Class Meets the Real World: Grunting Under Fire, Again

This week on Tennis.com, a number of stories were released pertaining to a subject I discussed in my audio project: grunting.

Once again, an army of anti-wailing tennis fans are speaking out against grunting during tennis matches, but per usual, there's nothing anyone can really do about it. Still, the debate attracts a large crowd and Tennis.com was quick to take advantage of its resurgence in the media.

The site's main drop-down features a photo of Maria Sharapova striking a forehand, and attached are links to the latest news and articles that have surfaced about whether or not grunting should be/can be/will be banned. Lucky for pro-grunters like me, the WTA's CEO Stacey Allaster says nothing can be done.

Tennis.com's writer, Pete Bodo, disagrees, demanding that actions be made to hush the constant shrieking in an article called "A Sound Weapon." Me? I'm less than impressed by his argument. Sorry Bodo, but I'd rather you quiet down than the player. This is the way they train and compete. Let them do as they please.

Besides, women aren't the only ones making noise—Allaster was quick to point out that men grunt as well. It's just the higher-pitch, higher-decible screams of players like Victoria Azarenka that get the most critcism. Why don't we talk about the "waah-HEE"s of women like Francesca Schiavone? Because they're deeper sounding, like men's grunts? (Nadal, seriously... why don't you quiet down if the ladies have to?)

Tennis.com does a decent job of providing both sides of the story, even if they do weigh a little heavily on the negative side. I forgive them though, as one article form the Daily Spin tells world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki to stop complaining and focus on winning something (you're supposedly the best, Caro... focus on your game before you trash someone else's).

I would have liked to see some video clips; maybe something comparing the silent game of Samantha Stosur to the roaring style of Maria Kirilenko, but instead I'm forced to be content with text and images. Honestly, though, the site gives me enough, and if I'm really interested it's not too difficult to youtube something myself.

Like this: (Stosur vs. Kirilenko, US Open 2011 4th Round)

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A Glitch in the Action

I'm not talking about an injury timeout, people.

Somehow, despite its high traffic and surplus of information, Tennis.com still struggles to keep glitches and freezing away from its website during big tournaments.

Today marks the first day of the WTA Year-end Championship where the eight top ranked women are duking it out for tennis supremacy, and sure enough... Tennis.com is having some trouble.

TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING! (Getty Images)

No matter what computer I access the site from, the home page loads slowly, the Championship "drop-down bar" is blurry and don't even get me started on the Live Scores page...

Actually, let me get started. The one thing I care about most is staying up to date on scores and results, and Tennis.com refuses to admit defeat against partner sites whose live scoreboards run smooth and fast. Tennis.com, instead, tries to advertise its own scores page as much as possible—a white mess of text that refreshes every two minutes and scrolls away from what you were looking at. Not to mention, the ball (now a blob in recent site updates) which indicates who is serving never moves after the first person... What?

So, be wary of where you go if you're surfing the web for your tennis updates. Tennis.com is sure to have what you're looking for, but don't expect to get it as quickly as you'd like.

Convergence Woes: A Story That Could Do More

Dear Richard Pagliaro, give us more content.

With a story as interesting as "Trash to Treasure: Tennis String Bracelets", a writer has the opportunity to combine their verbal prowess with entertaining extras, but sadly, the opportunity was missed.

"Trash to Treasure" (via Tennis.com) tells readers about the creative transformation of tennis string into multicolored friendship bracelets, called Stringlets, but does little more than state the facts. The entire block of text contains one picture, one hyperlink, and no multimedia add-ons. By the third paragraph, I lost focus and wanted to see more and read less.

The answer to this dilemma is simple: incorporate convergence. Add videos of the item's creator, Malcolm Shieh, explaining how he came up with the concept. Give us interview clips and sound bites. How about a slide show of various samples of his work? You say there's a wide variety of styles, but all I see is one  snapshot.

