Article about players,attitudes and ballkids..

[Tennisute]

Do you think Fabrice Santoro apologized after spitting at a linesperson at the AO? I believe he was fined $5,000 so he must not have!

I can see getting mad, doing something you regret. But why adults that know the whole world is watching can't finish a match and publicly apologize is beyond me.

Do players get heckled in Europe?

 

[chad shaver]

Ask Martina Hingis about Roland Garros.

 

[Cruzer]

bigserving - you mentionewd a real live one in Will Clark. I live in the bay area and when Clark played for the Giants has was widely known as one of the BIGGEST jerks you could ever imagine. No one that had to try and interview him was unhappy when he left the Giants for the Rangers. It is one thing going to dinner with him, I am assuming recently long after he retired and another when he was playing with an ego bigger than Half Dome. He makes Barry Bonds look like the most personable player of all time in comparison.

 

[Deuce]

One very important distinction to make here - one that some people (such as in Fee's post) aren't making - is the distinction between adult fans, or volunteers, and children.

If a player wants to be a complete jerk - even an abusive jerk - with adults - be they fans, volunteers, linespeople, or umpires - it is most unfortunate, and should be punished, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not the end of the world. In such situations, the most damage is done to the player and to his/her reputation among decent people. But when a player is a complete jerk - or, even worse, an abusive jerk - to a child, the consequences should be HUGE. Children are more emotionally fragile than adults - and any kind of abuse of children is NEVER tolerated in a healthy environment.

Fee - I doubt very much that Haas says "please" to the ballkids more than 5 times a year.

 

[Rabbit]

I graduated from MSU when Clark and Palmeiro were both on the baseball team, along with Jeff Brantley and some other very talented players. Clark was the one who talked, and Raffy didn't say much, he just put the ball over the fence. Clark and Palmeiro hit in tandem, I believe in the 4 & 5 spots, so you couldn't walk one to get to the other, well you could, but it was suicide.

Being team mates apparently meant little to Clark. When the Rangers picked up Clark, they traded Raffy. Palmeiro, completely ouf of charcter for him, spoke out and called Clark a jerk. Raffy was very happy with the Rangers and got sent to Baltimore. Anyway, short of it is Clark has always been perceived (correctly) as a jerk.

 

[Steffirox]

Anyone knows about Marat Safin`s behaviour with ballkids, people around the tourney etc. ?
Im very curieux, if anyone has any experiences please let me know.

 

[bigserving]

Cruzer, use your head and don't miss the point. We had dinner with Will Clark perhaps 15 years ago while he was playing for the Giants. He could walk down any street today and no one would recognize him.

I was never a fan of his and met him through a friend who duck hunted with him. But I can say this, when it came to the fans he seemed to get it, as most, not all players do. He understood that all of the opportunities and things that he had came to him because of people who cared enough to ask him to write down his name. Not a huge burden.

The point was this, I don't really if players like each other or how they get along with other players. What this post is about, I think, is how some players behave toward the most important people in all of sports, the fans. In terms of tennis players, I think that we fans should give some feedback to them in terms of how we view their behavior.

The players can mix it up and beef with each other all they want. I could not care less. Actually, it might be good for the game of tennis if a couple of players mixed it up in the locker room. That would create a real rivalry........for the fans!

 

[baselined]

What do they pay these ballkids at each event? I don't think it's money as they are too young to be "employees". And even if they do get paid money it's probably not much. I think meeting their favorite sports stars and getting a few autographs is part of the whole experience.

 

[Fee]

One very important distinction to make here - one that some people (such as in Fee's post) aren't making - is the distinction between adult fans, or volunteers, and children.

Fee - I doubt very much that Haas says "please" to the ballkids more than 5 times a year.

Deuce, next time I talk to him, I'll ask him. And I don't know if a lot of a players say 'please', it seems like most of them just nod toward the ball and say 'thank you' afterwards, but I'll try to pay more attention next time I watch a match.

