Excellent Article: USTA & Patrick McEnroe Are Racist Against Tennis Players Serena Williams & Taylor Townsend.

Women’s Tennis

By

Cliff Potter

 (Correspondent) on September 9, 2012

Serena Williams is in shape, but by no means thin.
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

 

Given the history of tennis, it is a very short line. Mixed among so many white Australians and Americans, the minority winners of the US Open are very few and far between.

Richard “Pancho” Gonzalez, born poor but proud in an LA barrio. Winner of the 1948 and 1949 US Opens. An Hispanic-American whose name was spelled Gonzales, the “American” way early in his life and whose nickname may have stemmed from a cut on his face when he was a child, which was incorrectly rumored to have occurred in a knife fight.

Althea Gibson, product of Harlem was also poor. And black. Winner of the US Open in 1957 and 1958.

Manuel Santana is next. Winner of the 1965 US Open. Former ball boy from Spain.

Arthur Ashe, winner of the US Open in 1968. Always present these days at the US Open in the stadium bearing his name.

When you watch Serena Williams go for her next US Open women’s title today, do not consider her achievements as something done within the normal tennis world. Instead, when you see her weight, her power, and her color, think of her achievements as an African-American in a world that is not yet through with racial and sexual insensitivity.

Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Novak Djokovic, Victoria Azarenka and all of the rest of the men and women in the quarterfinals were all white except Serena Williams. And they all have sleek, model-like physiques.

Taylor Townsend, left, after winning the US Open girl’s doubles championship on Friday.
Chris Trotman/Getty Images

 

Serena Williams has a body that is bodacious in all respects. Totally dissimilar to most bodies on tour, men and women.

Williams’ physique is shared with Taylor Townsend, a 16 year old African-American and the number 1 seed in the girl’s juniors in singles. Taylor lost on Friday in the junior girl’s US Open singles tournament, but won the US Open girls doubles title.

Like most of us, you would have thought nothing of Taylor Townsend’s weight or race.

But you are not the USTA and Patrick McEnroe, at least as to weight.

We may feel that women are no longer classified differently than men, or that racial sensitivity is now practiced by almost everyone involved. This situation brings us back to reality.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Before this year’s Open, Taylor asked the USTA for a wild-card entry slot in either the Open’s main draw or its qualifying tournament, which Taylor had played in last year. Her requests were denied. After the USTA asked Taylor to skip the U.S. Open junior tournament, her mother told them she’d pay her daughter’s expenses herself.” As Taylor’s mother said, “It all kind of came as a shock to us because Taylor has consistently done quite well,” she said. Her daughter, she reminded, “is No. 1, not just in the United States, but in the world.”

In fact, she had been “asked to stop competing,” consequently missing the USTA Girls’ National Championships in San Diego, because she had to get in better shape.

Patrick McEnroe, at the forefront of the Townsend controversy.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Patrick McEnroe, the general manager of the USTA’s player development program, confirmedthat her expenses to and at the US Open were not paid by the USTA.His excuse was not low iron at the time. “Our concern is her long-term health, number one, and her long-term development as a player,” said Patrick McEnroe, the general manager of the USTA’s player development program. “We have one goal in mind: For her to be playing in [Arthur Ashe Stadium] in the main draw and competing for major titles when it’s time. That’s how we make every decision, based on that.” McEnroe also claimed there had just been a miscommunication.

 

Not so, said Taylor Townsend. ““There was no miscommunication,” Townsend said. “I don’t know what else to say. My mom was coming but they did not fund us for the tickets.””

Could you have gotten to the quarterfinals of the US Open girls championship or the semifinals of the doubles if you had the weight of Patrick McEnroe and his USTA on top of you every game you played in addition to your own? Knowing that you were being penalized for your weight if not your race?

Probably not. But Taylor did.

Surely, both racial and sexual sensitivity would have dictated a different approach.

But as the Townsend situation shows us, Patrick McEnroe and the USTA do not share this sensitivity. In fact, their position remains both insensitive and appears indefensible.

So far the only disclosure of a health problem comes from Tennis.com, which claims that Townsend required a doctor’s approval to play due to “low iron.” And although Matt Cronin, a principal writer for USOpen.org, said that this was the reason, it apparently had nothing to do with the decision to ask Townsend not to participate in other tournaments.

