twinkletoes
Well-Known Member
As freshly strung racket strings pummeled defenseless balls Sunday, a more sinister tension was striking at the heart of women’s tennis. The show went on in Dubai but with Middle East politics as its top-ranked headline, with a player taken from the draw for the crime of being from the wrong country.
Shahar Peer, an Israeli, was scheduled to play a Russian, Anna Chakvetadze, in the first round Monday of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a major stop on the early-season circuit that features all but one of the top-10 players. Peer, ranked 48th, had planned to play this $2 million tournament for some time, but there was always the specter of real-world invasion, the matter of a visa being granted to a Jewish player traveling on an Israeli passport. That had never happened in Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates. Larry Scott, the chairman and chief executive of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, said Sunday that he told officials of the seven-year-old tournament that it had to happen now.
“We knew it was an issue, but we made it clear that she was going to be in the draw and we wanted to be optimistic that she would get the visa,†Scott said. “Then they waited until the 11th hour to deny it.â€
Just like that, the glitter and promise of Dubai as an emerging international sports center evaporated into the cool desert night. The tour had a decision to make with almost a full complement of competitors, 55 of 56, in or on their way into town, ready to play the Premier 5 event, what Scott called “one of our nine biggest tournaments after the four slams.â€
In a telephone interview, Scott said a response of canceling the tournament was immediately discussed, but Peer and her family called for caution. “They didn’t want all the players to be harmed because of one,†Scott said. “We talked to our players and told them that something terrible has happened here, but every single one would be punished if we were to cancel.â€
Next year, Scott seemed to say, will be a different story.
“I made it clear to them that if Shahar were not allowed to play, they would run the risk of losing their tournament,†Scott said. “It would be a big blow to lose one of this prestige and money, but if it comes to the principles of fairness and openness, there can be no compromise.â€
If this is Scott’s nonnegotiable position, then tour stalwarts need to be right behind him, as Venus Williams appeared to be when the news broke in Dubai.
“All the players support Shahar,†Williams said. “We are all athletes, and we stand for tennis.â€
They need to support the tour, in whatever direction it goes, no doubt knowing which way that should be.
Scott wasn’t surprised that Williams was so quick to the defense of Peer, or any peer. She has grown into a senior presence, a leader in the fight for equal prize money. More than most, she and her sister Serena have had to hit their way past ancient, prejudicial attitudes. But the women should collectively recognize how dangerous a precedent it would be to finesse this issue, compromise in the interests of maintaining a prize revenue stream, even in the face of global recession.
For one thing, tennis does big business in American markets — think New York, Los Angeles and Miami — with large Jewish populations. The men, who follow the women to Dubai next week, may want to remember that, too, along with the companies that sponsor these events.
Scott had done business in Dubai since the early 1990s when he worked to create the men’s tour stop. He could only guess why the powers that be drew a hard line in the sand over Peer, stepped back from commercial ambitions that created the Dubai Sports City and even floated the idea of a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics they never did make.
No doubt the Israeli invasion of Gaza made it harder there for progressives. In detailing the devastating effects the financial downturn has had on the Dubai economy, The New York Times recently reported on a rollback on news media freedoms and government policies.
“It’s a complicated world we live in,†Scott said, and always thorny when it comes to Israelis and international sport.
We have seen Olympic officials turn into ostriches when Iranians have packed up their gym bags when matched against an Israeli. When it comes to basketball, a sport Israel loves and happens to be pretty good at, its teams are relocated to Europe, a region it has almost no chance to survive.
Tennis, though, is a globetrotting sport of individuals, choosing its tour stops based on merit and good will. Last year, Peer did play in Doha, Qatar, which at the time had low-level ties with Israel. She was the first Israeli to play in a Gulf-Arab state. She has also played doubles with Sania Mirza, a Muslim from India in a partnership that has evoked cheers and jeers.
