Tennis rant: Bloody stupid people.
written: 2:32 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009

On the one hand, I think Jelena Jankovic is a whiny priss for dissing Roger and implicitly saying that Rafael Nadal is a more worthy role model to emulate than Roger (oh excuse me while I laugh my ass off. Apparently Jankovic doesn't know the rules of her sport. But then, it's the WTA. Am I surprised?), and reacting so defensively to the reporter's question about Roger's comment about the WTA and her #1 ranking. I'm almost tempted to say, Prove your worth as #1 by winning a Slam, but oh wait, I forgot, she's not #1 anymore; Serena Williams is, and she's just won her 10th Grand Slam.

Jelena Jankovic has just made my shitlist; my allegiance lies with Roger, obviously. But still, I think it's quite obvious what happened here: The stupid, bloody piece of shit irresponsible and scum-of-the-earth journalist that asked her about Roger's comments obviously did not provide her with the context.

Here is what Roger said about the WTA and Jankovic being a Slamless #1:

Federer said that Murray had been a serious rival for at least a year now and agreed that he "had a shot" at becoming number one.

"If he carries on the way he is he will have a shot," said Federer.

"Things change very quickly. But I hope if he were to become number one he would win a Slam - not like the women's side. No disrespect to Jelena Jankovic but it took Rafa five Grand Slams to become number one." (from here.)

Instead of defending her run as #1 without a Grand Slam, Jankovic whines about Roger speaking badly of other players. What? What did he say in the above quote that directly attacked Jankovic as a tennis player? What he said was a criticism of the WTA, not of Jankovic, and it's a criticism that everyone has been at least thinking. But more about this later.

Here is what he said about getting off the court if you're not fit enough:

Q. You're not a man that normally calls for trainers. Do you have a view on the habit of players to call trainers and possibly stop matches in the flow of the matches currently and whether that's right or wrong?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I mean, it's a fine line, isn't it? We'll never find the perfect scenario for that. What shall I say? I never usually call the trainer. Exactly.

When I came out on the tour and I was young, and I ‑‑ back then the rule was different. You couldn't ‑‑ what was it, a toilet break any time you wanted except obviously between the two games you were on the court. So you could basically take it at 6‑5 in the third set. So that's changed. Now you can only take them on set breaks, which I think really works out well now.

But then with the trainer, I guess it's a tough thing. I really felt when I was coming up the young players abused it, especially against a player like me. A little bit unsecure [sic] about finishing matches, you lose a set easy, and then you go to the toilet and call the trainer and strap your ankle.

Next thing you know, you're twenty minutes extra out on the court. Things go through your mind. Then once I got out on center court, you know, I guess I got the respect I deserved. People stop doing it against you. I think that's nice, in a way.

Probably on the outside courts it's still being abused at times. It's there to be used, so why not use it to give yourself a better chance to win? You don't fly to Australia to not give it your best shot.

I'm almost in favor to just say, you know what, if you're not fit enough, just get out of here.

But if something really bad happens, okay, it is just unfortunate, I guess. It's a tough call. I mean, I don't know. I guess we'll speak about it and see what happens.

Am I the only one that doesn't see the words "Novak Djokovic" mentioned in the above extract? I think Jankovic should do herself a favour and stop to think before she opens her mouth and whines about a tennis player who's won 13 Grand Slams to her 0, and has stayed #1 for 237 straight weeks. I think, too, that the fact that she defended Djokovic's shameless habit of retiring from matches in which he's losing shows a lot about her sportsmanship as well.

In all fairness, however, I think the more likely scenario isn't so much that Jankovic was talking out of her ass (though I'd believe this), but rather, the journalist, scumbag of the earth, didn't provide her with the context. I can just see it now:

Scum of the Earth: Jelena, what do you think about Roger Federer's comment about you being an unworthy #1 because you didn't win a Grand Slam?

Jankovic: blah blah I don't understand why he does this blah blah oh Roger can I borrow one of your 13 trophies just to feel better about myself blah blah I love Rafa! blah blah.

Scum of the Earth: What about his comment to Novak Djokovic, that he was a sore loser, and that he shouldn't play at all if he's not fit?