Zina Garrison, whose discrimination lawsuit against the USTA was settled.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

We might fool ourselves by looking at the nearly all-white crowd in New York, telling ourselves that racial issues are over and that everyone involved, man or woman, white or black, is being treated fairly.

 

But the Townsend affair raises these questions once again. And they are questions worth an investigation. To satisfy people of color that the decision on Townsend was motivated neither by a prejudice against people who are considered overweight or based on her race.

The issue of whether the USTA’s player development group run by McEnroe is racist has been raised in the past. The Williams former coach Morris King Jr. has made thisclaim, including by reference to his inability to get a response from them concerning coaching applications.

As for the USTA’s High Performance/Player Development department, I have been rejected for national coach positions at least a dozen times over the years. How did I learn that I was rejected? Because I am not there. That’s how I have always found out. They have never informed me through any type of communication.

Lest you believe that Morris King is just a nut, read his statements and verify them.

King pointed to the USTA’s defense of several suits that have alleged race discrimination as a sign of discrimination at the USTA.

These have included the following: Zina Garrison’s discrimination lawsuit for her dismissal as the Fed Cup coach which was settled by the USTA, the settled Cecil Hollins case brought by the one out of thirty or so top chair umpires claiming discrimination against black chair umpires because he had been the only one, and the resulting New York Attorney General investigation that was settled though anAssurance of Discontinuance with the USTA.

Richard Williams and his daughters Serena and Venus.
Clive Rose/Getty Images

Claims and perhaps one or more cases have also been made that the wild card process of getting into tournaments is discriminatory.

 

So far, there is no evidence apart from this history that real discrimination existed in the decision to tell Townsend to stay away.

But given the way Serena has always looked, how can you successfully apply any weight exclusion on any player? Especially because, despite millions in expenditures to develop any top ranked player over the past five or six years, the USTA under Patrick McEnroe has failed in their task and one success they have had is told to stay home and not compete.

That McEnroe’s claim that weight was the reason appears to be a false claim based on Townsend’s experience at the Australian Open this year. Taylor Townsend was in both the Australian Open girls’ singles and doubles, toiling well into the night, where McEnroe was present as a TV commentator.

During this January’s Australian Open, “[t]he left-handed Townsend had a busy day as she defeated fellow American Krista Hardebeck 7-6 (3), 6-4, in the girls’ singles semifinals to earn herself a final round match up with Russia’s Yulia Putinseva. Then she and Andrew had to pull the late night shift and took a dramatic 5-7, 7-5, 10-6 [super tiebreaker] win in one hour, 44 minutes over Irina Khromacheva and Danka Kovinic.”

Such a schedule does not seem to indicate a health or fitness concern over her weight.

Townsend has won or done very well in the tournaments in which she has participated. You have to have significant athletic skills to be ranked number 1 in her age group, as she has been this year.

USTA Training Center, Boca Raton, Florida.

 

The most tragic indictment of McEnroe’s acts come from Taylor Townsend herself. ““It was definitely shocking,” she said. “I was actually very upset. I cried. I was actually devastated. I mean, I worked really hard, you know, it’s not by a miracle that I got to number one. I’m not saying that to be conceited or anything, but it’s not just a miracle or it didn’t just fall upon me just because my name’s Taylor.”

As Sports Illustrated said, “Taylor Townsend, a charming young girl who still wears her braces proudly and plays with ribbons in her hair, is still just that: a young girl. She is not the future of American tennis, she is not a policy and she is not an example. She’s just a kid playing a sport she loves and she’s pretty darn good at it. Her body is still developing, her self-esteem still ebbing and flowing, and the last thing she needs, not as a tennis prodigy but as an adolescent, is her own tennis federation telling her she’s physically deficient.” SI also points out that it is through wins and losses in big tournaments that players become better.

Both Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova have denounced this decision. “You cannot punish someone for their body type,” Davenport said. “I’m livid about it. Livid,” Navratilova said. She added: “It speaks of horrible ignorance.”

Denying Townsend any money to travel to the US Open, and asking her to stay away from competitions, tarnishes the efforts made by the US Open and the USTA over the past few decades to eradicate racism and treat women fairly.

