On the ABC talk show The View, the ladies discuss the recent controversy of the young white female tennis player Caroline Wozniacki so-called joke about Serena Williams body. At a tennis exhibition in Brazil, Wozniacki decided to stuff her bra and tennis skirt with towels to make fun of Serena’s body. In the mainstream media the consensus by white tennis writers are that Wozniacki was just making a joke. The question these white writers fail to ask is why is Serena Williams constantly the one being made fun of?
Sports websites such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Fox Sports, have all claimed Wozniacki’s attempts at being funny isn’t racist. However, the vast majority of these sports writers are white men and they also have white male skin privilege. It is very easy for people who do not experience racism to tell black women they need to be quiet about racism and sexism. White privilege allows white tennis writers the ability to ignore race since they don’t have to think about race on a daily basis. White privilege also means white people have the luxury to not deal with race when they don’t want to and ignore it. The white tennis writers have chosen to ignore Wozniacki’s racism because the harsh truth is racism and sexism is very much a part of the professional tennis industry. The tennis industry is still very uncomfortable with the fact women’s tennis is being dominated by Serena Williams a black woman.
The white tennis writers lack the racial sensitivity, knowledge, and the awareness to discern the history of racism and sexism against black women. For centuries, since Sara Baartman tragedy in the early 19th century, black women are constantly mocked, ridiculed, and demonized for not having bodies that conform to the Eurocentric ideal. The ideal female tennis player body is supposed to be blonde, thin, such as Maria Sharapova or Caroline Wozniacki. Tennis writers for years have mocked Serena Williams because she’s a black woman, due to the fact her body has curves, and her buttocks is larger than her white female counterparts.
I am glad people on twitter, You Tube, Facebook, and the internet are saying enough is enough!
The racism Serena Williams experiences in professional tennis is more subtle. Nobody would dare call Serena a racial slur to her face.However, I believe there is still discomfort by some white people in the tennis industry about Serena Williams domination of women’s tennis. Tennis is still a very elitist sport, dominated by rich whites and the country club set.
Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shephard pointed out as black women they have a right to speak out against racism when it relates to the black female life experience. Goldberg and Shepard explained that Wozniacki’s joke is indeed racist against black women.
Goldberg makes a cogent argument, why are these white male and female tennis players such as Caroline Wozniacki and Andy Roddick making fun of Serena’s body? Why is it a black female tennis champion is ridiculed because her body does not conform to racist Eurocentric body image standards? Why should black people be silent to this prejudice and bigotry?
Serena Williams is constantly criticized and ridiculed by the racist tennis establishment because she’s a a black woman dominating women’s tennis which is still a predominately white sport. Let’s be honest here, Serena Williams is thirty one years old, a part time player yet she is clearly the best female tennis player in the world. Serena won Wimbledon singles and doubles, Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles, US OPEN, and the WTA Championships. Serena has dominated the so called number one and number two ranked women Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova with a stunning 8-0 record this year.Wozniacki’s joke I believe is due to jealousy, Serena also dominates Wozniacki she has a 4-1 record against her. Since Wozniacki can’t beat Serena on the tennis court she has to find another way to ridicule her by mocking her body because she’s a black woman.
Yes, that is either Williams showing affection, or her trying to steal Mouratoglou’s wallet. We like to think she is doing alright for herself and hardly needs the money.
So consider this an amorous expression.
Before you go on thinking this is an all-play and hardly-any-work relationship, theDetroit Free Pressreport reminds us just how successful Williams’ coach has been.
She hired the French Tennis Academy coach after she was ousted in the first round of the French Open. Since that time, she won Wimbledon and most recently the U.S. Open.
Oh, yeah: She also managed to win a gold medal in the London Olympics. That would be 3-for-3 in majors plus Olympic competitions since the two teamed up.
If that weren’t enough, the report gives us this little tidbit: “Bruce International Properties, the storefront at which Williams and Mouratoglou are gazing, sells property on the French Riviera.”
When normal people begin a relationship, they take a nice little day trip somewhere. When you are a world-class athlete, you flirt with the idea of buying a vacation spot along the French Riviera.
I’m not sure the tennis world stands a chance against this dynamic duo.
Today, German tennis star Sabine Lisicki destroyed Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-3 in the women’s fourth round at Wimbledon. Lisicki has a lot of talent her serve is huge, excellent movement, volleys, and solid groundstrokes. The dilemma for Lisicki is her mind she tends to be mentally fragile when she faces the top women. However, today Lisicki held it together mentally and scored a huge upset over Sharapova. Since Sharapova reached the Wimbledon final last year she will lose a lot of points. Another German woman, Angelique Kerber blasted former world number one Kim Clijsters 6-1 6-1 she will face Lisicki next in the quarterfinals. The third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland advanced easily defeating Camila Giorgi 6-2 6-3. Maria Kirlenko defeated Shuai Peng of China 6-1 6-7 6-3 she will face Radwanska in the quarterfinals.
In the bottom half of the women’s draw, reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova turned back Italian Francesca Schiavone 4-6 7-5 6-1. Kvitova will face Serena Williams in the quarterfinals she overcame a stiff challenge from Yaroslava Shvedova 6-1 2-6 -7-5. Tamara Paszek of Austria easily dispatched Roberta Vinci 6-2 6-2 she advances to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the second time in her career. Victoria Azarenka blasted Ana Ivanovic 6-1 6-0 in straight sets.
Once again, Australian tennis star Samantha Stosur can’t handle the pressure performing at home! Sorana Cirstea upset Stosur 7-6 6-3 in the first round of the 2012 Australian Open.
Cirstea played well she attacked Sam’s weak backhand which she slices a lot and charged to the net. Samantha looked confused on the court and lost she wasn’t aggressive enough.
I believe Sam put too much pressure on herself she just doesn’t do well when she is expected to succeed. I thought Samantha had turned the corner when she blasted Serena Williams off the court at the US OPEN five months ago in September 2010 6-2 6-3. The Australian media is also to blame they expect too much from Samantha she is a talented player but she is also very inconsistent! Sam is too erratic, too up and down to become a top five or top three player.
Photo Credit: PKTennis
Photo Credit: PKTennis
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