The WTA Hits Wimbledon, And Locker Room Bitchiness Is Alive And Well

Did you ever see Mean Girls? It probes at a culture of cliqueshness among middle school girls that’s seems somewhat cartoonish. That can’t possibly be what happens in middle school, can it? Mostly, no. But it does exist some places. Like the women’s professional tennis circuit? Sure. From the Guardian UK:

“The Americans are generally bad,” Spears says.

“The Spanish keep to themselves,” Grandin says, “and the Russians. The South Africans, we mingle, because there’s only two of us. Then you have someone like Sharapova, who’s a little bit more quiet. She’ll say hello, but you’re not going to get an in-depth conversation with her.”

And the men? “They have a drink after matches. They’ll have dinner with each other the night before they play.” Don’t the women do this? Both players laugh, as if this is the best joke ever.

That from a fascinating “state of the union” profile of women’s tennis. More after the jump.

As far as the women’s game has come in recent years, there’s still room for improvement:

“Who’s the prettiest?” [Ana Ivanovic] says, buttering a roll, her slim wrist holding up a Rolex the size of a child’s fist. “Who’s the most popular, the most fashionable, who’s getting the most coverage? ... In the men’s game, they’re all friends. But we’re not friends. You can be on the tour for 10 years and still not be friends. It’s sad.”

As another player explains:

“I’ve heard stories where one girl’s strings got cut. Even really stupid things, like we get given lunch vouchers and the other day I went to the players’ restaurant and said, ‘Baltacha’ and they said, oh, someone’s taken it for you. And I was like, have they? And I said to my trainer, did you take it? He said, no. Someone had even signed for it. Honestly, I was laughing. These things go on all the time. I think it’s hilarious. Because everyone is trying to get an edge over you.”

The article covers more than just what the author calls “locker room bitchiness,” but that’s probably the most fascinating aspect. Imagine an NBA or NFL where players stole each other’s meal vouchers and destroyed each other’s equipment. And while some may deride the women’s tour for this stuff, it’s sort of amazing. It adds a layer of intrigue that makes me want to pay closer attention to Wimbeldon.

We don’t necessarily care about Caroline Wozniacki as a tennis player, but as the younger, prettier, more talented girl that all the veterans hate? Well, that seems interesting...

In other words, as the women scratch and claw to gain equal footing with their male counterparts, they seem to be scratching and clawing among themselves. Even as they fight to gain acclaim for the strength of their game, the women are fighting to be the prettiest, most attractive candidate for endorsements:

“We are entertainers, as well, on court, in our own sporty way,” Jankovic says. “We entertain the fans, they pay money to watch us play. It’s nice to see girls who are feminine, who dress nice. Maybe in the past there were only a couple of players like that, but now players pay more attention to it. I was one of those painting my nails different colours and matching them to my dress. If you are in a nice dress you can play better, feel better. More comfortable and confident.”

The juxtaposition of all this competition is pretty intriguing, if somehow inevitable.

Check out the entire article for more, and hopefully, someone will write a book about all this someday. And while we’re here, one final point: Mean Girls was a comedy. This extracurricular “bitchiness” may make for some interesting stories but it won’t help the WTA’s cause as they seek to be taken seriously in the eyes of the tennis world and sporting public.

Cutting each other’s strings? Stealing meals? What is this, seventh grade?