Jankovic: Novak is my good friend! I don't like people talking bad things about my good friend. Roger is so offensive!

Fuck you, Media. They get away with printing absolute bullshit and taking Roger's words out of context and possibly making Jankovic look stupid, and definitely making Roger look like some bitter, arrogant, know-it-all sore loser, and who's left behind to suffer the consequences of their irresponsible reporting? I understand this is how the media works anyway; all I'm saying is that it sucks. A lot.

Apart from that, though, I find it unbelievable how people are practically crucifying Roger over that stupid article (the first one). In the first place, it's not like he's never been like this. He's famous for being blunt with the media and telling it like it is. He's not doing anything different, and now suddenly he's a sore loser or he's disrespectful of his fellow players just because he's no longer #1? What is this bullshit?

Second, and on to the next thing I want to say, it's not like what he said about the women's tour and Slamless Jankovic was not the truth. The Grand Slams are the most important tournaments in tennis. Not even being #1 is comparable to winning a Grand Slam. How can the best player in the world be #1 if she doesn't win a Grand Slam? Simultaneously, I've said this before - it's not so much a reflection on Jankovic as a player as it is on the tour as a whole.

In other words, the Women's Tennis Association Tour is a piece of shit. It's crap. It's utter crap. The players are inconsistent, the consistent ones don't care to play the non-Slams (the Williams sisters), top seeds get upset early in tournaments, and the best part? The wussy, unfit women only play best-of-three matches in grand slam tournaments, while the men play best-of-five.

The best part? The women get equal prize money as the men. They didn't use to get the same prize money, but after Venus Williams made a lot of noise and coerced Wimbledon into changing their policy, women now get equal prize money as men at all four Slams.

I think it's utterly ridiculous. I'm all for sexual equality and whatnot, feminism rah rah rah, but this isn't sexual equality. It's not equality when you play two sets, three at most, and get the same amount money as a man who plays three sets, sometimes four, sometimes five. Just look at the Australian Open final: Serena Williams played a one-hour match. Rafael Nadal played for over four hours. And they both received $2 million.

Seriously? If you want to rant on and on about equality of the sexes, have the balls to play best-of-five sets matches. That is true equality, not this getting the same amount of money for a lot less work nonsense. Continuing to play best-of-three sets matches at Grand Slam finals only confirm the suspicion that women are not as fit as men.

Is that really true, though? Wouldn't the real feminists and champions of sexual equality rise up against that accusation? Isn't that even more insulting to women than getting less money, but for less work?

I cannot begin to express adequately how silly I find the WTA. I just discovered that players don't actually play every day in the non-Slam tournaments and play every other day. I was wondering why Hantuchova wasn't playing Cornet today (yesterday), since she's already played her first round match...until I found out these weak, fragile women get a day in between to rest.

What the fuck? The only tournaments on the men's tour in which the players get a day off are Grand Slam events. All the other tournaments require them to play EVERY SINGLE DAY. I'm sorry but what kind of sexual equality is this?

So yeah, let's all crucify Roger for stating the truth: women's tennis is nothing like men's tennis. It's so much worse. I only sporadically watch the WTA when StarHub somehow isn't broadcasting an ATP tournament when the programme guide said it would; stupid SuperSports is only showing the final of Rotterdamn, wtf. All thanks to SuperSports, I'm now getting my tennis fix from the WTA - and trust me when I say that all I need is a very, very quick fix.

Of course, I have no idea what the women's tour was like before August 2008, probably before Justine Henin retired (some say that was why Jankovic even reached #1). But as it stands now, the WTA is crap. The only good match I've watched so far was the one between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open, but it wasn't even complete; Azarenka retired due to some stomach bug or whatever. Even the ones that my beloved Dinara Safina played annoyed the crap out of me - all the errors, the double faults, it became a question of who made the less number of unforced errors. Utterly ridiculous.

Lastly, I love Roger Federer. I love how he speaks his mind and doesn't care about PR, how he comes across as arrogant in print but when you're watching him say all those things, he's just talking normally with no air of arrogance or conceit at all. It's just who he is, and I love that about him; I'd rather take someone blunt and honest over some puppet who sprouts the same old PR crap any time, any day.

I'm going to bed.

before sunrise // before sunset

Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010