Just last month, Peer faced a small, noisy protest of Israel’s Gaza incursion during a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. There is always going to be international conflict, and athletes in the middle. But they can’t be abandoned there when there is a choice. Tennis should finish its business in the gulf this month, and say bye-bye, Dubai.
Shahar Peer, an Israeli, was scheduled to play a Russian, Anna Chakvetadze, in the first round Monday of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a major stop on the early-season circuit that features all but one of the top-10 players. Peer, ranked 48th, had planned to play this $2 million tournament for some time, but there was always the specter of real-world invasion, the matter of a visa being granted to a Jewish player traveling on an Israeli passport. That had never happened in Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates. Larry Scott, the chairman and chief executive of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, said Sunday that he told officials of the seven-year-old tournament that it had to happen now.
“We knew it was an issue, but we made it clear that she was going to be in the draw and we wanted to be optimistic that she would get the visa,†Scott said. “Then they waited until the 11th hour to deny it.â€
Just like that, the glitter and promise of Dubai as an emerging international sports center evaporated into the cool desert night. The tour had a decision to make with almost a full complement of competitors, 55 of 56, in or on their way into town, ready to play the Premier 5 event, what Scott called “one of our nine biggest tournaments after the four slams.â€
In a telephone interview, Scott said a response of canceling the tournament was immediately discussed, but Peer and her family called for caution. “They didn’t want all the players to be harmed because of one,†Scott said. “We talked to our players and told them that something terrible has happened here, but every single one would be punished if we were to cancel.â€
Next year, Scott seemed to say, will be a different story.
“I made it clear to them that if Shahar were not allowed to play, they would run the risk of losing their tournament,†Scott said. “It would be a big blow to lose one of this prestige and money, but if it comes to the principles of fairness and openness, there can be no compromise.â€
If this is Scott’s nonnegotiable position, then tour stalwarts need to be right behind him, as Venus Williams appeared to be when the news broke in Dubai.
“All the players support Shahar,†Williams said. “We are all athletes, and we stand for tennis.â€
They need to support the tour, in whatever direction it goes, no doubt knowing which way that should be.
Scott wasn’t surprised that Williams was so quick to the defense of Peer, or any peer. She has grown into a senior presence, a leader in the fight for equal prize money. More than most, she and her sister Serena have had to hit their way past ancient, prejudicial attitudes. But the women should collectively recognize how dangerous a precedent it would be to finesse this issue, compromise in the interests of maintaining a prize revenue stream, even in the face of global recession.
For one thing, tennis does big business in American markets — think New York, Los Angeles and Miami — with large Jewish populations. The men, who follow the women to Dubai next week, may want to remember that, too, along with the companies that sponsor these events.
Scott had done business in Dubai since the early 1990s when he worked to create the men’s tour stop. He could only guess why the powers that be drew a hard line in the sand over Peer, stepped back from commercial ambitions that created the Dubai Sports City and even floated the idea of a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics they never did make.
No doubt the Israeli invasion of Gaza made it harder there for progressives. In detailing the devastating effects the financial downturn has had on the Dubai economy, The New York Times recently reported on a rollback on news media freedoms and government policies.
“It’s a complicated world we live in,†Scott said, and always thorny when it comes to Israelis and international sport.
We have seen Olympic officials turn into ostriches when Iranians have packed up their gym bags when matched against an Israeli. When it comes to basketball, a sport Israel loves and happens to be pretty good at, its teams are relocated to Europe, a region it has almost no chance to survive.
Tennis, though, is a globetrotting sport of individuals, choosing its tour stops based on merit and good will. Last year, Peer did play in Doha, Qatar, which at the time had low-level ties with Israel. She was the first Israeli to play in a Gulf-Arab state. She has also played doubles with Sania Mirza, a Muslim from India in a partnership that has evoked cheers and jeers.
Just last month, Peer faced a small, noisy protest of Israel’s Gaza incursion during a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. There is always going to be international conflict, and athletes in the middle. But they can’t be abandoned there when there is a choice. Tennis should finish its business in the gulf this month, and say bye-bye, Dubai.