This week
we give thumbs up to a veteran player who had to endure some tough times
in perhaps her final appearance in Federation Cup. Next, we take a
look at this week's WTA year-ending event which is still having its share
of trouble despite a return to the United States.
Champs
It is nearly impossible
not to like Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Sure there were times
over the years when it was hard not to get frustrated with the Spaniard penchant
for making her own line calls, but could not help but appreciate her tenacity
on the court. So it was a bit disheartening to hear news that the
"Barcelona Bumblebee" was reduced to tears during the Fed Cup final when
a fan loudly suggested that Magui Serna should replace an injured Sanchez
Vicario who was in the process of being pummeled by the Czech Republic's
Janette Husarova.
But a "champs" notice
to the fans who rallied behind the Spaniard. Play was interrupted
for 10 minutes as the Sanchez Vicario, using her shirt collar to wipe away
tears, received a rousing ovation. In an attempt to ostracize the belligerent
fan, spectators around him abandoned their seats leaving the heckler to sit
by his lonesome. Despite being humbled by the crowd's support, Sanchez
Vicario was only able to win two games.
Many will wonder
if this was the 31-year-old's last Fed Cup appearance. A stellar member
of the Spanish team, Sanchez Vicario was competing in her 10th final and
holds Fed Cup records for most series played and most matches won.
Chumps
One has to wonder why WTA Championships is having such tough times
of late. After a trip to Munich last year that was dubbed by most a
disaster, the event returned with to the United States with bright hopes.
However, if organizers thought attendance was low in Munich, they could
not be pleased with the staggering number of empty seats at Los Angeles's
Staples Center for the opening days of the tournament. In the 20,000+
seat arena, it was reported that only 200 fans attended the first day session,
while a paltry 5,000 (an optimistic figure in my opinion after watching televised
coverage) spectators witnessed the remarkable Monica Seles comeback over
hometown gal Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams's first round versus Patty
Schnyder. Attendance did not improve for Thursday's sessions.
Sure it is easy to
cite that week nights are not the most popular times to attend a sporting
event. But with a population base rivaling some small countries, organizers
must have still been scratching their heads. With attendance hopefully picking
up for the weekend, there may be some nervous folks wondering how a Monday
night final will be received.
If fans appear to
be apathetic, the players also do not seem to be helping the cause. The
always wonderfully blunt Lindsay Davenport offered her analysis stating
"When you keep moving it raound, it's hard for people to know what it is.
I think they [tournament officials] really don't have a five-year
plan. They don't know what's going to happen, and we have to figure
itself as soon as possible." The top-seeded Venus and Serena Williams
did do the required pre-tournament press conferences but steered the media
to talk of their new endorsement deal with McDonald's and other extra-curricular
activities such as Serena's recent sitcom acting debut. In a rare moment
of actual tennis-related talk, Serena admitted to having not yet even practiced
indoors for the event!
Finally, while any
endorsement deal is never a bad thing -- one often does not speak of women's
tennis and Home Depot in the same breath. While it is certainly better
than the cigarette brand that proceeded the Championships name for over 20
years, the eternally crowded home improvement chain store is an odd fit for
what should be one of the most-watched, best attended women's sporting events.
Even the media (including yours truly) are not latching onto the new
sponsor name. It is rare to see the Home Depot name in headlines or
even in the body of articles regarding the year-ender. Most often it
is simply cited as the WTA Championships.
So it should be interesting
to see how the Championships proceed in the years to come. "What?"
and "Where?" will still be the questions to be answered but hopefully those
will not give way to "Why?"