USTA to #1 World Junior: You're too fat to play U.S. Open

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
" If they told her to get in shape and she refused"

What if they told her and she didn't meet the goal (whatever that may be). She appeared out of shape last year. She appears to have gone in the wrong direction.

I'm not privy to their development program. But it wouldn't surprise me that physical conditioning (and building the right habits) is a large part of what they do. And physical conditioning is ever more important in the game.

So what if she isn't doing what is expected of all the other players. So they say, we don't think play is what you need now, we think you need to concentrate on conditioning. Now she is free to tell them to jump in a lake. But if she wants to be part of their development program doesn't she have to get with their program ?
 
" If they told her to get in shape and she refused"

What if they told her and she didn't meet the goal (whatever that may be). She appeared out of shape last year. She appears to have gone in the wrong direction.

I'm not privy to their development program. But it wouldn't surprise me that physical conditioning (and building the right habits) is a large part of what they do. And physical conditioning is ever more important in the game.

So what if she isn't doing what is expected of all the other players. So they say, we don't think play is what you need now, we think you need to concentrate on conditioning. Now she is free to tell them to jump in a lake. But if she wants to be part of their development program doesn't she have to get with their program ?

And then they give her the Donald Young treatment and slander her for not using USTA coaches and facilities?
 

JohnnyCracker

Semi-Pro
"Pretty much all the other federations, if they had a No. 1 junior in the world, they would kind of break their backs to bring them to whatever they needed to go to"

^^^then join any of the other federation
typical prima-donna tennis brat the-world-owes-me-something attitude

what's wrong with paying your own way every now and then?
the rest of the world do it everyday
 
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Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
"And then they give her the Donald Young treatment and slander her for not using USTA coaches and facilities?"

And ? Meaning your guessing that is what they want to do next or stating that that is what they did ?

Taylor and her Mom didn't sound from the article that they were particularly bent out of shape.

Anyway, I realize there are a lot of issues here. I don't have an opinion at this time. It's interesting though. We'll see how it plays when/if she comes through in the doubles tomorrow.
 

Mustard

Bionic Poster
Leave the USTA and go on her own = The Donald Young treatment
Leave the USTA to join another federation = The Alex Bogomolov Jr. treatment

Then again, this sort of stuff isn't unique to the USA. The Spanish tennis authorities cut a young Nadal's funding because his family insisted on Rafa staying in Manacor instead of going to stay in Barcelona.
 

boramiNYC

Hall of Fame
This is a terrible thought process by USTA and it's time for PMac to step down and allow different kind of culture to be formed at the head of USTA player development. The confidence USTA PD and PMac show are quite baseless and they need to realize that themselves, which is quite hard thing to do just like producing a world champion.
 
"Pretty much all the other federations, if they had a No. 1 junior in the world, they would kind of break their backs to bring them to whatever they needed to go to"

^^^then join any of the other federation
typical tennis brat the-world-owes-me-something attitude

what's wrong with paying your own way every now and then?
the rest of the world do it everyday

Read the articles smart guy. Townsend actually isn't making a big deal about it, when you got legends like Martina and Lindsay outraged about this you know it's wrong.
 
Leave the USTA and go on her own = The Donald Young treatment
Leave the USTA to join another federation = The Alex Bogomolov Jr. treatment

Then again, this sort of stuff isn't unique to the USA. The Spanish tennis authorities cut a young Nadal's funding because his family insisted on Rafa staying in Manacor instead of going to stay in Barcelona.

Pretty much. Let's not act like it'd be ok if she just cut ties with the USTA, unless she turns out like Venus and Serena there will always be animosity there, and even they have to deal with BS for doing things 'on their own' outside of the USTA's sphere. She goes on her own and you get people like the guy above calling her a 'spoiled brat'.

USTA really is looking horrible the past year. The mess with trying to bully Bogo into paying them back, the DY situation, now this. PMac's tenure has seen more results off the court than on it, and not in a good way.
 

Fee

Legend
They didn't forbid her per se, but they didn't fund her expenses. It's still vindictive, and a 16 year old junior is an easy target. Had Taylor's mother not come up with the money herself, her daughter wouldn't have been in the tournament. There's something about the USTA's recent attitude that really bugs me.

I absolutely agree with you. Glad I am not a member, haven't been for years.
 

pepe01

Rookie
Ok, then Serena is to muscular to be on female tennis....

So, Serena is to muscular to play on Female tennis?...is that correct acording to this thread?
 

TennisNinja

Hall of Fame
So, Serena is to muscular to play on Female tennis?...is that correct acording to this thread?

Nobody is saying that.

They're saying Townsend is fat.

Whereas Serena is clearly in great shape right now, it would be a very big stretch to say that Townsend is too.
 