The USTA must not bury this incident, as it seems to have done so far, but instead must publicly deal with all those involved. At least some official position is appropriate even though there is less of a public furor than one might expect over McEnroe’s decision.

Davenport, far right, and Navratilova, far left.
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

 

Is it a coincidence that this situation was reported by the Wall Street Journal apparently on September 6, 2012, and then by The New York Times on Friday, but USOpen.org and the USTA apparently have not published a thing on this incident?

 

It is tempting to say that singling out weight is more a case of class prejudice rather than racial. After all, it is a stereotype in today’s culture that if you are overweight, then you are poor.

A few generations ago, tennis was largely the province of moneyed men and women. Professional tennis was played at private clubs, organized by individuals, and treated as if it were an all-white sport. Indeed, at one time, being white from an English speaking country was an almost required feature of tennis players.

And almost never being overweight.

But there is clearly a lack of racial sensitivity too.

Surely, the USTA or Patrick McEnroe did not consider that McEnroe’s decision might be considered racist or it would have been handled very differently. Especially when Serena is the antithesis of the typical svelte tennis player and has a fairly unique body type for tennis, the potential for others to interpret the move as racist is clearly present.

We have moved a long way on matters of race because of the many great athletes who were able to overcome barriers against them and their play.

 

One of the greatest players of all time, Althea Gibson is the most prominent for the role she played in breaking the color barrier in tennis despite overcoming a very poor family life. As Venus Williams said when Gibson died in 2003:

“I am grateful to Althea Gibson for having the strength and courage to break through the racial barriers in tennis,” it said. “Althea Gibson was the first African-American woman to rank No. 1 and win Wimbledon, and I am honored to have followed in such great footsteps. Her accomplishments set the stage for my success and through players like myself, Serena [Williams] and many others to come, her legacy will live on.”

The Williams sisters and their father have reported about the racism they faced from the crowds. “In the semi-finals of the US Open last year [2002], the American crowd supported Amélie Mauresmo of France rather than Venus: for the overwhelmingly white, middle-class crowd, the bond of colour clearly counted for more than the bond of nation.” As the Guardian noted in the same article on racism in tennis: “At the Indian Wells final in 2001, Serena was jeered the moment she appeared on court and was booed throughout. Her father, Richard, described how, as “Venus and I were walking down the stairs to our seats, people kept calling me nigger. One guy said, ‘I wish it was ’75 [alluding to the Los Angeles race riots]; we’d skin you alive.'”

They did not return to Indian Wells.

And it was only in Venus’ last match at this year’s US Open, potentially her last, when she said she finally felt like an American because the crowd was behind her.

Althea Gibson, from http://www.womentalksports.com/athlete/690/Althea-Gibson

 

Just as the Williams sisters demanded and obtained equality with boycott and regular reportingof the racism they faced from the crowds, other prejudice must also be banished including any prejudice that might exist due to a player’s weight.

Despite the many claims of Richard Williams of racism, there has never been any broad, public investigaton by the USTA about his and Morris King’s complaints. Why?

Is the Townsend situation more of the same? Or is it a stereotype that comes with being poor, where more overweight people are found today.

It may be coincidence, but last year The New York Times did another article on Taylor Townsend. The article lauded her progress in tennis, and interviewed and extensively interviewed Richard Williams, the Williams sister’s father and former coach. And they spoke with Kathy Rinaldi, USTA’s national coach. What did she say at the time?

“She has come a long way in a short time” . . . “When I first saw her a year and a half ago, she had a lot of potential. She has more discipline with her shot selection now and knows her game and style more. Her work is paying off.”

Tennis associations should never make sixteen year olds concerned about either race or their bodies, especially when no empirical evidence of Townsend needing to tone up her body before she competes. In fact, if you look at Townsend’s record, you begin to believe that this is all made up. By the USTA’s Patrick McEnroe.

You might also consider whether she may be Serena Williams’ successor.

If your physique looks like Serena Williams, perhaps the best women’s player in history, what more needs be said?

WSJ Article: Tennis Champions Lindsay Davenport & Martina Navratilova Slam Patrick McEnroe & USTA For Attacking Teen Taylor Townsend!!!

