Filed under: Mayfair
I completely understand the decision to put Andre Agassi and Jim Courier – two tennis legends in their prime in the mid 90s and multiple grand slam winners – on centre court during the Saturday night session at the Rogers Cup. I understand it – but I vehemently disagree with it.
The fans loved this ‘old timers’ match and were thoroughly riveted by the athleticism of these American icons. But this match should never push the athletes of today to a ‘side’ court in favor of these Hall of Famers from yester-year.
Wow – can these guys still play at a very high level – serving bombs in excess of 200km/hour, ripping forehand winners from extraordinary positions on the court and chasing down balls from different area codes. But that’s not the point – the WTA tour players must take precedence at ALL TIMES when scheduling these matches.
I don’t care if Justin Bieber is playing an exhibition match – the current crop of WTA players must have access to the main court where there are better facilities – most notably access to the all important HAWKEYE which is the deciding factor for all line calls. I can’t tell you how wrong – in my opinion – it is for these jokesters (Agassi and Courier) to have the ability to challenge a call from a linesperson, yet the 4 competitors in the doubles action late Saturday night did not have the same opportunities.
Talk about mishandling some of the top players in the game. The Agassi/Courier match was an exhibition – like wrestling (the outcome looked to be pre-determined – the only thing that matters (for the organizers) was putting on a show for the almost capacity crowd. It was a sideshow – entertaining and hilarious at times, however; they should not have been the main attraction.
The feature of the night was a singles match between Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka – great quality tennis with some unbelievable shot-making. The second half of the night should have been the remaining semi-final in the doubles draw.
Agassi/Courier would have welcomed the opportunity to play on the grand stand court – that’s where they belonged – on a smaller court a good distance away from the main attraction. They had their time almost 20 years ago. Can you imagine next year at the Rogers Cup if Navratilova and Evert are put in a similar situation – do you think the game’s best doubles players on the ATP tour would be relegated to a lesser court in favor of those two female champions. Three words to answer that question.
NOT A CHANCE
The idea – with the American Men who used to entertain us all – is to augment the Women’s game not steal the show!
This is the Rogers Cup for females. End of story.
The fact that the second semi-final – involving top five superstar Victoria Azarenka – was shuffled off to the grand stand court is reprehensible. This is a mistake that hopefully in future situations will be rectified. It sets a terrible precedent for a tour that is considered to be ‘struggling.’
And it’s these kinds of decisions that will only make things worse before they get better.
Written by Michael Emmett
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A Fitness, Tennis, Squash & Sports Blog by Mayfair Clubs 
Unfortunately, fan interest in WTA tennis is so low that the women’s doubles semis match didn’t even come close to filling a side court, let alone the Centre. And Centre Court was packed for Agassi-Courier. It’s also true that either Agassi or Courier could still easily beat any woman currently on the tour. Sorry.
Comment by BiffBaxter August 16, 2011 @ 9:25 pmI think Rogers is so concerned about low attendance at the women’s event that they will do anything to get the crowds. And the women haven’t helped in the past when they didn’t come to the event. Meanwhile Serena just dropped out of a tournament in the US.
Comment by ksoupcoff August 22, 2011 @ 8:55 pm