McEnroe says women should play less
Tennis newsCBSSpor John McEnroe knows his feelings about womens tennis wont make him any friends. He also doesnt care.
The sports most outspoken figure said women arent cut out to play as many tournaments as theyre asked to by their tour.
“There should be less events for women,” McEnroe said in a conference call this week to preview CBS coverage of the U.S. Open, which starts Monday. “You need an actual meltdown on court or someone to quit the game altogether before they realize you need to change the schedule.”
The same day that McEnroe was voicing his opinion, the Womens Tennis Association released an update on initiatives its taking to make the season less of a grind. By shortening and streamlining the season, the WTA said withdrawals were down 35 percent and participation by top players was up 57 percent in the tours top nine events over the first eight months of 2010 compared to 2008.
Another CBS analyst and former pro, Mary Carillo, was on the call with McEnroe, and while she agreed that the quality of womens tennis could use an upgrade, she doesnt think women are incapable of grinding through as long a season as the men.
“I hate the idea that we have to judge women on a curve and say, Its too much for them,” Carillo said. “Ive seen too many great women champions for too long.”
The U.S. Open was the first Grand Slam tourn a policy that has been criticized by some because the women play best-of-3-set matches, while the men play best-of-5.
Theres also a debate about whether men and women should play at the same sites more often, and whether the schedule unfairly forces players to enter too many events to secure their rankings.
“I think thats a little bit of a misconception thats out there,” said Kim Clijsters, who left the tour for about 2½ years to start a family, then won the 2009 U.S. Open in her return to Grand Slam tennis. “We can choose our schedule. We choose how many tournaments we want to play in, and I think its a players discipline and professionalism to know when to play.”
McEnroe said women have it better in tennis than any other sport.
“But you shouldnt push them to playing more than theyre capable of playing,” he said. “Unless you want to make it best-of-5. Make it best-of-5 for majors for the women.”
Federers video
Roger Federer is not giving much away about how real that video is of him knoc twice in a row.
The clip has drawn more than 5 million views on YouTube. Type in “Federer trick shot” to check it out.
“I couldnt believe the amount of hits I got,” Federer said Saturday. “Im happy, then, that so many people have seen it, liked it, and debated about it. I was shocked.”
He said it took “one or two takes … five, 10 minutes, and that was it. It was at one of the shoots I did after Wimbledon in Zurich, and we had a fun time doing it.”
Andy Murray, twice a runner-up to Federer in Grand Slam finals, was asked about the clips authenticity.
“You think it was real? Is that right?” Murray replied, smiling.
Then Murray noted that he liked the video, before adding: “Theres not a chance its real, though.”
Defending U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters also was asked Saturday whether she thinks its legit.
“Let me just say that I would not hold that thing on my head even if it was Roger Federer,” Clijsters said. “Theres your answer.”
Happy birthday
Andy Roddick turns 28 on Monday, which happens to be Day 1 of the U.S. Open.
He won the hard-court Grand Slam tournament in 2003, but hasnt added a second major title, losing in four finals.
Asked Saturday about his sense of urgency when it comes to claiming another Grand Slam trophy as he gets older, the ninth-seeded Roddick said: “Well, its always there. Birthday or no birthday, you come in to try to win one. To be honest, I dont think too much about age, number, whatever.
“Ill play till I can, until I feel like I shouldnt anymore,” Roddick continued. “But, you know, the urgency is always there.”
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 8:07 am and is filed under Tennis news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
