At school, one of my closest friend’s surname was Chung. We were lucky to attend a multicultural school with a large number of Asian heritage students, but very regularly his surname was mispronounced.
He was of Malaysian-Chinese background, and – like anyone – insisted his name be said correctly.
It wasn’t a hard one to get right either. In his family, Chung is pronounced like the word ‘sung’ – definitely not with a long ‘oo’ sound, like the word ‘moo’.
There were no shortage of teachers, friends, and even other parents (my Dad in particular) on the pointy end of a spirited correction.
Flash forward a decade or two, to January 20, 2018. At the third round of the Australian Open, two young up-and-comers are playing a superb game of tennis.
But something is bothering me, to the point of exasperation. The commentators seem to be consistently mispronouncing Hyeon Chung’s surname, as ‘Choong’.
My immediate reaction is that Korean must have a different pronunciation to Chinese. The commentators are correctly pronouncing Zverev, so they must have done their homework. And to be completely honest, I’d never watched one of Chung’s games live on TV, and had never given any thought to the pronunciation of his name. My view of the pronunciation had been ingrained since early childhood, and was ripe to be challenged.
Nevertheless, I was irked enough to do some research. A quick google revealed that Chung, even in Korean, is definitely not pronounced ‘Choong’. Todd Woodbridge and Mark Fitzgerald were consistently mispronouncing his name.
A number of things struck me. How unprofessional! It is surely the sport’s commentator’s first job to learn the pronunciation of the player’s name – especially in tennis. I don’t expect everyone to have known a Chung growing up, but I would assume if you didn’t, you’d ask a few questions before getting into a commentary box.
(AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
Chung won the game in an outstanding performance. But come the fourth round, in perhaps the most important game of his career, he was again suffering the indignity of a mispronounced name.
Jim Courier seemed to get it – perhaps he had the concentration to observe the umpire’s correct pronunciation – but Lleyton Hewitt certainly didn’t, neither did Woodbridge, for the second game in a row.
Roger Rasheed chimed in, “I watched Chung all of last year.” But despite 12 months of close attention, even he can’t help but mispronounce his name.
It’s unprofessional. But there’s something else. It demonstrates the disconnect between Australia and tennis, which Channel Seven has exploited all tournament.
A common trope is that Australia takes a passing interest in tennis, enlivened once every twelve months when the Hopman Cup comes around, and placed into hibernation after the men’s final – only to be aroused by the occasional deep run by an Australian at another slam.
The Betoota Advocate regularly plays on this strange social phenomenon which suggests that for a country with such a rich sporting history, we don’t really care about tennis. It explains why we know (and care) little of Nick Kyrgios, or Bernard Tomic, or Samantha Stosur outside of their successes and failures in the Australian Open.
Channel Seven exploits this. Coverage of the Australian Open is regularly inaccurate, with part-time AFL commentators on the Channel Seven payroll playing tennis expert with cameos from some genuine former stars. It leads to commentary filled with, at best, inane cross-promotions, and at worst, complete garbage.
A prime example was one commentator’s insistence on describing Julien Benneteau’s second-round upset win over David Goffin as ‘the highlight of his career’. This despite the Frenchman’s appearance at a French Open quarter-final in 2006, not to mention a French Open doubles championship in 2014. Accuracy is forgone for the sensationalised story, as if to suggest Channel Seven is fighting for market share in the 24-hour tennis cycle.
Another commentator can’t wait to watch the Russian girls in My Kitchen Rules, which reminds us that there is absolutely no 24-hour tennis cycle, nor any competition for market share in Australian tennis broadcasting.
And back at the Chung game, all of the commentators can’t stop rolling out the same anecdote about how Chung started playing tennis to help his eyesight. This is a boring story at best, a weird stereotype at worst, and yet is said with a delivery which would make you believe playing tennis with glasses was a miraculous achievement. Martina Navratilova might have other thoughts.
Channel Seven gets away with it because it knows the Australian public are only superficially interested in tennis. Its poor coverage is not berated in the same way that Channel Nine’s middling Ashes coverage is, nor Channel Seven’s AFL coverage. If Australia’s tennis fans were anything like A-League fans, legions of twitter trolls would have driven Hamish McLachlan into hiding by now for his glorification of Maria Sharapova at the cringeworthy opening ceremony.
The tennis-watching public is as much to blame. I have long wondered, does Australia even really like tennis? We have the sensationalized, inaccurate coverage that suits a population who would prefer to regurgitate how much they hated Kyrgios versus Seppi in 2017 than watch a game in the flesh.
At least we can pronounce Kyrgios. We owe Chung the same courtesy.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Is this the right time to let you know that its Moises Henriques, not Moses Henreques? If you ask Moses Henreques, I doubt you will any replies. Nobody knows who the hell he is...
