Navratilova playing another WTA event, does anyone care?

[bigserving]

Martina Navratilova has been granted another wild-card into the WTA event in South Carolina. Does anyone want to see her play?

I have much respect for what she has accomplished in tennis. That being said, I also think that it would be an unfortunate state of affairs for the women's tour if she happened to do well.

As a fan, would you rather see up and coming players, other players of interest or Martina get wild cards into events?

I do like her actually, only her voice has always had that fingernails on the chalkboard type of effect on me.

 

[Max G.]

It's Martina's last year.

She's a living legend.

I'm sure LOTS of people want to see her play.

She deserves any wildcard she wants. She's Martina. THE Martina. The fact that at this age, she can still be competitive with the young girls is absolutely astounding.

...well, some of them. She's not going to be winning too many matches - but the losses won't be blowouts.

 

[Ash Doyle]

Whatever her age or past accomplishments, if she can still compete she deserves to be there. ...and amazingly, she still can compete. Oh, and you better believe there are people that want to see her play.

 

[tennisblisters]

I watched her practice and play down at Key Biscayne, and based on the crowds, YES, there are many, many people who want to see her play. Also, while in a doubles practice session, she ended up carrying not only her weight but also that of her male partner (not sure who he was, but certainly was no slacker). So bottom line, yes, this woman deserves the wildcard!

 

[NoBadMojo]

she was here at amelia island last week playing the b and l..she can still play doubles..she really cant still play singles on a competitive level. she did well in the first set because the lucky loser she played was a nervous wreck in the 1st set presumably because she was playing a legend., but then she relaxed and it was over for martina. martina says she wishes to play a couple of singles events because it helps her doubles game (that is opposite of conventional wisdom). she attracts lots of people and is well liked and is very good for the game, but i dont think it fair that she takes the place of whoever would have gotten into a main draw if martina wasnt given a wild card. i dont think that fair she takes anothers spot. she has no chance of going deep into an event in singles IMO. maybe she should jut play a singles exhibition at the tourneys instead of being let into the main draw if she wishes to hone her game. Ed

 

[Deuce]

The WTA is giving her wildcards simply in the hope of generating some interest in the matches before the semis. Before the top 5 or 6 women play each other, there isn't much that's exciting or appealing about women's tennis.

I think it's possible that the WTA approached Martina with this idea. The WTA, after all, has increasingly sought out the novelty element in their desperation. First, selling women's tennis via the sex angle, and now Martina reappears. I suppose Martina playing in a bikini is next...

If the WTA put the same amount of time, money, and effort into bettering the quality of its product as it does on the window dressing, everyone would be better served.

 

[Rabbit]

I think she deserves any wildcard she gets. Martina is a living legend and as such should be allowed to compete whenever and wherever she wants. The WTA owes her that much since she and Chris Evert basically carried the tour through the 70s after BJK retired. Billie Jean King did the same thing toward the end of her career. Martina's body has held up much better than BJK's and if she can get a set here and there on clay, what's the harm? Martina's chance to do real damage will be when the grass court season comes around. Then, she'll have an opportunity to do some damage. I look forward to seeing her on TV at Wimbledon.

 

[GUYANA4U]

Someone on another board said that Martina reminds him/her of "..those soldiers that used to be found wandering in the jungle, still fighting a war that was over 20 years earlier..". This pretty much sums it up for me. I think that it's a real shame that Martina can't let go of tennis. She is taking wildcards and stalling the career of some young deserving player. Once again, I hope that the younger players develop other skills outside of tennis, this way when the time comes to retire they can do so gracefully and have other intersts to occupy their time after playing tennis competitively is over. She should take a lesson from Serena and Venus, although the outside intersts may hurt their results on court, the transistion from tennis should be much easier, and the likelyhood of trying to make a comeback 10 years later should be lessened!

 

[larrhall]

I thought her comeback was great. I think she should keep it to doubles, though I understand that she thinks she can compete on grass. It's all to point towards Wimbledon, I suppose. It's her last year, so maybe she wants to rekindle that mystical connection with Wimby fans a la Becker, herself, Mac, etc.

But I wish she would stick to doubles. I don't want to see her lose 1 and 1 to Sharapova in the first round at Wimbledon.

 

[baseliner]

The WTA is hurting for fan dollars. Martina N. adds to the interest of an event. More people will show up and pay to see her play so they can tell their grandchildren they saw her play live than will pay to see Eve Marie Pelletier, the #200+ player. The down side to the WTA is if MN goes deep into the draw. If she were to win a match or two (like she did last year if I remember correctly) it again raises ugly questions about the lack of depth on the women's tour. If ESPN doesn't cover the match bet TTC will if allowed.

 

[Peter Samprer]

i don't wanna see grandma play! i rather see an upcoming star than her. she accomplished what she wants and still want to prove something? she might just get injured playing singles. if she gets injured, there will be no doubles for her. what a man!

 

[Camilio Pascual]

Baseliner - Don't worry, I'm a big WTA fan and I can assure you most WTA fans have no illusions, we know there is very little depth to the WTA tour, thank goodness for that! I'd be much more worried if there was a lot of parity in the WTA, interest would dry up very quickly.

 

[Joe Average]

Well, already Martina's comeback is more successful than Borg's wooden racquet comeback (Were there grandpa references?). And sure, it's about generating interest in women's tennis. This is sports entertainment ... not church. Even golf has figured that one out (Michelle Wie, Annika Soremstam, old masters playing in the Masters).

 

[Rabbit]

I don't think MN has anything to prove. I think she's doing it for two reasons, 1) she loves the game, and b) she is having fun.

For 48, she's in Jack Lalane kind of shape to boot.

 

[Max G.]

Agree with Rabbit wholeheartedly. She loves the game, she loves to play, and she WANTS to play. Weren't there threads a while ago about how "retired stars should promote the game, stick around" and not just vanish, like many are prone to do? That's exactly what Martina is doing - she's sticking with tennis for as long as she can, because she loves the game.

I think she deserves any wildcard she wants.

I also wish that we could see at least some of her doubles comeback - that's been successful by any definition, but we don't get to see her on TV at all.

 

[jun]

A year or two years ago when she played a WTA event, she said that she didn't want to come back in single. And she said that her comeback would not be for good women's tennis for various reasons.

Like MN says, she's doing it to improve her doubles game, which is not necessarily against conventional wisdom. People obviously play doubles to improve their singles because MOSt people mainly play singles (at least in pro). It's a conventional wisdom that doubles will improve singles...There is nothing that says about singles not improving doubles...

It makes sense because playing singles can help her to go through some nerveous moments in matches, and get used to those moments.

 

[Poot]

These "upcoming stars" are terrible. If you aren't ranked at the top in women's, you're honestly a joke and don't deserve to make money playing tennis. I generally never watch these women's matches, but do watch when they show the doubles with Martina, since she actually knows how to play dubs.

 

[baseliner]

result

Martina lost to Amy Frazier 6-4, 6-4.

 

[Max G.]

Ah, a nice competitive match! She's clearly not being bageled, even on clay.

...by the way, Poot. "upcoming stars" aren't ranked at the top YET. Because if they already were, they wouldn't be "upcoming," would they. The "upcoming stars" are the ones that are expected to be ranked high later in their careers.