And what about hyperlinks? We get one measly link to the item's website, but I'd prefer a direct route to the site's "purchase" page, or maybe some access to advertisements and/or photos of people wearing the trinket. Give us visuals that make us want to buy the product.

Really, the story is just a dry collection of facts, begging to be something more. So, Richard, make it something more.

Blog Boosting: How Tennis.com Editors Get to Self-Promote

Anyone familiar with Tennis.com's home page knows about the "blogs" section located just beneath the site's main feature. Here the tennis world's biggest names get to host their blogs' latest recaps, reactions and analysis.

What is so great about this feature is that readers get more than just the ticker of AP headlines–they get real voice, real attitude and real content. Blogs like Tignor's Concrete Elbow and Bodo's Tennis World give some witty commentary on what would otherwise be dry match results.

Look at Tignor's latest: "Landing Her Punches." The point of the story is to highlight Agnieszka Radwanska's latest success and to critique her normally unaggressive play. The world no.8 and winner of titles in both Tokyo and Beijing is a player fans know, but don't necessarily care to read about. Her latest feats, however, are worth noting, and Tignor does an impressive job of painting the story of her tremendous efforts.

"Instead of always playing it safe, Radwanska rifled her forehand when she got the chance; she hit jumping backhands; she won a close first set by taking over the net—subtly taking it over, of course, but taking it over nontheless; and she ripped one overhead so hard that I thought it was going to hurt Petkovic. Radwanska came out of her comfort zone, but never looked uncomfortable doing it." - Tignor


Accompanied by a comical photo and chock full of hyperlinks, the website does a good job of keeping readers interested. It would benefit, however, from a few links to highlights or even an embedded video. It's one thing to tell us the Beijing championship was one of the best matches form the WTA this year...It's another to show us. I, for one, still haven't seen any highlights of this supposedly awesome matchup.


Another feature that might boost views on the site's blogs page is the inclusion of outside contribution. How many more people would be interested if they thought their blog might get some airtime? Come on, Tennis.com, I know you want to feature my blog, Inside the Baseline.

Sharapova's Inury: Enough Already!

By now you understand that I'm a huge tennis fan, and I assure you I'm not alone. Day in and day out, people like myself log on to every website we can to get our information fix, captives of the latest headlines and features.

Luckily for us, tennis media has become as up-to-date as national news. Whether it's the ticker, the Tennis.com front page, or some obscure twitter handle, no news goes unseen for those who seek it. But when does coverage cross the line?

Let's look at Maria Sharapova's latest misfortune: a sprained ankle.

During her quarterfinal clash against Petra Kvitova in Tokyo—a rematch of the Wimbledon championship—Sharapova's serve added a whole new problem to her already inconsistent play. We've seen her flub her toss, we've seen her mistime her swing, but never before have we seen her stumble on a landing. In the WTA, however, you have to expect the unexpected. Serving at 3-4, all six feet, two inches of tall blonde came crashing to the ground when her ankle suddenly gave out. Sitting on the court, Sharapova looked dismayed and bewildered. Moments later, she was forced to retire.

Okay, so there's the news, but what about the news coverage stood out? The fact that it was all you could read about or watch for 24 hours.

There were tweets, there were headlines, there were countless videos and photos. Tennis.com was clogged with information about whether the injury was minor, serious or somewhere in between. How big was the swelling? (The answer: the size of a tennis ball, ironically.) How soon would she play again? (She has withdrawn from Beijing and looks to make the year-end final). Etc. etc. 

Yes, an injury for the world no.2 is "big news" and word is bound to spread, but can't it be compiled into one place? Does it need to mask an entire website like some sort of internet virus? 

Maria, I wish you the best and I am disappointed that your injury will deny you the chance of knocking unworthy Wozniacki from the top ranking by the end of 2011, but I don't need facebook updates about who's bringing you ice, okay?

...21,430 people liked that she brought you ice. Impressive.

I'm glad you've moved on, Tennis.com, but let's try and have more widespread news the next time someone trips.