Nobody is saying that.

They're saying Townsend is fat.

Whereas Serena is clearly in great shape right now, it would be a very big stretch to say that Townsend is too.

Undoubtedly. But the diff is, she's 16 and still has plenty of time to work to get in better shape and work off whatever 'baby fat' she has. She'll probably never be a twig like Hantuchova, but even Kvitova carries a bit of extra weight and is still top 5 in the world. I remember Ivanovic also had a bit of baby fat when she first burst onto the scene and beat Mauresmo at RG. Now she's almost too skinny for her game, which is power.

Townsend's obviously made her game work at the junior level. When it comes to being a top pro, she may need to get into better shape, but there's still plenty of time. There was no reason for USTA to make the rash decision of pulling her from tourneys and withholding her funding when she's still #1 junior in the world. At 16 it's too early to be basically punishing the girl for something like this, and unfortunately now it's going to follow her for her entire career.
 

pepe01

Rookie
Undoubtedly. But the diff is, she's 16 and still has plenty of time to work to get in better shape and work off whatever 'baby fat' she has. She'll probably never be a twig like Hantuchova, but even Kvitova carries a bit of extra weight and is still top 5 in the world. I remember Ivanovic also had a bit of baby fat when she first burst onto the scene and beat Mauresmo at RG. Now she's almost too skinny for her game, which is power.

Townsend's obviously made her game work at the junior level. When it comes to being a top pro, she may need to get into better shape, but there's still plenty of time. There was no reason for USTA to make the rash decision of pulling her from tourneys and withholding her funding when she's still #1 junior in the world. At 16 it's too early to be basically punishing the girl for something like this, and unfortunately now it's going to follow her for her entire career.
Agree, how about Nalbandian and his extra pounds, and he is great, anticipation and skills, i dont think so extra fat is a reason to separate your best junior player from your tournament, how about we add a conspiration theory and USTA wants to help or protect another USA tennis player?, just a question.....
 

coloskier

Legend
No, it's not. Moreover, it appears that Townsend had the opportunity to earn her way into the Open, but she lost in the first round of qualies at a minor event. It's not a stretch to conclude that she's not ready yet for New York.

I don't know whether the USTA's focus on fitness is right or not, but it's not my job to cultivate tennis talent. I do know two things: (1) beating 16-year-old girls is very different from beating 20-something, Top 10-ranked women; and (2) the USTA is not in business to reward junior talent for its own sake, but rather to help it flower into adult talent.

They did with DY.
 

Limpinhitter

G.O.A.T.
Taylor_TOWNSEND_3469.jpg

She's not that fat. WTF is Patrick McEnroe talking about? Sorry, something doesn't smell right.
 

Tcbtennis

Hall of Fame
Yeah she's not fat, she's thick:). Seriously though she does look unfit but to deny her a WC goes a lil a bit far.

The main outrage isn't that he denied her a wild card. The problem is that she is the #1 ranked junior in the world and they would not fund her to play in her home junior slam but they did fund the other lower ranked USTA PD players. The USTA refused to send her to play in the National tournament that would have given her a wild card to play in the main draw of the US Open if she had won. If increased fitness was their main goal, why did they take her off the practice courts where she would play 5-6 hours a day instead limited her to 45 minutes three times a week. They were punishing a 16 year old girl whose body is still developing for not being skinny stick figure Ivanovic or Kournikova. And through all her "thickness", she is the #1 junior IN THE WORLD.
 

jonnythan

Professional
The main outrage isn't that he denied her a wild card. The problem is that she is the #1 ranked junior in the world and they would not fund her to play in her home junior slam but they did fund the other lower ranked USTA PD players. The USTA refused to send her to play in the National tournament that would have given her a wild card to play in the main draw of the US Open if she had won. If increased fitness was their main goal, why did they take her off the practice courts where she would play 5-6 hours a day instead limited her to 45 minutes three times a week. They were punishing a 16 year old girl whose body is still developing for not being skinny stick figure Ivanovic or Kournikova. And through all her "thickness", she is the #1 junior IN THE WORLD.

Well, if she's really slacking off on significant portions of her training and ignoring her USTA coaches, I'm not surprised that they want to reward a harder-working, lower-ranked player with the WC slot.

A 16 year old who is already that fat might be able to play in the juniors but won't be able to play against the pros. I think this is a better alternative than throwing her to the wolves.

It's not that they want to punish her. They want her to see how important this aspect of her training is and give her a kick in the butt.
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
I agree she should get in better shape to improve her career prospects. But, what does that mean for her? She's naturally "thick" and she's never going to look slim like Azarenka. Of course, she can improve her fitness, but I wouldn't expect her to look like a tiny fitness model.