Tennis Legends ‘Livid’ About USTA Decision

By Tom Perrotta

The Wall Street Journal reported in Friday’s newspaper that Taylor Townsend, a Chicago native and the No. 1 junior girl tennis player in the world, was benched from tournament play this summer by her coaches at the U.S. Tennis Association because of her fitness. Townsend lost in the quarterfinals of the junior singles tournament Friday afternoon but advanced to the doubles final with her partner, Gabby Andrews.

Taylor Townsend was benched from tournament play this summer by the U.S. Tennis Association.
On Friday, the Journal spoke with Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova, two former No. 1 players and Grand Slam champions who struggled with their weight as teenagers and as pros. Davenport and Navratilova were sharply critical of the USTA’s decision.

“You cannot punish someone for their body type,” Davenport said.

“I’m livid about it. Livid,” Navratilova said. She added: “It speaks of horrible ignorance.”

The Wall Street Journal: You struggled with weight as a junior and a pro. What was it like for you growing up?

Lindsay Davenport: My dad is 6-foot-8. He blew out his knee in 1973, and after bad surgery, an infection ravaged his knee. He hasn’t been able to bend his knee since then. He was probably 150 pounds overweight my whole life. So all through the 80s, when I was a little girl, my dad was huge. My mom was not. But I had this dad with big genes, and we were never thin.

My first year playing the [12-and-under] nationals in Florida [at age 11], another mom reported me for being too old. And I was standing right there, and my mom was like, “I’ve got news for you, she can play next year, too.” And this woman was like, “Oh my gosh!” I had these big, chubby, baby cheeks and people thought that because I was tall and big, I was older.

Martina Navratilova: I put on 20 pounds in two weeks when I first came on the tour. I was 16, I played in Fort Lauderdale and then Dallas. By Dallas, I had to buy myself new shorts because I couldn’t fit into my shorts. I was playing three hours a day of tennis, or more. It was a change of metabolism and a change of diet. I wasn’t eating junk food, either. I was just eating too much. I was eating pancakes and steaks and hamburgers, I discovered corn flakes. It was just a different diet completely. I struggled with my weight for four years after that. I didn’t lose it until I was 20. And really, it just came off by itself. I was training hard and it started coming off in 1976.

How did your coaches approach your development, and how much of that had to do with fitness?

Davenport: There was a female who was in charge of the [USTA] women’s program in the 90s, Lynne Rolley. Lynne stood by me, was like a mother figure to me. I think she saw it as not only developing these great players, but developing us as people, and teaching us, when you walk into a room, look into someone’s eyes. It wasn’t just about trying to get players on Arthur Ashe. No one ever said to me, you’re fat, you’re heavy. Part of it is trying to figure it out on your own and trying to get the player to realize it. You’re dealing with a really difficult age for girls, and you’re talking about a life-changing, detrimental step. You cannot punish someone for their body type.

Navratilova: No matter what, the kid is 16. It’s baby fat, it’s going to come off. She would have to starve to the point of where she can’t play to lose weight, so then she can’t compete. And she’s the No. 1 junior. It is absolutely insane what they did, so irresponsible. If anything, play more. Don’t go into the gym. Just watch [what you eat], but in a positive and constructive and long-term way. But to throw this on her at 16? I’m trying to be nice here, but they totally blew it on this one.

Were there any fitness requirements you had to meet?

Davenport: When I was growing up, we had these USTA camps and a national team, and we would all go to these camps together. And you had to run a mile and a half in a certain time. I could never sleep the night before, I swear to God. I’m not a runner. I could hit the ball really well, and I liked to play tennis, but it was all getting too serious for me. I’ll never forget the anxiety I would feel the night before a run. And the time, whatever it was, it’s such a doable number now, but I’d be crying and stressed about it. And they would threaten that you couldn’t stay on the team. It didn’t happen, so I don’t know if I made the time, or they just kind of overlooked it.

When were your worst struggles with weight?

Davenport: I won the nationals at 15 [in the 18-and-under division]. My heaviest was more at 18, 19, when my parents were getting divorced. But I was never slim. I had an obese father, and we had a great childhood, but a good diet was not part of it, even though I was an athlete. I was not svelte at 15, and I was not fit at 15. If they had told me I could not play, I mean, that could have ruined my career.

