Stone Cold Maria Sharapova

So is she just naturally this way because of her father? The bathroom break she took when Golovin was about to serve was just wrong. The worst sportsmanship award still goes to Justine(Ret) at this years Aussie Open. I don't think we'll see either of these girls up for sportsmanship awards this year.

[ April 02, 2006, 01:09 PM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

I'm so tired of Bodo. Bathroom breaks are taken all the time; it's part of the game. Was it equally horrible sportsmanship when Serena Williams took two against Jennifer Capriati at the French Open in 2001?

Bodo is way off base on this one. The Maria - Yuri linkage is just stupid. If every daughter was like her father Serena would be an incomprehensible loon. Maria did nothing wrong - she ran on and off the court and minmized the time she was gone, then she changed her top at the time the rules call for.

LOL I love how everything somehow seems to go back to Serena when she's not even in the topic. Did Serena take those breaks when Capriati was about to serve? One is NOT supposed to take a bathroom break when a player is about to serve. There is a difference and thats why Sharapova was boo'd when she returned to the court.

I say get rid of the bathroom breaks for a 3 set match. If you have to hold it, make that part of the endurance aspect of the match.

Players are obviously abusing the privilege- when they do that, you simply take away the privileges.

Or you just make a 5 minute break after each set and give each player the opportunity to take care of business then.

But for the women is it unfair? I mean ok let me try and play devil's advocate. Women don't seem to hold their bladder the way men can. I see women do the pee dance all the time when they are tapping their leg. In addition, women do have that "time of the month" thing going on. Maybe in instances like that they need to take an "injury timeout". I don't know. I think it is something that has been abused by players. They aren't the first and won't be the last. I do like your idea kick of a 5 minute break between sets. But I wonder if the gender issue would come up if they tried to do that.

[ April 02, 2006, 06:05 PM: Message edited by: ltskinmdterp ]

I brought up Serena purely because I know you're a fan of hers. I don't recall the exact junctures of the match in which her breaks occurred.

Kick, do you really want to see players soiling themselves on the court? Assuming Serena told the truth about her digestive issues in that match (and I have no reason to doubt her, though I think the cause might have been nerves rather than food poisoning), her only other option would have been to quit.

That was why I suggested the 5 minute break between sets. Or even extend it to 6 minutes.

It will take away any potential gamesmanship, players could use the 6 minutes for a mini-injury timeout and lets all players reset- not just those who want extra time to cool down or ice another player.

A set can last a long time in tennis. Remember the fifth set of the Roddick-El Aynaoui match in Australia a few years ago.

It's nowhere near as annoying as the timeouts every fifteen seconds toward the end of a basketball game.

I really don't think this is an issue of such great magnitude - players are perfectly aware that each of them has certain rights when it comes to requesting breaks, those rights being the same for both players involved. If an opponent takes a break for whatever reason, deal with it... take a slight rest if you need it, keep yourself psyched and warmed up if you need it... it only becomes some tool of gamesmanship if players allow it to bother them, which, in the majority of cases they don't. Despite Maria's actions of taking a bathroom break, Tatiana seemed to do just fine.

If a player starts screaming "Miss it, Bi*ch!" when the other is taking a shot, that would be in the severity range Mr Bodo and others seem to think this incident falls into. The girl went for a pee, and even if she DID mean it to somehow distract Golovin (which would be very unsporting but as we have no proof, she deserves the benefit of the doubt) it shouldn't (and didn't).

I fail to see the drama

B

So many of the top players have taken bathroom breaks or called injury timeouts (Mary Pierce anyone?) to break the momentum of the match. Is it gamesmanship? Perhaps, but to single someone out and act as though they are evil incarnate, is pretty ridiculous. If it were entirely against the rules, then the umpire should not have let her go. It is a given that players are going to use whatever they can to gain an advantage. It is up to the officials to stop them. They have the discretion here, not the players.

