tennis

Arabella

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On Saturday evening, GMT, everyone was glued to their screen watching the British protégé Emma Raducanu playing her first final in a Grand Slam, winning it superbly, as just emerging from the qualifications, a first in tennis history. She was splendid in every way, brilliantly competitive, sportively outstanding despite a booing crowd clearly in favour of the 19-year old Canadian. I won’t here write in details about Emma’s story, achievement, record as others – surely more ‘tennistiquely’ qualified – have already done so, and yes she was just exceptional with a capital E. So please follow me on the after match highlight. I will try – well too late – to mention in details the appalling US Open organisation to try to set up the most hideous and marketingly cheapest podium, 80’s out-dated look inspired in a mere 20minutes. Surely those 2 young champions had nothing else to do but to wait for a team of 50 people probably to set up 3 pieces of carton boards on a hideous sort of stage, when finally Michael J. McNulty III of the USTA Southern Section and currently serving as President on the USTA Board of Directors for the 2021-22 term took the microphone. He couldn’t be spontaneous; he had to read a scripted, pre-approved, pre-written, pre-checked, sleek speech and tried to thank everyone, then congratulated both players. And then came the priceless comment addressing both players: ‘thank you for your smiles’. Not thank you for your competitiveness, your joie de vivre, your youth, being ambitious, being strong, being inspiring. No no. ‘Your smiles’. Mr McNutty III, how this could be simply relevant to the outstanding performance those 2 greatly young players have offered to the world? Would have they been less smiling make a difference to their technical and sportive exploits? Have you ever considered just one moment how this was just so irrelevant to the moment within Emma’s victory? And how tacky, sexist and patronising this would appear? And most importantly Mr McNutty, how comes you haven’t also thanked the day after the 2 men finalists for ‘their smiles’? I will let you find the answer yourself.

Carrie

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Late in July 2015, I attended a two-day workshop where our team of all-women managers was briefed by the all-men directors of the private sector company at which I work. At the conclusion of day one, everyone met up at the restaurant for dinner, sitting together and enjoying good food, great wine and light conversation. My colleague and I, both in our 40s, were seated directly across the table from 2 of the 4 male directors. The 2 of us had been chatting about participating in a martial arts class (her) and pilates (me), and were agreeing how staying active and getting fit contributed to a sense of well-being. One of the directors chose that moment to join the conversation, asking a couple of questions, before proceeding to describe a recent trip he’d made to watch tennis at Wimbledon, including the women’s and men’s singles finals. He then retrieved his smartphone in order to show to the director seated next to him and us the photographs he’d taken of Serena Williams, who had just won the title. His exact words were: “Look at her arse! She’s got the biggest arse ever. I have never seen an arse so massive!” For several minutes as they scrolled through the dozen or so photographs, and passed judgement not on Serena Williams’ sporting achievements and skills, but her body. They did this in front of a table of educated, hardworking women who they employ. I am disgusted with myself that I didn’t say something clever or jump up and quit on the spot. They behaved as they did because we had been “uppity women” who had forgotten our places, had forgotten that in their world it is men, not women, who get to decide what makes us happy, well, successful. And they had adopted a strategy of belittling a successful, powerful, skillful woman of colour to remind all of us of our places. Nearly one year on, this incident enrages and shames me still.