Why I won’t be watching the Sharapova-Azarenka final
Columnist By Spiro Zavos, 28 Jan 2012 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Australian Open, Maria Sharapova, Tennis, Victoria Azarenka
Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka are still hitting the wrong notes AAP Image/Martin Philbey
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Both the players in the 2012 Women’s final of the 2012 Australian Open, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, are screamers and grunters, when they strike the tennis ball.
Indeed Azarenka has added a shrieking/whistling add-on to her screaming that gives the obnoxious noise she makes the air-splitting quality (or lack of quality) of a jet taking off.
Let’s be blunt about this. The screaming and grunting of Azarenka and Sharapova (who are the worst offenders among the women’s players) gives a sort of porn movie sound-track to their antics on the tennis court.
This assault on the integrity and ethics of tennis, and the sheer awfulness of the noise the players make with every shot, is why I won’t be watching their final.
I switched on early in the tournament to watch both these players as they started their campaign. But within seconds, in both instances, I was forced to switch off.
Readers of The Roar will know that for the last few years I have written a column sometime during the Australian Open condemning the players who have grunted and screamed their way through their matches, and the supine officials (who seem totally unconcerned about the sensibilities of watching the game in comfort) who have refused to do anything to tone things down.
Last year’s rant was titled, somewhat presciently: ‘Please tell Sharapova to stop her damn screeching!’
The article quoted a journalist complaining that Sharapova was ‘wailing like a banshee virtually every point.’
Her opponent in the match under review was a Frenchwoman Virginie Razzagno who said, I thought rather generously: ‘It was difficult, but I got used to it.’
Razzagno might have got used to it. However, I wasn’t and still am not prepared to go through the agony of even trying to see how much of the screaming/grunting, wailing I could cope with, in time.
I suggested in the article that players should ask the umpire to stop the screaming. One reader (Darwin Stubbie, you know who you are) complained that ‘isn’t this just a rehash of a similar story last year?’
Of course it was. And this article is a rehash of last year’s article, without the old Peter Ustinov ‘wedding night’ joke which Richard Hinds quoted in an article written early in the tournament.
The point about re-hashing the standard Zavos rant about the screaming tennis players is that only by repeating the argument every tournament against this objectionable practice that the mainstream journalists might – finally – pick up on the matter.
And, thankfully, this has happened. Hinds’ article about the women’s final is titled: ‘Bring your earmuffs and let battle of the grunters begin.’
‘How excruciating does this slugfest threaten to be,’ he writes. ‘As a precaution, all leave has been cancelled at the nearby Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital where fans evacuated from the arena with bleeding airs are expected to turn the waiting room into a scene from M*A*S*H.’
Hinds points to the lamentable fact that the officials running the Women’s Tour have virtually refused to do anything about taking effective measures to muffle the worst offenders. They are, apparently, going to try and educate some of the younger players. But nothing has really been done to challenge the pampered starlets: ‘In tennis, the lunatics run the asylum. The result, tomorrow, will be bedlam.’
There is no hope of relief from the officials, or from the players like Sharapova and Azarenka. Some other form of pressure on the players and officials has to be created.
This reaction of the crowd during the Ararenka-Kim Clijsters semi-final is most promising. Some of the crowd began to make a whistling noise when Azarenka was serving and playing her shots. The chair umpire, rather amazingly given the noise the server makes when she plays her shots, called out to the crowd: ‘As a courtesy to the players, please keep the noise down during the play.’
This comment/warning must rank as one of the most bizarre ever made from the chair umpire. It was greet (according to Hinds) ‘with shreiks of laughter and just plain shrieks.’
We should demand that the spectators at the final to maintain their rage against the shrieking by imitating both players during their final. The players refuse to show any courtesy to their opponents, or to spectators as is evident from their continued assault on their ears. So why should the spectators show any courtesy to them?
The rest of us not at the Rod Laver Arena should just refuse to watch the match on television. If enough viewers do this, it will have an effect on the television ratings, which might just be the spur to get some action from officials.
As Anthony Albanese (in his plagiarism of great lines from the movies) might say: ‘We’re as mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it any more!’
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- Explore:
- Australian Open, Maria Sharapova, Tennis, Victoria Azarenka
January 28th 2012 @ 2:00am
mds1970 said | January 28th 2012 @ 2:00am | Report comment
Spiro, I agree. It’s gamesmanship, bordering on cheating; and it’s about time something was done about it. If the paying spectators have to shut up during play, then so should the players.
I’ll watch, but I’ll have the telly on mute.
January 28th 2012 @ 2:19am
Dave said | January 28th 2012 @ 2:19am | Report comment
I find it interesting all the “noise” the media has been making about the screaming/grunting issue of late. Particular female players have been doing this for 2 decades. The WTA has not and will not do anything about the issue. Not sure how they can police any laws regarding excessive noise. Shame really. Women’s tennis is nowhere near the “product” that men’s tennis is, and the excessive noise from players is only contributing to this.
And on an unrelated point, interesting how in the tennis industry you can generate less revenue and work less (best of 3 sets) yet earn the same amount of money. Wouldnt happen in my industry and many others (except maybe in the public service).
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January 28th 2012 @ 10:17am
clipper said | January 28th 2012 @ 10:17am | Report comment
The year end championships used to be five sets from 1984-1998, and then for some reason reverted back to best of three from 1999, so it can be done. I can’t see why it can’t be done in the slams, although scheduling might be a problem. Women often make better long distance swimmers, so why can’t they go the distance in tennis – is it just a quaint relic of tradition? It might lessen the screechers as well – it would wear them out over 5 sets!