Of course it is gamesmanship and regularly exploited too, however the rule is there and an umpire connot really stop a player from going to have a pee. I like the idea between sets of both players being given the option of taking a bathroom break but on condition no other breaks allowed.There is presently 2 minutes between sets, just extend it another couple of minutes.

There is still the problem with the timeouts for fake or insignificant injury treatments. That really annoys me!!

I honestly think Maria just had to pee. Lynn Welsh made it a much bigger deal by keeping Maria there while she radioed for help. Sharapova ran to and from the court in a clear effort to use the time on the changeover.

Remeber those old changing booths they tried for the women that unfolded so that the players didn't have to leave to change shirts? Those didn't work out because it was too much of a headache ... it was easier just to let the player run off the court on a changeover. I think it's the same with the bathroom breaks. It's easier not to make a big deal out of it and just let them go.

Either that, or just have the chair umpire sit on top of a port-a-potty from now on.

I understand why people think it was gamesmanship. More players than not have abused the rules for years. I personally don't think that's what Maria was doing, but that's just my gut instinct from seeing how she behaved at the time.

I think the fact that she completely ignored Golovin's injury and shadowboxed in the corner was much more disgusting than the ill-timed pee break, personally.

I think Lynn Welsh's attitude towards Maria's bathroom break was based entirely on the fact that Maria is getting a reputation. Apparently, she did the same thing earlier in a tournament during a tough match. If, say, Amelie had requested the same break, I don't think it would have been a problem.

Also, Maria's jumping around during Tatiana's injury was definitely tacky. Although there really was nothing she could have done, Maria, above all people, should know that it's all about perception. A simple, meaningless stroll over to the other side of the court with an "Are you OK?" would have made her a sportswoman of the year candidate. And guess what...it's what Chrissie Would Have Done!

Mary Jo Fernandez said it had alot to do with her match against injured Serena the year that she won the WTA championships, when Williams was injured and Maria lost her focus before recovering from what ... 0-4 in the third? ... to win.

I had forgotten about that experience. I have a feeling Yuri told Maria to pay no mind to an injured opponent after that match and that's what she's trying to do. But, still, yeah, I thought it wasn't very becoming.

That said, I don't think Maria saw Golovin fall. But it was funny when Mary Jo said Maria claims she thought Tatiana was cramping and Mary Carillo interrupted her on-air with the incredulous burst, "I don't buy that for a second!"

I don't think tennis is supposed to be an unbroken sprint towards the finish line. Timeouts, breaks and coaching occurs in virtually every other sport including other individual sports such as boxing. Sure, gamemanship occurs in tennis but in what sport doesn't it occur? So what if Sharapova's trying to stay loose while Tatiana's injury's being dealt with...do you see football players acting like nurses when an opposing team's player gets bumped or bruised..hardly. Let the trainers do their job. I'm sure Maria wanted to finish the match and in no way hoped for any harm to Tatiana. And that Bobo guy apparently has no clue what it's like to play a long hard tennis match.

[ April 03, 2006, 12:18 PM: Message edited by: Bryan ]

I don't know. Maybe tennis has changed ... maybe the sports world as a whole has changed ... but I like to think that tennis holds itself to higher standards. It's the only sport where you warm you opponent up; the audience is expected to be quiet during points; and victor meets vanquished for a handshake at the net when a match is finished. I would like to think those gestures are more than empty routine.

Plus, tennis is an individual sport. We know the players as people, often calling the best loved ones by one name only. So I think it would have been nice for Maria Sharapova - the person - to show some kind of sympathy/reaction when Tatiana Golovin - the person - was so obviously hurt.

Players can remain competitive without disrespecting their opponents. Look no further than Roger Federer for proof of that. I would like to see his kind of class and competence be the norm in tennis, but I suppose with stakes as high as they are and other sports devolving more and more rapidly, tennis was bound to follow. Maybe it is expecting too much to have wanted Sharapova to show compassion for Golovin in that moment ... but, if so, then that's quite sad to me.

G4g good point. Federer, for example, just did not happen to be mannered and considerate..put simply..it is what is called "learned behaviour".

Summarily, have a good look at the parents.