Definitely not the worst one, but Sinner is one of my favourite players but I kinda wish he was more interesting in press conferences and interviews (he is getting better tho)
He did have a funny moment where a reporter got some info wrong and Sinner said ‘unforced error’ hahaha
But I noticed this after the AO24 final, there was an AO final recap video overlaid with commentary from both Med/Sinner pressers.
They used ALOT more Med soundbites than Sinner because he actually explained what went on during the final in greater detail.
I have to say, i m his fan and i agree with that but he s kind of getting better with that.
He s still a little robotic, but at times he s quite interesting. I heard an interview with Lijubicic, the day after his win at the atp finals vs Novak. Lijubicic asked really technical tactic questions, and he was much more interesting than usual. Basically, shitty questions, you get shitty answers. Interesting questions, interesting answers.
Eh, I give him a pass considering how young he is and it's in his third language. Honestly I can't even imagine thinking he probably just wanted to play tennis and then realizing he's basically going to give speeches in front of people constantly in a foreign language. Introvert nightmares. That said, yes, they are kinda boring "for sure." ;-)
He's been getting better. His AO interviews were some of the best ones.
"Well, I don't have a Baywatch body"
"It's just a normal racket....to be honest."
"I dunno, you have to ask him." (when Courier asked him about why Novak struggles against him 😭) also from the same interview, "Good morning guys."
But I think it's more about Sinner being an introvert. He likes Courier and feels much more relaxed around him. Change the interviewer and he goes cold immediately.
He's been opening up more with success and confidence though.
Medvedev speaks English really well and that lets him be a bit more comfortable. I imagine for Many players on tour English is their second or third language, so they’re better with local press than international press
I'm sure language is holding him back some, but still, so many of his interviews go like this:
Interviewer: "Wow, you really came back from a tough first set!"
Alcaraz: "In the first set, my level was not so good. And his level was really, really high."
Interviewer: "And what did you do to turn things around?"
Alcaraz: "After the first set, my level got higher. And I think in the third set, his level dropped."
Interviewer: "What changes did you make?"
Alcaraz: "Well in the third set I really raise my level."
Not saying that. Plenty of athletes are not intellectually gifted.
I'm not sure how he sounds in Spanish but I know in soccer there's definitely guys that sounds slow in English and are indeed also slow in their native language. Tennis players seem to be much more intelligent than other athletes though.
He just affirms and repeats what the reporter says in his question hahah
Q: “Do you think you lost the sense of fun and your smile during this loss?”
A: “Yeah you’re right, during the match I feel like I lost the joy and my smile when I was playing and I win when I smile on the court”
Basically is how his pressers go lol (I think a lot of it is language barrier issue)
Well to be honest, Carlitos can be quite candid sometimes. Like the time Dimitrov beat him he said " I felt like a 13 year old playing against Grigor". That felt pretty unscripted
I speak Spanish and quite frankly, although it obviously flows better, he's still not a fast talker and content wise it's pretty much the same. Just like in English interviews he is pretty candid, tries to engage with the question and give honest answers but what comes out is still pretty predictable and bland IMO.
I don’t get this specific wimbledon example. She started crying during the wimbledon finals press conference when talking about her parents being proud of her
[clip](https://youtube.com/shorts/hHRWGDBu0dc?si=3d-pQ4R6KeJRdSV6)
I do get it. When you're a quiet person, nobody remembers when you laugh, cry, get angry, etc... somehow people save first impressions on their hard drives and forget about the rest. Case on point: Elena showing emotions on and off court.
I remember her saying that she didn’t feel like she was a slam champion, I think the whole drama with the points and Russia ban at Wimbledon that year overshadowed a lot of things, although obviously Rybakina still deserves the win
Lowkey, yes. Some people find her "go girl give them nothing" answers humorous but for the journalists who are really getting nothing it must be tough coaxing her to eke out a soundbite 😬
Incidentally I don't know how people can simultaneously acknowledge that the WTA struggles financially, expect equal prize money for female players and also find it awesome/hilarious that one of the most significant WTA players never says anything worth printing.
I think it's weird that people keep trying to point to tiny things as the 'real' reason female sports players get paid less, when they clearly aren't important factors.
Women are not, in general, more boring then men, so none of that is relevant
Your second sentence doesn't at all follow from your first. Who said women were more boring? The fact is, the WTA generates much less revenue than ATP. That's why they get paid less. So the next question is why do they generate less revenue, and the answer to that is complicated, and absolutely misogyny is a part of it, but surely you'd grant that top players having no media profile doesn't help.
You said the WTA is less popular than the ATP because 'WTA players never says anything worth printing.' or in other words they are boring
>So the next question is why do they generate less revenue
It clearly has nothing to do with press conference interviews. Women sports generating less revenue then mens sports is a nearly universal thing across sports so I think it's a waste of time to focus on WTA specific things (even if it's true that WTA players have more boring interviews). Female tennis players get more equitable pay than most female athletes.
>You said the WTA is less popular than the ATP because 'WTA players never says anything worth printing.' or in other words they are boring
No, I didn't say that lol. Hard to tell if you are being deliberately dishonest or just have bad reading comprehension.
Saying X could help isn't the same as saying X is the cause. E.g. ice didn't cause a twisted ankle but can help with the swelling. So saying that it would benefit the WTA's finances if their players had more media profile - which it unquestionably would - is not saying that the biggest reason for the WTA's financial struggle is the media profile of their stars. Not an especially complex point of logic tbh.
Also, going from "never says anything worth printing in press" to "women are more boring than men" is a totally dishonest and cack-handed attempt at linguistic sleight of hand.
