WTA players lying about their age?

Spin Doctor

Professional
I came across the following tidbit from Jon Wertheim's column:

A bigger issue is on the women's side: I predict one day a player will get caught for fudging her age, pretending to be younger than she is. This is common practice -- remind me to tell you a hilarious story about a top player that's been an open secret for years. In order to lure sponsors and maximize their "window," players routinely shave a few years off their age. (How is this done? A coach at a prominent academy tells me that in certain countries, proffering a small simple bribe is enough to get a birth certificate changed.) We talk about how, since, the advent of the "Capriati Rules," the average age of the WTA has increased dramatically. Imagine how high this number would be if all players were truthful!

I can't believe someone could get away with this given all the information available about people in the digital/internet age.

Anyone have any ideas which players or countries he might be talking about?
 

maverick66

Hall of Fame
I have heard that rumor about many Eastern Euro players but it is just that rumors. Even if it is true who cares. This isnt Little League baseball where there is an age requirement.

Now if they are doing it to dominate jrs that is an issue.
 

shell

Professional
Olympics.

Otherwise they would say they were older to get past the age/tournament # restrictions.
 

Bobby Jr

G.O.A.T.
Olympics.

Otherwise they would say they were older to get past the age/tournament # restrictions.
Sounds like the Chinese gymnast... the girl who on public record was listed as having a certain birth date a number of times and then when her Olympic participation was questioned the govt took the records offline (altho they were still in the Google cache), said they were errors and produced passports showing their 'official' age and eligibility to compete in the Olympics... The anomalies were shown at multiple events over a couple of years - seems a little fishy that no-one ever bothered to edit/correct anything until the officials were involved.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/sports/olympics/27gymnasts.html

When tracked down for interview the parents of the 2 girls in question wouldn't give any info nor would the schools they'd attended on what year group they had studied with.

Basically, I have no doubt if there a commercial advantage to be had people would find a way to change their age in tennis too.
 
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accidental

Hall of Fame
There were rumors that Jelena Dokic was a couple of years older than she is supposed to be when she was a junior in Australia. Her father was insane so I certainly wouldnt put it past him to do something like that
 

Pozarevacka

Banned
I came across the following tidbit from Jon Wertheim's column:



I can't believe someone could get away with this given all the information available about people in the digital/internet age.

Anyone have any ideas which players or countries he might be talking about?

So... somebody said that people might be lying about their age? And it's women? Ummm, is this news to you?
 

rolandg

Semi-Pro
I've heard that Sharapova is 3 years older than she says she is. Obviously, winning Wimbledon at 17 sounds more impressive than winning Wimbledon at 20, so I can see why they do it. I don't think it's really an issue. Tennis is just a game/business, and if they can fudge their age and earn more money, why not?
 

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
Too bad you can't lie about being older,,then the older you got the more and more brilliant your tennis would seem and you would get lots of press. And maybe there would be $ to be made in wearing tennis clothing designed for the older club doubles playing woman. Maybe tennis trousers for old legs or something.
 

SirGounder

Hall of Fame
I could see lying and reporting a younger age. You have more time to play in the juniors and have a better chance of being noticed. Might make it easier to get a sponsor.
 
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