2018 WTA Italian Open

[70後]

No offense to you because you seem like a nice poster, but do shut up! You have absolutely no idea about global marketing and if you were at the helm of any marketing business it would go under in a matter of months with your ignorant ideas.

What's the wrong type of fan? I didn't say that marketers are waiting for a tall blonde who can also win tournaments(although that's always the dream player for marketers despite your denials.) I said they're waiting for a player who can win consistently and who has charisma and global appeal. A person who can be an ambassador for the sport. They don't have to look like actress Margot Robbie. Li Na was hugely marketable( mostly in Asia but she was liked everywhere due to her bubbly personality, sense of humor, etc.)

You may be sitting in Asia somewhere and be under the misguided view that a professional sport doesn't heavily engage in branding to market the sport and you may watch tennis only for the quality of the matches and that's great for you, but if you try and run the WTA with those senseless ideas, you'd be in big trouble. That's where the WTA is today. They have no standout players(outside of Serena and Sharapova) who can really bring in interest in the sport. They need to find some suitable players for that task quickly to help sell the women's game.

Osaka looks like a good marketable player but will SHE have the consistency in the near future? They need some young, appealing and capable players. That's the way it has always been and that's the way it will always be. It's a business for goodness sake! The ATP is going through the same thing but they still have Fedalovic and they're milking that for all its worth. That's why a place like Vienna is paying through the teeth to get Nadal to appear. Without a player like him, the seats will be empty. That's how it works!

That is what I'm against, the whole mega star system of one or two stars. The ATP do not really have FedNadDjok. It is FedNad. Lets be frank, it isn't even FedNad. It is just Fed. Who was Fed before Fed? The only comparable star I can think of for ATP is Borg. I can't imagine Lendl marketing anything at all when he was number one, except tennis gear. Players were not like Fed, world wide ambassador, diplomat, dream of the sponsors. Fed's image is this highly and precisely crafted corporate product. Each word and each action of his is meant for public consumption. He is very unlike 80's or 90's top players, he doesn't ever do or say anything that isn't extremely politically and commercially correct. Once in a while he breaks the odd racquet. Only for show. But never once has he put his foot in the wrong place. Would you say Pete was marketable in the 90's? I can't think of much Pete could sell except obviously St. Vincent PS 85 racquets. Pete as far as I could tell did his best to be as boring (as a personality, not as a player) as possible. So did Borg. But somehow that for Borg sold big. After Borg, Connors, Mac, Lendl, tennis seats were not empty for ATP events in the 80's and 90's. Tennis kept growing and continued to be robust with a variety of stars who continued to be interesting for their games and their natural individualism. Tennis seats weren't empty after Edberg/Wilander/Becker/Pete/Agassi. But what happens to ATP post Fed/Nad now? Fed isn't as good as he was in 2006 obviously, but they can't do without him, they still have to keep drinking and drinking the punch to stave off the inevitable hangover, and they've been doing it for far too long.

When you say winning consistently, what I think that means is winning continuously. I would say that the current top 50 or so WTA are ALL very outstanding players, quite evenly matched in terms of best playing level. The whole Serena era, which I identify from 1998-2017, has been one of solid gold producing three generations of great, outstanding players all doing their best to strive to her level of greatness as a player. If the players are not consistent, they wouldn't be consistently highly ranked. But it is difficult to be continuously unbeaten when the competition is hard. Everybody is playing as hard as they can already. If you asked the WTA players about charisma, charm, appeal, etc, they would just have to tell you that that isn't part of their job description. As Pete always said, the court is his office. He just turns up for work.

 

[fundrazer]

I dunno about cc's marketing knowledge, but should we even care what WTA "top brass" think anyway? They have to be partly responsible for the terrible decision switch streaming platforms and the deal to move to Bein for TV. Maybe if the WTA had more stars those deals wouldn't have happened...but even if the WTA had multiple stars right now, a lot of people aren't even able to watch them, at least in North America anyway.

 

[PDJ]

I dunno about cc's marketing knowledge, but should we even care what WTA "top brass" think anyway? They have to be partly responsible for the terrible decision switch streaming platforms and the deal to move to Bein for TV. Maybe if the WTA had more stars those deals wouldn't have happened...but even if the WTA had multiple stars right now, a lot of people aren't even able to watch them, at least in North America anyway.

Spectators aren't really turning up to see them either.

 

[spystud]

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the world No.3 from Russia, overcame fifth seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in an epic encounter to win the Strasbourg Open.

The Russian needed over three hours over play to claim a 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (8-6) victory.

Pavlyuchenkova arrived to the tournament having won only four matches on the WTA Tour all year, but went on to win five in a row in Strasbourg to claim only her 12th career title.

At the end of a marathon third set, she saved two match points and forced a tiebreak to topple Cibulkova.

Pavlyuchenkova then broke into euphoric celebration after finally seeing off an enormous challenge from Cibulkova.

Sounds like a helluva match, anyone catch it?

 

[Ronaldo]

Sounds like a helluva match, anyone catch it?

It was on BeIN Sports, taped it

 

[skyline]

Muguruza isn't especially popular in Spain!
Whilst I personally find her game boring she does have the looks to encourage more to the game, but still Sharapova remains the global superstar.

I realize the thread is now concluded, but I was surprised to see that people don't think Garbine has the appeal factor.

She can be very bratty sure but she can also be quite likable/charming when she wants to (and she has a lovely smile). With some temper management, she could be marketed as the feisty one (or sth like that). She's also quite good looking. Her real problem is that many times she doesn't show up; she has a hard time getting up for smaller events and it's easy to tell (her demeanor gives it away).I know Serena has had that problem as well but Serena wasn't treated as the game's ambassador for much of her career.

She ::could:: be marketable, imo. At least it seems that way to me.

Sloane is marketable, too, no matter what one thinks of her. Very good looking and bubbly (and seemingly past the petty brat phase).

 

[PDJ]

I realize the thread is now concluded, but I was surprised to see that people don't think Garbine has the appeal factor.

She can be very bratty sure but she can also be quite likable/charming when she wants to (and she has a lovely smile). With some temper management, she could be marketed as the feisty one (or sth like that). She's also quite good looking. Her real problem is that many times she doesn't show up; she has a hard time getting up for smaller events and it's easy to tell (her demeanor gives it away).I know Serena has had that problem as well but Serena wasn't treated as the game's ambassador for much of her career.

She ::could:: be marketable, imo. At least it seems that way to me.

Sloane is marketable, too, no matter what one thinks of her. Very good looking and bubbly (and seemingly past the petty brat phase).

Muguruza is a tad unlucky that Spain already has a tennis icon but her petulance compounded with her televised on court tantrums show her in a poor light, coupled with variable results and retirements.Also her presser at RG last year when she lost to Kiki was plain embarrassing.
Stephens could have been a marketing dream - talented, witty, beautiful, verbose- but her results are bizarre. But, then so are the results of her peers.