Comments on: FIGHT THE POWER! WILLIAMS SISTERS MAINTAIN INDIAN WELLS BOYCOTT

By: Elias

Elias — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:51:32 +0000

They have got all the right to boycott IW, I wouldn't imagine in million years a Black British Tennis player to be booed by British fans in Wimbledon. What happens in US women tennis is something out of this world. Racism still active in some parts of United State, the Williams needs to boycott the IW for good.

Things needs to change before they step out of the court, and another thing, if those were my daughters, I wouldn't allow even to do a promotion for stinking Tournament.

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:55:57 +0000

I do think the Dubai vs. IW issues are different – related but not the exact same. As I said in my earlier comment, the Williams sisters boycott IW for very personal reasons and I think it’s hard to argue against that kind of thing.

I agree with Edwin that Venus did the classy thing by speaking out during the tournament, but in a perfect world someone of some import on the tour (whether the Williams sisters, Jankovic, Ivanovic, etc.) would have done a little more than just talk. It’s easy to be an armchair critic, but sometimes we want our heroes to step up – just to prove to ourselves that there are people out there who do the right thing in tough situations.

By: Edwin

Edwin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:31:52 +0000

I think the fact that Venus said something about the Shahar incident while accepting her winner’s trophy was worthy. She stated that she hoped the situation would be corrected for next year so that she could come back and defend her title. The fact that all of the players were already at the tennis site when the announcement was made put the players in an awkward position. Also, I believe that none of the players backed out of the tournament, so why focus on Serena and Venus? The other players are playing Indian Wells and neither Williams sister has ever asked for a boycott of the tournament by the other players, but Venus has implied that she will boycott Dubai if the prejudice against Shahar is not ended. That alone should say that Venus is serious about prejudice. Get off Serena’s and Venus’ backs; two women alone cannot change the world by themselves; the whole tennis community has to step up!

By: WHO WILL WIN INDIAN WELLS: WTA EDITION | GOTOTENNIS

WHO WILL WIN INDIAN WELLS: WTA EDITION | GOTOTENNIS — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:02:57 +0000

[...] With the Williams sisters steering clear of Indian Wells, it’s all Serbs and Russians (minus budding doubles-specialist, Maria Sharapova) heading up the singles draw. Something tells me Safina, Jelena, et. al. are very supportive of the Williams sisters’ boycott! [...]

By: grass is green

grass is green — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:03:18 +0000

so the wms sisters can’t do it right unless they bow down to the great tennis gods at IW, that sounds ok!

By: freakyfrites

freakyfrites — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:16:42 +0000

Hey Nancy! I had the same thoughts about Dubai vs. Indian Wells. But I think the main difference between the situations is that the Williams sisters are boycotting IW for very personal reasons – they don’t speak out against the tournament unless asked, they don’t discourage others from playing, etc. I think that they made this decision way back in ‘01 that they’d never play it again, and that it’s a matter of personal pride to hold firm on this. I assume you watched the video and saw how nasty it was – I can see why they’d never want to step foot into that stadium again.

That said, I go to the tournament every year and LOVE it! The crowds are great – I’m actually shocked that such a thing would ever have happened there. It’s such a shame to sisters don’t play and I do think they should reconsider.

In terms of the Shahar Pe’er mess, I personally think it would have been great for Serena, Venus and
all of the other WTA players

to take a real stand on the issue. Here’s an interesting recent article from the NYtimes, where Venus Williams speaks about her decision to stay in the tournament:
http://tiny.cc/rBoJd

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:47:01 +0000

So let me get this straight…Venus will boycott this tournament because of something the crowd did 8 years ago, but she wouldn’t boycott Dubai for their discrimination against Shahar Peer…why??? Something about honoring sponsors or something? That’s bullshit if you ask me. I understand that it was a horrible experience in ‘01 at Indian Wells, but seriously?! It was more out of the tournament’s control than the Peer situation.