US Tennis Open 2011: Can Tennis Players be Too Nice?

The US Open Tennis Championship 

Flushing Meadows, New York 

Chris Ellsberry, a writer for The Stamford Advocate inspired my last tennis blog about #1 female tennis player Caroline Wozniacki being a class act off the court as well as on the court at the New Haven Tennis Open.

Next comes along Tom Perrotta a writer for the Wall Street Journal who asks: Is Women's Tennis Too Nice? 

He cites many excellent examples  of friendship between rivals, both on the women's and men's circuits. (For this reason, I urge you to read the entire article.)

Wozniacki visited Serena Williams at home when she suffered a pulmonary embolism and also invited her foe Victoria Azarenka (now ranked number 3 by the WTA) to her Monaco home where they dined and then visited the aquarium and beach together.

"She (Wozniacki) talks to everybody, she's very fun all the time," said Gisela Dulko, the veteran pro from Argentina. "She's always smiling."

How times have changed says Lisa Raymond who turned pro in 1993 and with Liezel Huber won the 2011 ladies doubles tournament beating defending champs King and Schvedova  4-6, 7-6, 7-6 .

Lisa is quoted as saying, "If anyone even mentioned Monica Seles or Steffi Graf, it was like, 'Ahhhhhhhhh!' You would never talk to Steffi Graf in the locker room, and I like Steffi. There was just this aura."

Tom rightly poses the key question: will this trend toward friendship and doing small deeds of kindness displayed by arch rival tennis giants inhibit their toughness and competitiveness and thus bring down the level/quality of playing? (He also queries why there are fewer tennis prodigies reaching their peak in their teens. Recall Graf , Seles, Capriati and Martina Hingis of the 1980's and 1990's--but this is getting off subject.)

The answer to the above key question is a definitive NO! Hey, it was just a short while ago that we witnessed the Williams sisters slugging it out to the finish in 8 different Grand Slam Finals matches . Admittedly, they got along very well off the courts--and we have witnessed the more argumentative Serena muscle her way past her sister in six of their eight meetings.

Thank you Tom Perrotta for an excellent article with lots of quotes.

Perhaps the most memorable one was from Samantha Stosur, the first Australian lady to win  the US Open since Margaret Court Smith in 1973-- with a stunning upset of the favorite Serena Williams in  straight sets 6-2, 6-3:  "If Federer and Nadal can seemingly get along so well, then why can't everyone else? They've got one of the greatest rivalries in sports."

Thank you Woz, Azarenka, Nadal and Federer to name a few of the current players for being outstanding role models, displaying modesty, humility and humanity by performing small acts of kindness!

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