Apparently, Anna had a bit of a tantrum during an interview with the BBC following her first round loss yesterday at Wimbledon. This tantrum drew the ire of John McEnroe, Virginia Wade, Pam Shriver and John Lloyd. The following is from ESPN.com:

[quote]Not even another first-round loss could knock Anna Kournikova out of the headlines at Wimbledon.

Anna Kournikova was publicly criticized by some of the game's greats for her behavior and consistently poor play.

Former champions John McEnroe and Virginia Wade were among those who publicly criticized Kournikova on Tuesday for her behavior during an interview with BBC-TV.

After failing to get past the first round for the fourth time in a row, Kournikova lost her temper during the interview when it was suggested she should consider playing some lower-tier tournaments. Although she asked that the taped interview start over, the BBC later televised the entire session.

McEnroe, a three-time Wimbledon champion, said the Russian is not in good shape and needs to consider where she is going in the sport.

"Her nerves are shot, she has no confidence and she is not in very good shape and if she is telling you otherwise then she's kidding herself," McEnroe said. "You can see that by watching her.

"At the same time let's not forget she got to the semis here and did break into the top 10. She's heading in the wrong direction very quickly and she's tried a number of different people.

"Wimbledon was her best chance. It's time for some serious reassessment and some serious practice."

Wade, the Wimbledon women's champion in 1977, agrees.

"She has lost her confidence and I don't think she is facing her problems," said Wade. "She is absolutely in denial."

Kournikova's defeat and interview spat made front, middle and backpage headlines in Britain's newspapers Tuesday.

"Is it game over for Anna?" asked the Daily Mail in a two-page spread that said "TV tantrum tarnishes gold girl image."

The Daily Telegraph, under the headline "Kournikova starting to look like last year's model," said her Wimbledon "is all over in an afternoon of posing and pouting, with a few tennis shots thrown in."

Kournikova's tantrum "was unprofessional and inexcusable," ESPN tennis analyst Pam Shriver said. "You saw the real Anna Kournikova there."

Former British Davis Cup player and fellow TV commentator John Lloyd agreed.

"You can't react like that. It's pathetic. She has had more cameras thrust in her face than I've had hot dinners."

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Sounds like the media love affair with Anna may be coming to an end. You have to wonder how much longer she can keep these endorsements. Before, it was the fact that she couldn't win a tournament. Now she can't seem to win a match. I feel bad for her. I think she's gotten some bad advice along the way and that if she dedicated herself 110% to tennis, she could be a top 10 player again. She also needs a coach who will urge her to be more aggressive and get to the net.

I was kind of baffled by her post-game remarks. She did better than she thought she would, by coming close to beating a top 20 player. So taking a set off a #23 ranked, tiny baseliner on grass is supposed to indicate significant progress? She's definitely in denial. And she's played 24 tournaments in the past year now, so it's absurd for her to still be blaming the injury.

It's just another example of Anna-tude, as Jon Wertheim would say. I'm sure Princess Anna was a tad-bit annoyed losing to a girl Martina Navratilova mowed the lawn with just a week ago.

The thing is, Anna hasn't enjoyed much success in lower-tier events, either. She should seriously consider taking a page out of Andre Agassi's book. A few years ago, his ranking plummeted to three digits after a major injury. When Agassi came back, he played a couple of challenger/satellite events to regain his form and his confidence. Soon after, he shot back to #1.

Anna's confidence is bankrupt right now. I think it would behoove her to play a couple of satellite tourneys. It would go a long toward restoring the form and swagger she's obviously lost. Even if her first tourney win were to come at a challenger, it would take tons of pressure off.

Of course, it's a longshot. (The gall of me to even suggest such a thing). But as her opening rd exits continue to pile up. Don't be surprised to see her at a satellite tourney near you.

[ June 25, 2002: Message edited by: jordan ]

She may not have a choice. If she keeps losing, she won't automatically qualify for the main draw of these tournaments. Though some tourneys would offer wild cards because she is such a draw, this would certainly piss off alot of people.

As for the comparison to Agassi's situation, I said long ago Anna should have gone after Brad Gilbert as soon as he became available. Gilbert had as much to do with Agassi's Lazarus-like comeback as anyone.

Monica Seles is the classiest player on tour. Why she was asked about Kounikova's interview escapes me, but she helped put it all in perspective. I hate quoting long blocks from articles, but the link may go away. In a story about how the WTA was upset with the way the BBC handled the interview, here's what Monica had to say...
[quote]Kournikova had at least one supporter - Monica Seles.

