That Wozniacki encounter was really a seesaw match taking strange turns. I watched this match till the second set and when Wozniacki won it, I thought may be she was through. But, Cetkovska had other ideas and fought till the finish to deliver the knock out punch alas in a cruel tie breaker !!

September 4th, 2015 at 2:14 am

Two rounds and 70% of the top 10 in the WTA have crashed out. Not unusual in that part of pro tennis. Lower level of effort than the men, sloppy play more accepted.

September 4th, 2015 at 6:51 am

CF1,
This it, you are in trouble now, they will declare your comment sexist..again;)..just for saying the truth, and yet they are payed equal money, for equal work, is it really equal work? I don’t think so.

September 4th, 2015 at 7:06 am

Women’s tennis sux a**!
And yes Wogboy it’s sexist!
And yes, it’s unequal!
Women should NOT be getting paid the same as men for a much easier time of it in the slams!
True equality should occur, not just the dodgy feminist version of equality (ie when it suits women).
In law, in most of the west you are not allowed to pay men and women differently for the exact same job.
But NOT when its obviously not the same job well. Well, it appears
Tennis obviously hasn’t gotten the memo on that one!
Riding as they do off the popularity of men’s tennis, without which they would have nothing.
5 sets semis and Finals should be in place NOW as a comprimise as i don’t think anybody wants to watch that cr** in the earlier rounds.
:-)

September 4th, 2015 at 7:41 am

No that’s not sexist. It may however be wrong, but that’s a different argument.
Now if Chris had added something like: “All women are useless at tennis and should stay at home and stick to knitting.” Now that woud’ve been sexist and something staff/jeremy/Roy etc would, without doubt, have no difficulty spouting.

September 4th, 2015 at 7:42 am

Margot, I wish you had an advice column in the papers.

September 4th, 2015 at 7:52 am

CF1, you’re right that its pathetic, but I don’t think its a lack of effort. Its that, outside of Serena and Maria, there are no consistent, great performers at the top of WTA. Its a weak generation.

Well, we have that in tennis now. The difference is the stable of old vets, from Novak to Simon, are still performing. Imagine if they were gone, and we had only 25 and unders. We would also see different semifinalists every week.

But the ATP can hide ONE weak generation (because the older guys are so strong).

The WTA are basically on their SECOND weak generation in a row, after Safina/Jancovic. The old war horses (Henin, Clijsters) are gone, and only Serena and Maria remain from the last strong era.

It will change again.

But if the ATP doesn’t start producing some quality teens, we will be seeing the same thing in Men’s tour in a couple years.

September 4th, 2015 at 7:56 am

SORRY, second paragraph should read “we have that in MEN’S tennis now”.

September 4th, 2015 at 7:57 am

“All women are useless at tennis and should stay at home and stick to knitting.”

Roy is one of the last the last of the mohicans.
And who would take such thought processes seriously now anyway?
Certainly not society at large and, case in point, tennis where women are equally rewarded as men not for their matching abilities, efforts and the commercial gains made from them, but merely because they are women.
It’s clearly a special privilege that has been bestowed on them due to their sex.
NOW THAT’S SEXIST.
It’s actually outrageous when one really thinks about it!
People can have all the sexist bigoted etc thoughts all they want but in practice the women are getting special treatment that the men would never get.

September 4th, 2015 at 8:27 am

@TV
Tee hee…are you being sarky by any chance, Mr? :)

September 4th, 2015 at 8:27 am

CDP,
I don’t have a problem paying equal work the same regardless of sex, but WTA is far from equal work so they shouldn’t be paid same amount of money. I would pay my GP twice as much as any other male GP that I know, my female solicitor too, because they are so good, but there is simply some kind of work that female can’t and won’t perform as well as man (same is the other way around) that they should not be paid same amount of money, mother nature (or God for believers) did not make us same nor we are the same.

September 4th, 2015 at 8:31 am

@CDP
Well, I for one think women should play 5 sets in slams. Of course if the women’s matches lasted longer that would play havoc with the scheduling, which is an issue.
But tennis is a dinosaur anyway, harbours all sorts of unsavoury unequal practises: calling “women” “ladies” for a start Eeuk! It’s a class based term and should be dropped, allowing women to be coached, more eeuk, allowing women and not men, to have heat breaks eeuk eeuk, and this 3 set nonsense.etc etc
All these things infantalise and patronise women and ultimately make them seem inferior to men. Grrr!
Here endeth the lecture!

September 4th, 2015 at 8:37 am

WB and Margot
Yep I agree with all of that.
Although I wouldn’t pay my female lawyers double.
They get more than enough from me already lol
I wasn’t having a go at you anyway M, you weren’t even around when I posted this.