Peeeko
Guest
Mispronouncing a name is now got something to do with trump and racism ?
Alex
Guest
Tomic? never heard of her.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
mattq - don't have to scratch surface hard to find racism in Oz. A Donald Trump type would have a good chance of becoming PM (helped by the ineptness of current crop).
Fionn
Guest
Jeff, that brought a smile to my lips.
Dee
Guest
I am Asian and the commentators in Asia pronounce foreign names using their own language, and it very rarely is the way we would pronounce it here in Australia. I don't think it's rude of disrespectful at all, it's just a difference in languages and the sounds available in the language. If this is an issue, then there's an even bigger issue because there are millions of Australians mispronouncing Toyota, Hyundai, Sony......
jeff dustby
Guest
how is it today in your hipster cafe, wearing a beret and an ironic beard? I bet you are reading a book french existentialism or something very sophisticated. perhaps a book on smugness would be better?
mattq
Roar Rookie
what do you expect from a bgn aussie network. they’re used to anglo names or they simply don’t care and just anglocise ‘w#g’ names cos “you’re in staya mate”. We can all remember the completely unfunny mock Socceroos match call back in the 80’s (watabich etc.) with the Smith, hope I pronounced that correctly punchline. Nothing’s changed in this country despite how much we’ve think we’ve developed.
Angela
Guest
Hewitt talks too much. His commentary is way too technical for most people. Woodbridge is better but he also talks too much. Courier has the balance just right. Relaxed, not eager to show off his technical knowledge, knows when to shut up. And I agree, commentators should learn to pronounce players' names correctly. I imagine they like their names pronounced correctly. And, in the case of Chung, not too difficult.
jeff dustby
Guest
what is it like up there on your high horse? I am sorry that Australian sports coverage is not up to your exquisite tastes. Expecting anything of quality out of TV is delusional
Simoc
Guest
I think you have got it all wrong. If you ask people how to pronounce their unusual surname they really don't care how folks pronounce it. It does not bother them one little bit. I have a client with a 30 odd letter surname that her husband hasn't managed to get right in the first decade of marriage. Ask Moses Henreques how he pronounces his surname. You'll probably get a few replies.
Bandy
Roar Guru
Agree with I ate pies. This really didn't warrant an article. And I think you answered your own question throughout - yes, Australia does only have a passing interest in tennis. We have one of the most saturated sports markets in the world, how is this surprising? I'd say there are very few countries in the world that DON'T have a passing interest in the sport.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
To introduce a bit of perspective: With the exception of Martina Navratilova (who explained the Czech pronunciation a year or so ago, during the US open I think) every commentator I've heard pronounces Lucie Safarova phonetically. Martina said it should be "Shafarzhova" with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable. And the following all get mispronounced frequently even by experienced commentators (from lots of countries and networks), although some of them (Sharapova for instance) have accepted the anglicized pronunciation Cilic, Berdych, Dolgapolov, Fognini, Wawrinka, Gojowcjyk, Ramos-Vinolas, Shapovalov, Coric, Mahut, Herbert, Goffin, Maria Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Kudryavtseva, Kvitova. I think the Dutch get mispronounced too. And I'm sure a bunch more, and I'm not even sure I got all the spellings right. I agree that you'd hope commentators went to the players and asked, but, hey, it doesn't stop me from enjoying the play or even the commentary. I find it much worse to have commentary that forever tries to exaggerate the drama (yes, Winston, balanced is what we need) , or, worse, that focuses on just one player (e.g. Serena Williams when playing in the USA)
I ate pies
Guest
Yes. Why is that confusing? Or do you expect me to know the contents of an article without reading it, like some sort of clairvoyant?
Nate
Guest
I did think Wang Chung playing into the ad break was pretty poor form though.
Winston
Guest
You're right about the names bit, but I find that you yourself are sensationalising how bad commentators are. I actually find the Ch 7 commentary team for most part ok. Hewitt and Courier and Woodbridge often have intelligent things to say. Aussie players aside, they are generally balanced in their commentary. Last night's match for example, I don't think they were biased at all. Everyone loves an underdog story, and equally everyone wants to see Djokovic make a comeback. It was pleasant to watch. As for the comment about getting AFL commentators to do tennis, that's also not true. Guys like Bruce McAvaney, Sandy Roberts, they're professional commentators whose job is to sensationalise things. Otherwise, if you have a whole panel of just pros, you risk the commentary being boring. Obviously that will mean that for the more astute viewers, they will become annoying when they make a stupid comment, but that's the trade-off they're willing to make. Why is it so wrong that they call Benneteau's win his career highlight when that makes the audience believe in the magnitude of the win? It's not a lie, it's just an opinion after all.
Breathe Easy
Guest
What? The article that you just read?
I ate pies
Guest
We don't pronounce Tomic properly either, but that doesn't warrant a whole article. Neither does this.