There were definitely people within the USTA who didn’t think I had a chance to make it. I was very fortunate that I had Lynne, who was like, “This girl is doing great, she’s a nice girl, why wouldn’t we help her?” You just can’t turn your back on someone when they’re doing well and they’re a great kid. They’ve helped people with the worst attitudes, and that is way worse to me than someone’s body type.

Navratilova: What really pisses me off about this is, OK, weight is obvious, but what about attitude? Can we talk about other kids who they have been supporting for years whose attitude sucks and they still support them? I’m livid about it. Livid.

Is there a “too early” for off-court training like a pro would do?

Navratilova: Absolutely. Absolutely. I say play other sports, because that helps you become a better athlete, and most of all it makes you happy. I didn’t do core training when I was 16, I was climbing trees. I was swimming in the river, I was playing hockey, I played soccer, I road my bicycle a lot and then I played tennis. I did weight training like two weeks a year.

Davenport: I think the time is in your late teens. If you look at Martina Hingis, that great year she had in 1997, she was a twig, but it was just her tennis. Everyone has started doing things earlier, but that pressure is just exploding, and the long-term consequences of what potentially just happened I think are far worse than the benefit.

How much does fitness matter in tennis, say from your days on tour compared to now?

Davenport: It seems to have gone to where it’s a bit more than in the 90s, but it’s still about hitting the ball well. It’s still, in women’s tennis, about the chance to overpower someone. Certainly it’s a more important component when you get older, but it’s not that important when you’re 15, 16 years old. And I think that we’ve seen cases, Martina [Navratilova], myself, where people get over that, and we’ve seen the opposite where eating disorders occur.

[Taylor] is a baby to me. I couldn’t imagine, if someone did that to one of my kids, that would be the end of it. It’s horrible to put that kind of pressure on someone. I can’t imagine at 16 what my parents would have done.

What does a kid like Taylor, at her age, need most?

Davenport: I might take it the opposite way. They need love and support and good role models, and good role models aren’t people who punish and don’t allow things to happen. What really helped for me to lose weight was to try to have fun in the beginning, and just learning things like, you don’t want to eat bread at dinner. You just need to nurture them and I think that’s how it gets better.

If the goal is developing top pros, is that too narrow, or missing the bigger picture?

Davenport: Their whole goal should be to try to develop this player into the best player they can be, and the best person and try to teach them tools to go through life, and hopefully that includes playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium. If this is the player you’re choosing to help, you think they’re going to be good, it’s up to you to make them get there, to bring out their best as a coach.

Bringing out their best isn’t making them feel bad about themselves and having a horrible self-image. You get it out of them by getting them happy, by getting them excited to play, not by tearing them down.

Navratilova: It speaks of horrible ignorance.

WSJ Shocking Article: Patrick McEnroe & USTA Racist & Sexist Against Taylor Townsend Top Junior In World Told She’s Too Fat!!!

Why the USTA Benched America’s Best Junior

Taylor Townsend May Be the World’s No. 1 Junior Girl, but Her Coaches Say She Needs to Get in Better Shape

• By TOM PERROTTA

As the U.S. Tennis Association continues its struggle to reverse the declining fortunes of American tennis, it seems fair to assume that 16-year-old Taylor Townsend would be welcome to play anywhere she likes.

Enlarge Image

Getty ImagesTaylor Townsend, 16, is the world’s No. 1 junior girls player and the reigning junior Australian Open singles champion.

The Chicago-born tennis prodigy, who is part of a four-year-old USTA-funded development program, is the world’s No. 1 junior girls player, the reigning junior Australian Open singles champion and the junior Wimbledon doubles champion.

See if you’re fit enough to land a job as a tennis “ballperson” (formerly ball boy.) Plus, why grunting may get muzzled on the court. And a photo montage of classic U.S. Open images – don’t forget your headband. With WSJ Off Duty Host, Wendy Bounds.

Thursday, she won two matches at the U.S. Open’s junior tournament, the last a dominating two-set victory over Mexico’s Marcela Zacarias in which she pumped her fist after winners and jogged to her chair for every changeover.