September 4th, 2015 at 8:44 am

@CDP
Hell freezes over before you “have a go” at me…I damn well hope….;)

September 4th, 2015 at 8:47 am

We’ll see…

Joking!
lol

September 4th, 2015 at 8:48 am

wtf are you talking about? bunch of hypocrites.
Djokovic and Federer just rampaged two rounds in slam. 6 sets only 1 went to 4.

I bet when they were girls you bitched about overall level being low.

September 4th, 2015 at 9:33 am

CDP,

Yeah, agree, solicitors are probably bad example, they are ripping us off but yet we are happy to pay:)

September 4th, 2015 at 10:03 am

“All women are useless at tennis and should stay at home and stick to knitting.”

If that charming wee guy called Roy really said that, then we should show our appreciation with another goodwill missile.

September 4th, 2015 at 10:04 am

PS: I’m useless at tennis and would like to stay at home provided I have a Rolls Royce, a Chauffeur, Cooks, Cleaners, and a Designer to head my team of “knitters” plus a few cool millions to spend on whatever takes my fancy………

September 4th, 2015 at 10:13 am

margot at 8:37 a.m. agree with all your points, well said.

September 4th, 2015 at 10:17 am

Margot, you are such a lady…

September 4th, 2015 at 10:18 am

Make it 5 sets for women and Serena will continue to win everything until she’s 50. The caveat is nobody will be watching. Three sets of women’s tennis at the current state is already too much.

September 4th, 2015 at 10:26 am

the current state of women’s tennis is indeed up-and-down if not downright abysmal at times. hopefully we begin to see a change in this next generation coming up.

tennis vagabond puts it well, i.e., 2 “lost” generations rather than one.

September 4th, 2015 at 10:32 am

The only reason I think women should play best of 5 at slams is because it’ll actually make the slams harder than the other events.

Right now, what is it that makes a slam harder to win than a Masters event? At the Masters tournaments, you play 4 or 5 matches, all on consecutive days, and against higher seeds earlier in the tournament.

At a slam, you play 7 matches over 2 weeks with a rest day in between each match. The only reason slams are “harder” is because of the prestige associated to them which wreaks havoc on players trying to cross the finish line.

I think it was in 2007 when Serena came into the Australian Open not having played in a while and being pretty obviously out of shape. But she ended up winning the title. I firmly believe the schedule played a large role in her win. The game was always there, but everyone questioned her fitness, rightfully so. If that had been Cincinnati instead, I don’t think she would have won.

On the WTA, you have Serena and, when healthy, Sharapova who do consistently well at most events. Azarenka was also very consistent until her injury and she’s had a tough time getting back to her old form. But as TV mentioned, it’s just going through a second weak generation that isn’t easily masked by the top players, only Serena. On the men’s side you actually have the same thing, except it’s masked by the top 4 or 5 guys. Dimitrov is 24 and lost in the second round. Wozniacki is 25 and lost in the second round.

I personally don’t enjoy watching women’s tennis because I don’t think the quality of tennis they produce is that high as compared to the men’s tour. But the amount of sexism that is spewed by fans and journalists is disgusting. I dare any of you to turn to your moms and tell them they’re inferior because they’re women. I bet they’d show you just how inferior they are with a firm smack to the face that’ll knock you on your ass.

September 4th, 2015 at 10:34 am

@chris ford1 (and others): There’s some context to be added to a few cases of the top 10 women who have lost so far. Safarova had an abdominal injury and probably shouldn’t have been playing in the first place (she and Mattek-Sands withdrew from the ladies doubles because of it). Wozniaki got edged out after holding match points; it’s not as if she was blown off the court. Muguruza was part of the longest women’s match in US Open history and against a player who is on a 15 match win streak (yes, most of them were on the challenger circuit, but look at David Goffin’s results after he went on a challenger circuit tear last year). Ivanovic went out to a player who was in the top 10 before getting injured and was a slam finalist last year (a better slam result that Ivanovic has posted in years). You can easily make the case that Wozniaki and Muguruza, even Ivanovic, should have won their matches, but the win/loss results by themselves don’t tell the whole story.