"I didn't see the interview but it's been the talk of the locker room this morning," Seles said after her 6-0, 6-0 first round win over Eva Bes of Spain.

"Anna is definitely going through a difficult period. I think she'll get through it. She's a very strong personality. Each one of us has a crisis ... in (out) career. It's a tough one she's going through. She had a tough injury.

"You know, she's going to have to have a few matches, win, to get her confidence back and I think start playing better."

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Sure, Monica was probably in terrific spirits after skunking her 1st round opponent (woohoo!), but I think very few other players (past or present) could not only see things from Anna's perspective but have the guts to say so. I think everyone else is enjoying the opportunity to take shots at a player who is very, very frustrated right now.

Does anyone really think that Kournikova is unaware of her dire situation?? Do they think that maybe their crack will be the one that gets her back on track? She needs to make the jouney on her own. Okay, maybe she'll need a good coach to help her find her way, but what's missing is something internal.

[ June 25, 2002: Message edited by: curtj ]

Honestly, I really don't believe Kournikova has a full grasp of how bad things have gotten. Point taken, that it's all too easy (and fun) to whack at that Anna pinata. But like Va Wade and others have said, Anna's in denial. And unless she takes some bold steps to shake things up in her routine, it seems like she's only falling deeper into an abyss. (Think Lucic). In her own unique way, obviously, Anna's great for the game. Which is why I'd like to see her start winning again. I think that swallowing her pride and playing a couple challenger events will go a long way toward that goal.

what jordan said.

anna stinks to the high heavens - her inability/refusal to even acknowledge it is beyond me!

she's a hopeless case!

First off, Kudos to Monica for being a leveling influence on this "tantrum" of Anna's (as the media is calling it). I actually watched the clip from the BBC website, and Anna was actually quite calm throughout it--apart from standing up at one point and asking to start over, but even then, there was no raised voice. When I first saw the headlines, I thought she had done some yelling and throwing. I think the media just loves to overreact to Anna--they always have, and I think they are overreacting a bit to this whole episode. In their own way, they are keeping her in the spotlight and by doing so, generating plenty of interest for themselves--the nature of the business. Why can't someone disagree with a reporter every now and then? Sure, she could have handled it "better", but if I were in her shoes, I think my frustration level would have been tested too.

Pam Shriver and John Lloyd were a little over-the-top in their statements--at least from what I saw--seemed like a lot of unprofessional bias creeping into their statements (Shriver alluding to the fact that she's "heard" Anna is "like that" a lot away from the camera... And that "She has had more cameras thrust in her face than I've had hot dinners" statement--how unprofessional is that?). Wade and McEnroe meanwhile, merely stated the obvious--'no confidence/needs work'. Anyhow, what I saw didn't even come close to the Hingis tantrum at Roland Garros 1999.

Obviously, Anna was still frustrated during the interview. That alone tells me she knows she has work to do--she's tired of the same questions tourney after tourney. Since this is my first post (after nearly a year of reading OutSports), I would clarify that I am not a big Anna fan, but still... She's always had problems with her serve, even when she first joined the tour. However, she had big enough groundies and a decent presence at net (when she did come in) to pull her through--although not all the way to a tournament win. Now, so many of the women have matched or surpassed her power, and her serve--typically the most intricate part of anyone's tennis game--has completely faded.

I haven't kept track of who she's training with or being coached by, but she certainly needs a change. To me it's not a matter of it being her fault or those around her...what matters is that the collective camp is not clicking...not a good match.

Should Kournikova be criticized? Constructively? I'll go for that. Like she was by the media? I don't think so. The world and media have changed a lot since the 21-and-under days of people like Shriver, Wade, McEnroe and Lloyd. Can these young people be role models? Sure. Should we expect it from them consistently? I, for one, do not.

Love tennis? Yes, I do.

Thought my first post would have Anna Kournikova as the topic? Never.

Paging Anna K! Paging Anna K! Your 15 minutes is up. Once a player stops winning, the public moves on. (Just ask Ilie Nastase.)

I think Anna needs to decide what she wants to do, modeling and make the rag magazine covers, or play tennis. Either way, I really don't care alls that much.

[quote]And that "She has had more cameras thrust in her face than I've had hot dinners" statement--how unprofessional is that?)

