks. If it embarasses Wimbledon and makes it ethink its policy, I’ll forgive the Daily Mail for that Kuzy photo.
Hey FF,
Yes the press is sensationalising this issue. But it’s one of those things that should be sensationalised IMO, because it’s just not okay. I agree it’s rude for the Daily Mail to have pictures of Kuzzy and Serena. Especially since they chose the worst photos of them to prove their point – no one wins. The pretty players are made to feel like they don’t deserve their centre court assignments, while Serena or Kuzzy are implied to be not pretty enough for a show court. Which is a shame – I happen to think both these girls are beautiful.
But for me at least, sensationalism is a necessary evil. I hope the AELTC gets enough crap for it. It affects my viewing options. You live in the US so I suppose you’d always get the Williamses on TV no matter which court they play on, but that’s not a guarantee in Aus, and I do not care for Wozniacki v Kirilenko when Kuzzy, or Serena or even Safina are playing.
You could probably get away with putting Sharapova on Centre, but at the same time, she’s not ranked highly, she’s no the favourite to win the tournament, and she hasn’t won for the last 5 years, or even made a final. Had it been Amelie Mauresmo playing Gisela Dulko, they wouldn’t have made it to centre court. That match was put on Centre to bring in hormone driven ratings.
And you make a good point about women only getting one match on centre court, and it’s often jammed in the middle so the crowd leaves half way and comes back for the last men’s match. They should just alternate with one match one day, two matches the other.
It would’ve been worse if Rafa hadn’t pulled out. Can you imaging the AELTC trying to pick Federer, Rafa or Andy Murray for Centre Court on Monday? It would’ve been considered a snub if any of them was placed on Court 1. And Djokovic too – hasn’t seen the Centre Court for quite a while. The scheduling all tournament has been a joke, and this is just one of the many things that infuriates me.
We’re both so rational! Love it.
In terms of Sharapova I have to argue that huge celebrity + good resume + comeback story = Centre Court on week one. But before Dinara Safina? Probably not. Of course, then we wouldn’t have seen Sharapova on Centre Court at all, considering she got dumped out in the second round. So I guess you’re right.
And you’re right about the Rafa thing! That would put Wimby in a pickle! What would they have done? Maybe declare that night matches would be part of the schedule?
Looking forward to Ladies Day tomorrow – at least the worst of the controversy is behind us.
As long as Roger’s not in the draw, I can be uber rational!
I would’ve loved to see Wimbly try to put Rafa or Roger on Court 1 and Muz on Centre. Oh the outcry!