Mr. Ed's Champs & Chumps (November 9, 2002)
by Ed Zafian

This week we give thumbs up to a veteran player who had to endure some tough times in perhaps her final appearance in Federation Cup.  Next, we take a look at this week's WTA year-ending event which is still having its share of trouble despite a return to the United States.



Champs

It is nearly impossible not to like Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.  Sure there were times over the years when it was hard not to get frustrated with the Spaniard penchant for making her own line calls, but could not help but appreciate her tenacity on the court.   So it was a bit disheartening to hear news that the "Barcelona Bumblebee" was reduced to tears during the Fed Cup final when a fan loudly suggested that Magui Serna should replace an injured Sanchez Vicario who was in the process of being pummeled by the Czech Republic's Janette Husarova.  

But a "champs" notice to the fans who rallied behind the Spaniard.  Play was interrupted for 10 minutes as the Sanchez Vicario, using her shirt collar to wipe away tears, received a rousing ovation.  In an attempt to ostracize the belligerent fan, spectators around him abandoned their seats leaving the heckler to sit by his lonesome.  Despite being humbled by the crowd's support, Sanchez Vicario was only able to win two games.

Many will wonder if this was the 31-year-old's last Fed Cup appearance.  A stellar member of the Spanish team, Sanchez Vicario was competing in her 10th final and holds Fed Cup records for most series played and most matches won.



Chumps

One has to wonder why WTA Championships is having such tough times of late.  After a trip to Munich last year that was dubbed by most a disaster, the event returned with to the United States with bright hopes.  However, if organizers thought attendance was low in Munich, they could not be pleased with the staggering number of empty seats at Los Angeles's Staples Center for the opening days of the tournament.  In the 20,000+ seat arena, it was reported that only 200 fans attended the first day session, while a paltry 5,000 (an optimistic figure in my opinion after watching televised coverage) spectators witnessed the remarkable Monica Seles comeback over hometown gal Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams's first round versus Patty Schnyder.  Attendance did not improve for Thursday's sessions.  

Sure it is easy to cite that week nights are not the most popular times to attend a sporting event.  But with a population base rivaling some small countries, organizers must have still been scratching their heads. With attendance hopefully picking up for the weekend, there may be some nervous folks wondering how a Monday night final will be received.

If fans appear to be apathetic, the players also do not seem to be helping the cause.  The always wonderfully blunt Lindsay Davenport offered her analysis stating "When you keep moving it raound, it's hard for people to know what it is.  I think they [tournament officials] really don't have a five-year plan.  They don't know what's going to happen, and we have to figure itself as soon as possible."  The top-seeded Venus and Serena Williams did do the required pre-tournament press conferences but steered the media to talk of their new endorsement deal with McDonald's and other extra-curricular activities such as Serena's recent sitcom acting debut.  In a rare moment of actual tennis-related talk, Serena admitted to having not yet even practiced indoors for the event!

Finally, while any endorsement deal is never a bad thing -- one often does not speak of women's tennis and Home Depot in the same breath.  While it is certainly better than the cigarette brand that proceeded the Championships name for over 20 years, the eternally crowded home improvement chain store is an odd fit for what should be one of the most-watched, best attended women's sporting events.  Even the media (including yours truly) are not latching onto the new sponsor name.  It is rare to see the Home Depot name in headlines or even in the body of articles regarding the year-ender.  Most often it is simply cited as the WTA Championships.  

So it should be interesting to see how the Championships proceed in the years to come.  "What?" and "Where?" will still be the questions to be answered but hopefully those will not give way to "Why?"



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