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Not very. It's one of my favorite (favourite?) British-isms and so true--I have zero sympathy for people who are media ho's but at the first sign of criticism freak out because *GASP* the media aren't nice to them any more. Live by the magazine cover, die by the tabloid back page.

If she wasn't straight guy wank material, most people wouldn't give a toss about her, really. She'd be just another mediocre tour player, struggling along to break in to the upper echelon, but never quite getting there. Maybe she'll just fade away and the attention on the women's tour will go to players who actually deserve it.

I do think Anna is being unfairly criticized ~ for still being a teenager (she is still a teen, right?) at least the girl had the presence of mind in the interview to know she was coming across very poorly. The fact that the media chose to air the entire interview against her will is very problematic, I think.

The Anna situation brings to fore my love/hate/love/hate-even-more-strongly relationship with the media. I'm very discouraged with how mainstream media deal with women athletes, especially.

God forbid Lindsay Davenport comment on Amelie Mauresmo's game or Jennifer Capriati speak honestly about the Fed Cup debacle. The sports media want women to be "ladies," ladies who don't have real opinions, who answer questions politely or, even better, give the interviewers exactly what they're trying to spoon-feed them.

Thing is, no body--NO INTERVIEWER--has any place to be taking Anna K. to task. The media has created Anna K. It's because of the media's ballyhoo that Anna is the celebrity she is.

This is a classic case of "build-em-up-so-we-can-tear-em-down." Yeh, Anna's game is hurting right now. Has been for a while. So why the f**k was she on the cover of Sports Illustrated? And why the f**k did we see highlight clips of her at the French?

Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want, but many of the women have had their ups and downs with the media, especially Hingis, the Sisters Sledge, and, now, Jenny C. I think that sucks. Women can't get away with half the shit that's said by pro football or basketball players.

I don't think women need to act like men, but the media shouldn't be so afraid that the public in general will be put off by a woman with a strong personality and strong opinions.

Well put, B Man. I think female athletes are at a P/R disadvantage by dint of the fact that most of the writers covering their feats are men, and they have preconceived notions of how a woman should act. When a star male athlete swears at another athlete or coach, he's marking his territory, demanding his due, and generally just being a man. But when a star female athlete (poor Jennifer Capriati comes to mind) behaves just as boorishly, it's several weeks worth of fodder, of being thought of as a bitch, and raked over the coals. It's a social phenomenon that's repeated in the business world - Jack Welch is considered a brilliant tactician for involving himself in minutiae at GE, when Martha Stewart does it she's a bitch. I think we need to be more evenhanded in the standards of behavior that we will accept from woman athletes. Perhaps the bar should be lowered to that of the men, but better yet, perhaps the bar for the men should be raised to that of the women.

Speaking of all the Anna K. controversy, ESPN is doing Anna Kournikova Sportscentury this Friday night at 8:00, I believe. Lots of juicy quotes from the commercial -- "She's sex with a tennis racquet," "Any chance at a serious career is over," etc. Should be good.

I really like Anna. I saw her beat JennyCap (and win doubles w/ Hingis) at the Chase Championships a couple years ago and was really impressed with her in person. She certainly has enough game to win titles. I think she needs to hit bottom -- be that the challenger circuit or finally being fed up with all the talk or whatever it may be for her personally. Once she hits bottom, there'll be nowhere to go but up. How far down does she have to drop to get there? Only Anna knows that.

I also don't think it's fair to say Anna takes attention away from players who deserve it. The type of media attention Anna gets would never be enjoyed by the players with better results, whether she was on tour or not. They just aren't as good looking. Superficial, yes, but that's the nature of the beast. Don't hate her because she's beautiful. No one's ever gonna ask Lindsay Davenport to stand on a grate with her skirt blowing over her head....

[quote]Originally posted by TC:
Paging Anna K! Paging Anna K! Your 15 minutes is up. Once a player stops winning, the public moves on. (Just ask Ilie Nastase.)

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Not a fair comparison, in my opinion. Nastase was a Grand Slam winner (1 French and 1 US Open) plus a Wimbledon finalist, along with numerous other tournaments. In fact, in 1973, he won 15 titles, including the Italian, French and season ending Masters and earning the number 1 ranking. This at a time when there were far fewer tournaments. He was ranked in the top 10 for 8 straight years.