The USTA certainly wasn't obliged to give her a wild card into main draw or qualies. That's not the issue, for me.

My problem is the USTA telling her not to show up for the girl's event, for which she she was eligible. Why? Seems short-sighted and stupid.
 
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Limpinhitter

G.O.A.T.
Yeah she's not fat, she's thick:). Seriously though she does look unfit but to deny her a WC goes a lil a bit far.

She's not that fat, period. I was expecting to see a picture of a morbidly obese teenager. Tennis is an anaerobic sport. As long as her weight doesn't adversely affect her mobility, a little extra fat (and that's all she has), is not particularly relevant to tennis fitness. She may be in excellent tennis shape.

Patrick McEnroe is just full of canine excriment on this one.
 

Down_the_line

G.O.A.T.
Yeah, they want to slim her down so more men will watch.

No surprises there.

Bingo. This is about the optics, plain and simple. The USTA is just as much concerned about selling the game as they are developing fresh talent and they've probably all got their panties in a bunch because they've got a girl who is, albeit successful, looking a little too large for their liking. In a nutshell, the Americans don't want a fat girl representing their country.

Typical American attitude.
 

Lee James

Rookie
Like a few other posters have said, the USTA's dealings have just been odd for the past few years. Something is amiss. I think ultimately, if we're ever going to see great tennis champions come from America again, it'll have to be a grassroots effort, or an insane tennis parent.
 

jmverdugo

Hall of Fame
the worst part is that she is really not that fat, obviously she can run and has the stamina to play tennis at her level - an above - I think USTA drop the ball on this one.
 

Tcbtennis

Hall of Fame
Well, if she's really slacking off on significant portions of her training and ignoring her USTA coaches, I'm not surprised that they want to reward a harder-working, lower-ranked player with the WC slot.

A 16 year old who is already that fat might be able to play in the juniors but won't be able to play against the pros. I think this is a better alternative than throwing her to the wolves.

It's not that they want to punish her. They want her to see how important this aspect of her training is and give her a kick in the butt.

You are making assumptions that just aren't true. The problem is that she is not ignoring her coaches. She's doing everything they ask her to do. That is why people don't understand what the USTA is doing.

How is taking her off the tennis court not a punishment? Lindsey Davenport said that if they did that to her when she was an overweight teenager it would have killed her career. If Taylor was 19-20 years old and her body was finished developing then people wouldn't be so up in arms but Taylor came to the USTA the same size she is now or a little heavier. She rose to number 1. She is a lefty who plays an aggressive style of tennis. She serves and volleys, chips and charges, has a great lefty serve and always comes to the net to end the point.

Personally, if I were her I'd leave the USTA. There are plenty of private academies that would be happy to develop her talent. After this fiasco, I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.
 
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Well, if she's really slacking off on significant portions of her training and ignoring her USTA coaches, I'm not surprised that they want to reward a harder-working, lower-ranked player with the WC slot.

A 16 year old who is already that fat might be able to play in the juniors but won't be able to play against the pros. I think this is a better alternative than throwing her to the wolves.

It's not that they want to punish her. They want her to see how important this aspect of her training is and give her a kick in the butt.

Why not? Kvitova, Bartoli, Pavlyuchenkova, Kuznetsova are all top pros who aren't exactly models when it comes to their weights. And then of course Serena, who's struggled w/ her weight through her career but is in great shape right now. At 16 you're still developing, particularly for girls. There's no defense for withholding her just for not fitting a certain body type, if she's still producing results to be #1 junior in the world.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
if this is the direction the USTA is heading, then I'm simply done supporting them. I won't donate or be a member if this is the kind of decision making they are taking.

the #1 junior player IN THE WORLD. incredible.

I agree.

There have been many hugely questionable calls and examples of bad judgement on the part of the USTA, especially in recent years! The near debacles at the USO, including this year, dealing with weather is another prime example. Not to mention the near crooked executive pay scales :twisted:
 

Matt H.

Professional
Why not? Kvitova, Bartoli, Pavlyuchenkova, Kuznetsova are all top pros who aren't exactly models when it comes to their weights. And then of course Serena, who's struggled w/ her weight through her career but is in great shape right now. At 16 you're still developing, particularly for girls. There's no defense for withholding her just for not fitting a certain body type, if she's still producing results to be #1 junior in the world.

yeah, Kvitova has a gut you can see jiggling as she plays. She's a top 5 player and a slam champion.

there's other "thick" players on tour as well. Kleybanova comes to mind. Nadia Petrova too. Heck, Serena won the Australian Open in 2007 and she was down right fat and out of shape at that point of time.