But unbeknownst to everyone outside her inner circle, the USTA wasn’t happy to see Townsend in New York. Her coaches declined to pay her travel expenses to attend the Open and told her this summer that they wouldn’t finance any tournament appearances until she makes sufficient progress in one area: slimming down and getting into better shape.

“Our concern is her long-term health, number one, and her long-term development as a player,” said Patrick McEnroe, the general manager of the USTA’s player development program. “We have one goal in mind: For her to be playing in [Arthur Ashe Stadium] in the main draw and competing for major titles when it’s time. That’s how we make every decision, based on that.”

Townsend’s mother, Shelia, who played tennis at Lincoln University, has not discussed the situation publicly before. This week she said she’d been baffled by the USTA’s decision. “It all kind of came as a shock to us because Taylor has consistently done quite well,” she said. Her daughter, she reminded, “is No. 1, not just in the United States, but in the world.”

More U.S. Open

• Tennis Legends ‘Livid’ About Townsend Benching

Before this year’s Open, Taylor asked the USTA for a wild-card entry slot in either the Open’s main draw or its qualifying tournament, which Taylor had played in last year. Her requests were denied. After the USTA asked Taylor to skip the U.S. Open junior tournament, her mother told them she’d pay her daughter’s expenses herself.

The USTA’s decision touches on two contentious issues in tennis: the relative importance of player fitness and the best way to develop talent.

Most American tennis prodigies have been developed by private coaches, academies and persistent parents, sometimes with supplemental help from the USTA. In 2008, though, the organization decided it needed to do more about the decline of American tennis and founded its first full-time academy in Boca Raton, Fla., where Townsend is one of 25 select juniors. The USTA also trains 41 juniors in Carson, Calif., and the National Tennis Center in Flushing, the site of the U.S. Open.

By benching Townsend, the USTA seems to be sending a message that developing solid fundamentals (like fitness) is more important for a player’s long-term success and longevity than competitive results.

While the sport’s top players have taken a noticeable turn in recent years toward greater fitness—a trend typified by lithe specimens like Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka—there’s more to winning than subzero body fat. A quick glance around the U.S. Open reveals a fair number of less-chiseled players, such as Marion Bartoli and Stanislas Wawrinka, who both reached the tournament’s second week.

On the women’s side, former U.S. star Lindsay Davenport became No. 1 while ranking among the largest players on the women’s tour at 6-foot-2 and about 175 pounds. And in 2007, Serena Williams won the Australian Open singles title while being in what many experts consider the worst shape of her career.

“You have to be fit underneath, I don’t think you necessarily have to look ripped,” said former No. 1 Mats Wilander. “Smart players can get away with being a little tired.”

It’s certainly possible that Townsend’s fitness is holding her back, but her results suggest that her current form is more than adequate. In addition to triumphs at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, she made it to the semifinals of the International Spring Championship and won the prestigious Easter Bowl.

After Townsend lost in the first-round of qualifying at a professional event in Vancouver this summer, her coaches asked her to withdraw from the USTA Girls’ National Championships in San Diego and return to the USTA’s training academy in Boca Raton, where she now lives. She was put on double fitness duty and allowed to play just enough tennis to maintain her timing. “It wasn’t my decision,” she said. “But they didn’t think playing was the best thing, so I went back.”

If Townsend had won the San Diego event, she would have received an automatic wild card into the U.S. Open’s main draw and with it, a rare chance to be seen by agents and potential sponsors (she currently has no agent). After she returned to Florida, Townsend was diagnosed with low iron during a routine checkup. Shelia Townsend said her daughter is taking iron pills and that the problem is “totally manageable.”

Townsend, who possesses a sunny disposition, isn’t holding a grudge against the USTA. “I’ve gotten a lot of great opportunities, great fitness, great coaching,” she said. “I’m doing everything that they ask me to do and being professional about everything.” Shelia Townsend, who moved to Florida with her daughter and works in the Palm Beach school system, agreed the USTA academy had been good for her daughter. “It has afforded her a lot of opportunities,” she said.

Townsend will play Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in the junior Open quarterfinals Friday. She said she was asked to represent the U.S. in a junior Federation Cup event in Spain later this month. Beyond that, however, her schedule is unclear.

McEnroe said his development team still hasn’t cleared Townsend for tournament play. “We’ll assess when this tournament is over,” he said.