September 4th, 2015 at 10:38 am

Not sure where most of you are from, although I think many of you are from Europe… here in the states, especially California, where I am from….. men most certainly do get paid more for doing exactly the same job….. I am a woman, but I must say….. if the girls only play 2 sets (or 3 if each one wins a set) I don’t see why they should make the same as the men who (especially in slams, sometimes must play 5 sets)… and I consider myself (not a feminist per say) but certainly believe in womens’ rights and all that. I am a paralegal and know for a fact that a man (younger and less experienced than me) was getting paid more than me….. I know Venus was instrumental in getting equal pay for women…. it’s just they are getting equal pay and not playing equal pay…. in these hot new york days (I am a native New Yorker born and bred there) the women get breaks after the 2nd set if there is going to be a third. not the men… where is the equality? Just sayin… and I am proud to be a woman, brought my 3 daughters up to be strong, independent women, but in this case…. I just don’t see how it’s fair

September 4th, 2015 at 11:15 am

Sure wish there was an edit button.. or I should have read my comment b/f posting. To clarify: although I live in California and have for many years, I was born and raised right there in new york.. and what I meant to say is this: although the women are getting equal pay, they are not playing equal play… or to put it better, not playing equally. no 3 mandatory sets, never 4 or 5 sets… that’s why I think the equal pay is not fair… also, come on… not like they don’t already make enough… I thought one comment I heard interesting and very telling and I agree. some of the players (obviously not the top players) show up sick or injured, most times probably knowing they won’t make it through the first match. they show up b/c they want the money.. not fair to the fans or the other players… just my opinion

September 4th, 2015 at 11:21 am

Feminism: the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

Don’t be afraid to call yourself a feminist, there’s nothing wrong with it.

The US has a ton of ass backwards practices and laws still in place, so I won’t get into that.

I used to also think the whole playing best of 3 vs best of 5 mattered with equal pay. But I don’t think it does. The women have never been asked to play best of 5. They’re asked to play best of 3 and that’s what they do. If someone only asks you to file 10 papers vs 15 then they can’t come back and scold you for not filing 15.

You have to look at where the prize money issue stems from. It stems from inequality and the idea that women are inferior. That’s why they were making less than the men. Not because they weren’t playing 5 sets, but because they were females.

Now the other argument is that the men are the main attraction and therefore deserve more credit for bringing in fans and revenue. Well here’s my rebuttal: this year, the women’s final sold out faster than the men’s final. This year, Serena Williams is the main attraction. So by the same logic, if Serena wins the title, she should receive super extra bonus money.

September 4th, 2015 at 11:42 am

Great post Ben!

September 4th, 2015 at 12:10 pm

nicely said ben!

September 4th, 2015 at 1:10 pm

Agree with your lastpost Ben. Everybody wants to see and ve part of a once in a ligetime agievement and if Serene makes the finals, most likelly the hype will be huge.

Imgagine if Djoko had won RG, tickets would be beyond 10k for nosebleeding zone for finals😜. Serena is the history of this Open, and maybe Federer if he ends up winning.

September 4th, 2015 at 1:44 pm

meanwhile, Halep and Bouchard, last years great hopes, are returning to winning ways. Those trajectories could have a big impact on the WTA from here out.

RZ, I missed your point earlier about context. Excellent points I didn’t realize.

September 5th, 2015 at 7:32 am

`Feminism: the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men..`

Clearly, you only have a surface knowledge of these issues based largely on your emotions and sentiments, rather than facts, knowledge and reason.
But yes, that’s what the feminists say feminism is, on paper.

`Well here’s my rebuttal: this year, the women’s final sold out faster than the men’s final. This year, Serena Williams is the main attraction. So by the same logic, if Serena wins the title, she should receive super extra bonus money..`

Your `rebuttal` is based on one example of one very special (and unique for the moment) tennis player. Not `women’s tennis`.

`although I think many of you are from Europe… here in the states, especially California, where I am from….. men most certainly do get paid more for doing exactly the same job…`

No, it’s against (federal) law.
Why would employers break the law so they could pay men more for the same effort/job?
It doesn’t make any sense.
Some disparity occurs, however, within companies when similar jobs, say a janitor and a cleaner are paid differently for largely the same work.
Women are also four times less likely to ask for pay rises too (but that can’t be legislated for)
I understand that Governor Brown is introducing a new bill to address this problem of near similar jobs/different pay but overwhelmingly the main difference in pay between men and women comes from career choice (eg more nurses are women, more men are higher paying petro engineers) and extra hours worked per week, and when these differences are factored in the pay gap almost disappears.
Bar the above for the reasons stated.

September 5th, 2015 at 7:59 am

CDP
1)Career breaks are disastrous for careers and women are more likely to take them due to child care
2)Glass ceiling
3)Old BOY networks
3)More women in part time work, again due to child care, which is traditionally paid c**p whoever’s doing it.
4)In UK girls make poor subject choices in schools, even in this day and age, and in consequence end up in traditional and poorly paid occupations like hair dressing, nursery nurses, etc
I could go on…….

September 5th, 2015 at 8:59 am