You should start your own tennis sponsorship for players who don't want their funding to be tied to their physical condition. Let us know how it goes.


if the funding was tied to physical condition, why did the USTA take her on to begin with?


USTA brought her in at this weight, she accumulates success and junior slam titles, then they decide to bully her around via financial means by pulling her funding? come on, that's just not right. These are tennis players, not puppets on strings.

Why would you not support the #1 junior for their home slam? Can you think of the emotional hit when you receive that kind of news.
 

West Coast Ace

G.O.A.T.
Can't believe how Fat some of these women are. Do they not train?
They train. But then they eat crap foods.

This is a scandal of the highest order.
Lighten up. Do you know what a scandal is?

...and she is African-American to boot....
Way to play the Race Card. Pathetic.

USTA should never have told her not to play - she obviously qualified on Merit. But they could have privately told her and Mom that they wouldn't provide any more support - including all important Wild Cards - to her or ANYONE else not committed to the sport. Anyone who shows up that sloppy fat isn't worthy of their support.
 
This situation is a shame and appalling, it is all the proof that is needed as to what they actually think of the WTA and it clearly starts at the juniors level.
 

THUNDERVOLLEY

G.O.A.T.
They train. But then they eat crap foods.

Lighten up. Do you know what a scandal is?

Way to play the Race Card. Pathetic.

USTA should never have told her not to play - she obviously qualified on Merit. But they could have privately told her and Mom that they wouldn't provide any more support - including all important Wild Cards - to her or ANYONE else not committed to the sport. Anyone who shows up that sloppy fat isn't worthy of their support.

Ahh..let's see...so a girl who is actually winning juniors titles at the majors is not committed? Who the hell is if she's not? She's doing her job, but considering the person, you will overlook that....
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
And who cares if she is committed or not? It is the results which matter. No need for someone to look into her head.
 

DRII

G.O.A.T.
They train. But then they eat crap foods.

Lighten up. Do you know what a scandal is?

Way to play the Race Card. Pathetic.

USTA should never have told her not to play - she obviously qualified on Merit. But they could have privately told her and Mom that they wouldn't provide any more support - including all important Wild Cards - to her or ANYONE else not committed to the sport. Anyone who shows up that sloppy fat isn't worthy of their support.

We all know where you're coming from; and thus are not surprised by your reaction!
 

Fee

Legend
Well, if she's really slacking off on significant portions of her training and ignoring her USTA coaches, I'm not surprised that they want to reward a harder-working, lower-ranked player with the WC slot.

A 16 year old who is already that fat might be able to play in the juniors but won't be able to play against the pros. I think this is a better alternative than throwing her to the wolves.

It's not that they want to punish her. They want her to see how important this aspect of her training is and give her a kick in the butt.

No, she wasn't slacking off on her training or ignoring her coaches. She did everything they asked of her.

Curious what Lindsay Davenport has to say about this.

Lindsay was/is livid, along with Martina and plenty of others. You've missed the links to all the articles, here they are again

#1 http://on.wsj.com/PMZleg
#2 http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2012/09/07/tennis-legends-livid-about-usta-decision/
#3 http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2012/09/07/usta-to-pay-townsends-tennis-expenses/
#4 http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tenn...-open-taylor-townsend-and-the-usta/57694068/1


It's sad that so many people on this forum seem to believe that you can call someone out of shape by looking at a photo of them. Fitness is about movement, endurance and strength, not appearance. Taylor played two matches on Thursday, it seems like she can do a fine job of moving her own body around within the demands of her sport and she could probably outlast some of her harshest critics on this forum.

Yes, she will need to get stronger and improve her endurance for the WTA tour, but she hasn't even decided if she's going to go pro or go to college yet. Her body is still developing, she seems to be playing well and getting decent results at her level. She does not need to be on the same level as a multi slam champion this week, for goodness sakes. What the USTA did to her, denying her a spot in the Girls Nationals and not funding her trip to the USO Juniors, was just bad decision-making. Hopefully they have seen the error of their ways and will treat her better in the future.
 
And who cares if she is committed or not? It is the results which matter. No need for someone to look into her head.

Maybe they don't want another Serena or Venus half a s sing it through majors and thumbing nose at the rest of the tourneys? She should not have been instructed to not participate, PMac is a complete loser ad the USTA is clueless and the current results of youngsters speaks volumes.
 

Soianka

Hall of Fame
Maybe they don't want another Serena or Venus half a s sing it through majors and thumbing nose at the rest of the tourneys? She should not have been instructed to not participate, PMac is a complete loser ad the USTA is clueless and the current results of youngsters speaks volumes.

LOL....the USTA doesn't want more like the best 2 American players of the last 10 years.

Yeah, okay.
 
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