Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic – the spice girls of tennis

Published by admin | Filed under Tennis News

Tennis has always been a sport in which spectators are able to ‘eye up’ their favourite stars. Growing up as a tennis fan since the late ’80s and being a teenager when the Anna Kournikova era began, I can fully appreciate why certain people think the glamorous side of women’s tennis can be detrimental to the game.

To get a glimpse of Anna’s knickers and sexy legs would be the only reason for my mates watching the sport, but isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t it good that some tennis players attract new fans to the game?

Back in the ’70s the likes of Chris Evert caused a stir by being a firm favourite with the men. She was every man’s fantasy. Martina Navratilova was different and was liked because of her story of rags to riches and her ability on the court throughout her career.

I feel it is good to have a mixture of players, some pretty and some not so. Different people are fans of the sport for different reasons and glamour should be promoted on the WTA tour.

The lack of support for some women’s sports such as football and cricket enhances the need for glamour. Men are put off watching these women play football and cricket due to the lack of lipstick and shapely legs.

Many women in these sports are thought of as ‘butch’ and ‘masculine’ and tennis enables women sports stars to counteract this theory. The likes of Maria Sharapova, Sabine Appelmans and Ana Ivanovic are attractive, but there are just as many unglamorous players who still make a living from the sport because of their ability to play good tennis.

Is it really wrong to punish glamorous girls just because they happen to be attractive to the opposite sex? Glamour sells the sport. If the girls covered up and dressed down then women’s tennis would be far less entertaining and far less attrative to watch.