Wimbledon - the great British tradition of watching other people work hard

[bend_gules]

I've been a Wimbledon watcher for a few years now that I live in the same city as the event - don't bother with other tennis, but it's been a great bonding experience in our office this year. (Just watched Murray win it, at last - well done

Comments

[veronica_milvus]

Did you see the vile torrent of abuse that happened on twitter - as well as John Inverdale's appalling discussion of her looks?

Nobody ever said Boris Becker was ugly, or John McEnroe, or Jimmy Connors, or Andy Murray, and therefore wasn't fit to be raped and didn't deserve to win...

[my_stitching]

I disagree. There are plenty of times that certain male tennis players are called ugly. Not by the commentators, of course, because it has always been a male chauvanistic sport. But they definitely are by the fans. Jimmy Connors was absolutely called ugly. And Roger Federer, though a fan favorite as a player, is often referred to as ugly. Google ugly male tennis players and have a look around at what fans are saying.

[my_stitching]

It all depends on who is in the booth commentating, to be honest. That guy who made the comment about Bartoli never being a looker is a douchebag and it isn't the first time he has said something stupid. But, in many cases, even Maria Sharapova gets slagged off by the commentators in the booth. And she is definitely the poster child for gorgeous super model tennis players. In Bartoli's case, it could have just as much to do with the fact that she is French.

We are a tennis household. We have been to Wimbledon 3 times and have traveled to other big tournaments. We usually make it to at least one big tournament a year. David has been a huge fan since he was a teenager and follows the tournaments and rankings closely all year long. I love watching tennis live but hate watching it on tv and part of the reason is the commentators. They are more often than not biased towards/against a certain player. It rarely seems to have anything to do with looks though.

[ethnowoman]

This story made it all the way to Canada. Misogyny lives and thrives.