January 28th 2012 @ 11:12am
CJ said | January 28th 2012 @ 11:12am | Report comment
One reason I’ve heard for three-set matches is because the spread in talent in women’s tennis is much greater than in men’s tennis. If you give two tennis players one set, upsets would happen much more frequently than three sets, which in turn gives up more upsets than five sets – I’m sure Federer has lost more first sets than he has matches, right?
If you need proof, imagine how many games Nadal would lose if the game was best-of-eleven sets? Who’s good enough to beat Nadal in six sets compared to three?
If women’s tennis has more spread in talent, going to five sets would have the effect of making the games more predictable, IF you make the assumption that the spread in talent IS in fact greater. Given the dominance of the Big 4 in men’s tennis, you’d say it’d be the other way around, heh.
January 28th 2012 @ 2:39am
John said | January 28th 2012 @ 2:39am | Report comment
The only thing more annoying than the screaming is the constant complaining about the screaming. Go Shar!
January 28th 2012 @ 4:29am
Johnno said | January 28th 2012 @ 4:29am | Report comment
Do the crowd at the OZ open chant go Shar, if they do that sounds awful very bogan behaviour.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:52am
Matt F said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:52am | Report comment
Maybe we need to compromise John? We’ll stop complaining about the shrieking if she stops shrieking. Then everybody wins!
January 28th 2012 @ 8:19am
Jonny G said | January 28th 2012 @ 8:19am | Report comment
What I don’t understand as when either of these players get asked about their shrieking in interviews and they complain that everyone should “focus on the game”. Its a bit hard to focus on the game when all you can hear is grunting to a level that nearly exceeds the number of decibels of the crowd congratulating a solid forehand winner. Its the equivalent of trying to do work in your office with a fire alarm going off.
Its understandable when players do it towards the end of a match when they are fatigued and in some pain but to nearly out-shriek the crowd constantly isn’t human. And neither of these players do it in training or when they are warming up pre-match, therefore it isn’t a natural response.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:14am
peterlala said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:14am | Report comment
Tough call. But a fair one.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:27am
Darwin Stubbie said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:27am | Report comment
Indeed Spiro I do know who I am …. and must say I thought that tired old ‘joke’ would be wheeled out again ….
But i do have to ask are you seriously encouraging the crowd to distract the players in a grand slam final – that’s being beamed globally …. Perhaps you should check with the organisers before taking that idea mainstream …. Melbourne already looks amateurish letting off fireworks over the top of the men’s semi – and you want to throw poor crowd behaviour in on top …. Vote with your feet sure – but encouraging ongoing crowd disruptions to a GS final will only have one effect if it continues year on year – consideration to moving the event ….
January 28th 2012 @ 5:25pm
ilikedahoodoogurusingha said | January 28th 2012 @ 5:25pm | Report comment
“Melbourne already looks amateurish letting off fireworks over the top of the men’s semi”
No, they were just showing that the world does not stop just because a couple of blokes want to hit a ball over a net. We should not be asked to change anything on our national day, just for a sporting event. I’m guessing that more people celebrated Australia Day than watched the tennis.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:34am
Bondy said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:34am | Report comment
I remember that piece you wrote last year Spiro and this article is just as valid today, but what gets me with Sharapova is that when a crucial point has to be won on her serve she stops the grunting for that point or that crucial game point or set or match point which drives me spare ” she stops screaming when she’s right under the kosh” .
Could this behaviour be classified in a similar vein to doping ?.
Spiro the point you raise in this article is that the two worst offenders Sharapova and Azarenka have both reached their target a slam final, what are the other young girls on tour thinking ? .
I’ll try to watch this but the sound will be at a minimum i hope i get through it ” sounds like a combat zone ” .
Quite please Ladies and Gentleman – Play .
January 28th 2012 @ 9:42am
The Cattery said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:42am | Report comment
The issue has had a good airing on ABC radio as well the last few days, and I was surprised to learn that the current rules are probably sufficient to put an end to it (as currently worded), but officials are of the view that they have let it go for too long and it’s now wrong to enforce those rules, the strategy is to now start educating a new generation of players.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:46am
jamesb said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:46am | Report comment
The problem is if your an opponent of either Sharapova or Azarenka , you can’t hear the what sort of sound their raquet generates thanks to their shrieking, whether its hard shot, slice,top spin etc.
Whereas if Sharapova plays an opponent that doesn’t shriek, than Sharapova can hear the sound her opponents raquet is generating.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:49am
stabpass said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:49am | Report comment
I have heard of this theory, but i play tennis at a decent level, and dont agree with it, perhaps the top professional players can, but quite clearly your eyes give you a better idea of what your opponent is doing than your ears.
January 28th 2012 @ 5:56pm
soapit said | January 28th 2012 @ 5:56pm | Report comment
well john newcombe has this theory so yes, maybe it mainly really matters for the top professionals.
January 28th 2012 @ 5:29pm
ilikedahoodoogurusingha said | January 28th 2012 @ 5:29pm | Report comment
I don’t know about hearing the ball come off the racket, but there is a reason for it. It is to cause a moments hesitation in your opponent. As they charge their prey a tiger growls, subconsciously it causes a fraction of a second’s hesitation in the prey. I expect the same is true of the human brain.
January 28th 2012 @ 9:54am
Matt F said | January 28th 2012 @ 9:54am | Report comment
It was a very funny moment in the first women’s semi when Azarenka asked the umpire to tell the crowd to be silent during the point…..the imitation shrieks by the crowd in between the next points was very well timed