[quote]Thing is, no body--NO INTERVIEWER--has any place to be taking Anna K. to task. The media has created Anna K. It's because of the media's ballyhoo that Anna is the celebrity she is

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Well, that's true to an extent but the bottom line is that no one can become a media sensation without actively participating in the process. I'm going out on a limb here, but I strongly suspect that no one stuck a gun to Kournikova's head and screamed "You WILL pose in cheesecake fashion! You WILL trade on your looks to get endorsements!!".

Jim, that has nothing to do with the way the BBC interviewer pretty much attacked her while she was still in her sweaty clothes from losing a disappointing match. He backed her into a corner. I saw the footage and she very calmly stood and asked him to start over with a fair line of questioning. If you haven't seen the footage, then you are just reading the stories that have blown it out of proportion. I could never categorize it as a 'tantrum' or even bratty, for that matter. She was visibly suppressing some natural human emotions, but she never exploded. She didn't say the interview was over or disrespect the interviewer.

Incidentally, they showed the clip and discussed it on Late Night At Wimbledon on TNT last night. Martina Navratilova and the other commentators had bad things to say about the interviewers judgement and timing. Martina went on to say she's seen nothing but hard work from Anna and that it will eventually begin paying off again. She was very clear that she didn't think the endorsements were the problem. Martina is not one to pull punches and she knows tennis. If she thought Anna was slacking or delusional, she'd say so.

[ June 26, 2002: Message edited by: curtj ]

I could not DISagree with you more, Jim Allen.

Since when do anything-teenage girls decide FOR THEMSELVES they want to be portrayed as a total sex object, if not SLUT, internationally for the next 3 to 4 years of their life?!

Do you think Anna K. understood what the term "Lolita" meant when she arrived on the tennis scene? If you do, do you think she actually WANTED to be called "Lolita"?

From her manager to her mother to her much older boyfriend, Anna K.'s been having A LOT of folks tell her what to say, how to act, for whom to pose, what contract to take, etc. for years.

As far as I'm concerned, her mother might as well have held a gun to her head: it's the same effect. Mom tells you to wear hot pants and pose with a tennis racked like it's a phallic symbol...how many whateverage-teen girls know how to say NO. Esp. when Mom is making $$$ off the spread?

Blaming Anna for the media's obsession with her is waaaay off base. I bet you anything that if there were more women in decision-making positions at Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and other major media outlets, we'd know a little less about Anna K. and a lot more about Lindsay Davenport, and Stacy Dragila and Marion Jones, for that matter, and how Corrine Morariu is doing in her comeback.

Anna K. is certainly not to blame for her celebrity. I think she wants to play good tennis.

And shit, if I had her body and looks, I'd be doing more than starring in Enrique Iglesius videos ~ I'd be married to him and having affairs with Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods!

I say let the girl act her age. If she says something racist or homophobic I'll change tunes very quickly, but until then I'm down with whatever. When she starts playing good tennis, let's talk, but until then, why the f**k should WE, of all people, buy into the media obsession?!

[quote] quote:
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And that "She has had more cameras thrust in her face than I've had hot dinners" statement--how unprofessional is that?)
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Not very. It's one of my favorite (favourite?) British-isms and so true--I have zero sympathy for people who are media ho's but at the first sign of criticism freak out because *GASP* the media aren't nice to them any more. Live by the magazine cover, die by the tabloid back page.

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Well Jim, despite it being true and despite it being a Britishism, it just strikes me as an unprofessional statement--kind of a bit whiny as opposed to good candor/humor. But maybe that's just my American interpretation of a Britishism. And while I agree with you about "media ho's" in general...I don't think it's fair to say she freaked out at the first sign...this kind of stuff has been coming at her for nearly a year now.

P.S. I'm getting used to this UBB Code, so I hope this comes out with the quoting and everything correctly.

[quote] I saw the footage and she very calmly stood and asked him to start over with a fair line of questioning. If you haven't seen the footage, then you are just reading the stories that have blown it out of proportion. I could never categorize it as a 'tantrum' or even bratty, for that matter. She was visibly suppressing some natural human emotions, but she never exploded. She didn't say the interview was over or disrespect the interviewer.

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Glad to know I wasn't missing something--I was halfway wondering if I had seen the same interview as what everyone else was talking about

And thanks for posting about Martina on late night TNT. It's always interesting to compare immediate reactions to those some time later. We seem to be so caught up these days on knowing what an "expert" thinks about an event right away, and I'm not so sure that's a very good thing.

Someone slap me if I'm getting off topic or if I ever come off as standing on a soap box