 

[bigserving]

Baseline - It is my understanding that the only ballkids in the world who get paid any cash, is at the US Open. At least that was true a few years ago.

 

[Free_Martha]

A friend of mine likes to collect autographs and she said that of all the players at Indian Wells, it was Roger Federer who refused to sign the most often. He also kept ignoring the kids who wanted him to sign their giant tennis balls.

I thought that was surprising, considering that Roger seems to have an overall good rep with fans.

 

[Deuce]

Perhaps Federer refused more often simply because he was asked more often.

Fee - I don't see any purpose in asking Haas himself. When asked for a self-evaluation, I'm quite certain he'll be fairly predictable in his reply. The best people to ask are the ballkids themselves. Kids are more honest than adults - especially famous adults.

 

[sseemiller]

Free Martha, Roger must have been having his Marc Rosset moment when they asked. :wink: But he made clear that he likes signing in a more controlled environment, and the journalists commented on how much longer he stayed than necessary. So it sounds as though he doesn't mind signing them, but he doesn't like the autograph frenzy.

As I said above, I think it would be nice for both fans and the players if they had more formal autograph signings. But of course, if a player spend a half hour signing autographs on one day, that doesn't help the people who arrive the next day.

I have noticed, as a general rule, players will go out of their way to sign for children more than for adults.

 

[yee]

Free Martha, there're also many fans who had mentioned that Roger's the most friendly player among all who always had time for the fans. Not only signing autograph, but also spending time taking photos and chatting with them.

I had read very different version stories about Andy, Hewitt, Nalbandian etc alltogether.

Nobody is in the good mood all the time.

 

[bsandy]

Thanks for the article . . . but please don't knock Federer.

I can only imagine the concentration level it takes to be the best in the world at anything. Pre-match rituals are necessary, and he seemed to be nice about it.

The player that had to have that one ball is kinda Goran-ish, even though it was a woman.

I'm glad to see that Kim's is as nice as her smile.

. . . Bud

 

[sseemiller]

Yee, it's very difficult to get autographs from Hewitt and Nalbandian. They aren't the friendliest guys on Tour. Hewitt runs in the other direction when a fan approaches.

Andy is one of the friendliest to fans, and probably one of the most accommodating in signing autographs -- unless it's right before a match. The reason it is difficult to get an autograph from him nowadays is because he's so mobbed with requests. But in the beginning, it was very easy -- he would try to sign for everyone. And he still does what he can, but there are just too many.

It was that way with Pat Rafter. When he came back from his shoulder surgery, it was very easy to get an autograph from him. He was out there practicing all the time, trying to get back in shape, and was happy to sign autographs and take photos.

Once he got to the Wimbledon final, and was really "back" again, you couldn't get near him. He signed quite a few, but unless you were really aggressive, you had no chance.

I don't think Federer is as accommodating in general, but he still is pretty good about it. Mark Philippoussis is one of the best -- he'll stand around for 20 minutes making sure everyone gets an autograph. Even though he has the longest name on the Tour. :lol:

Most guys are pretty accommodating, unless you catch them at the wrong time. Such as right after a tough loss, or before a match.

 

[rlbjr]

Hey Fee,

You and I must have been sitting nearly next to each other at the Haas/Costa match. Interesting how we can have such diverse views of it. I was sitting right next to the woman who wrote the article and everything she said about Haas is on the money. The
F-bomb was flying all over the place, he was very rude to the kids and had no regard for their presence. He was recieving coaching from Red, then berating him in the foulest of terms when his advice didn't pan out. He called Red a disease, said his advice was S---, and that what he (Red) teaches is f-ing BS. These are direct quotes and if you were where you said you were you heard them all. The issues about the towel occured when he wanted the towel and the balls at the same time from the same kid. His attitude caused a couple of the kids to become flustered, which only increased his disdain. Truly a world class a--. As for Federer, he seems to have developed a bit of a split personality. I saw him being very gracious and generous with fans at some times and very short and curt at others. I guess the demands of being #1 have a lot of weight. It does seem that he is trying to remain himself though, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.