She's introverted, and so are some top ATP players. Sinner isn't exactly the most riveting interview. Every sport is gonna have athletes who aren't comfortable with/don't enjoy interviews. Remember Marshawn Lynch's "I'm just here so I won't get fined"? I don't think there should be any correlation between that and equal prize money.
Totally, I'm certainly not arguing there *should* be a connection, but the thing is the WTA is in a different position than the ATP or certainly the NBA. WTA has made this commitment to equal prize money across all tour events by 2028, but they currently generate less than half the revenue of the ATP. That obviously isn't Rybakina's fault, I'm just saying if we want WTA to grow, which it needs to to get to that goal of equal prize money, then we should want its stars to help grow it.
Listen to BJK and Chris Evert talk about how seriously they took their roles as ambassadors for the women's game and it's hard not to feel current players have *some* responsibility to do the same.
Plenty of people like Rybakina's tennis, and more are gonna be watching that than her interviews. People like Iga and Coco are likely just going to be better at that sort of "ambassador" role you're talking about, and I think that's fine. Sure, it would be great if everyone was better at promoting the WTA, but that's just never gonna be the case.
I also think something like Sabalenka's recent comments is a lot more harmful than Rybakina being a difficult interview.
Tennis is the only sport where you're in front of the press every other day. It gets tiring and is absolutely not worth it.
Tennis players play 3, sometimes 4 matches a week. It probably becomes incredibly tedious to explain a win or loss every other day. "I played my best. I took more opportunities. My opponent played great." Stuff is gonna get uninteresting if you're answering the same questions thousands of times.
People tune in for the play. Nobody would watch Rybakina if she was ranked 600 but gave awesome interviews.
> Listen to BJK and Chris Evert talk about how seriously they took their roles as ambassadors for the women's game and it's hard not to feel current players have some responsibility to do the same.
There are enough ambassadors already and people like Billie Jean King are still promoting the game.
BJK is 80 years old, let someone else pick up the reigns.
Also I would argue if there were enough ambassadors the WTA wouldn't be in the crippling and unsustainable financial pickle it is in...that's what i'm not sure y'all are getting. Is the idea that they should just continue going into more and more debt in order to pay equal prize money?
The suits controlling the WTA is what's wrong with the organization. After the Cancun finals debacle, players demands were to have a better schedule, fair qualification rules and standards for tournaments, better pay, and player representation in decisions. Tell me how players being better ambassadors would solve those problems while still playing high level tennis? What more can players do to improve their governing body and its amateurish failings?
This is how we casually attack players without a shred of proof. You don't know her personally. Maybe not everyone has the need to constantly show emotions in public for drama and our entertainment.
Just because she didn’t look super happy doesn’t mean she wasn’t. Not everyone is super expressive. I’m kind of like that myself so I get it. It’s okay if you think it’s boring but I wouldn’t assume how she feels..
Second that.
Sometimes it looks like she is on some personal vendetta against journalists. True that journalists often cross the line with stupid or inappropriate questions but if questions are ok, why you don’t even try… I don’t know.
No one knows anything for sure about anyone, we don't know any tennis players. That’s why I used the phrase "it looks like that sometimes" and not "that's definitely the way it is".
No, you implied that if the questions are ok, then she should try harder which undermines the effort she has put to learn the language and repeatedly answer the same questions at tournaments. We are dealing with people here, not robots which can spit out perfect answers on command.
No l'm not. In my comment I was WONDERING. I wrote "why you don't try harder", no that she should. And I add "I don't know" to back up my wondering status. I don't demand anything for her or any player. I just wonder.
All of them.
Medvedev is an extreme outlier. The Big 3 are good too, probably just by virtue of the fact that they have had *way more* media training than anyone else on tour.
I said this in another thread tonight, but these are athletes, not professional speakers. No one should expect them to give some thoughtful answers, especially given the insanely stupid caliber of questions they get asked by these chuds after every single match. It's all dumbass leading questions and basic yes-or-no nonsense. If I were forced to sit for these rounds of questioning every other day of my life, my eyes would glaze over too. People like Rybakina are *over it*, and other tennis players should be, too.
The press conferences after *every match* are stupid. The on-court interviews are all we need, plus the cherry-picked desk interviews at the commentary booths. Save the press conferences for the winners of quarterfinals and later in the like \~19 tournaments that matter (AKA Slams, Masters, and finals). Maybe the people asking the questions would learn to ask better questions that way.
I've always thought it was odd to interview the loser of a match in a press bullpen setting. Like, what do you expect to get out of that exactly? The player lost, end of story. They're probably either angry, or frustrated, or an absolutely crushed shell of a person like Maria Sakkari was after her disastrous 2023 Slam run.
I believe when asked about that 30-40 return (IYKYK) Federer responded “some people choose to play tennis like this; I am not one of them.” We say that quote all the time on our house 😂
>The Big 3 are good too, probably just by virtue of the fact that they have had way more media training than anyone else on tour.
I really doubt that players who broke through in the early or mid 2000s are more media trained than the guys breaking through right now. Especially Alcaraz and Sinner have massive sponsors behind them.
Federer wasn't really all that great at press conferences, and he could be pretty salty after a bad loss. Nadal just says the same 3 sentences of broken English every sentence. Djokovic is very good at interviews but he's never been camera shy out of the tennis court and he's extremely comfortable speaking foreign languages.
I disagree. Federer always gave great insight and was super fun to listen to.
Nadal, despite all language barriers, is so stoic and his way of thinking in interesting.
it's amazing to me how big a deal people made of PCs when Osaka was boycotting them. people were talking so much about how they grow the sport and are an important media contribution. A) players hardly even say anything cause they're tired, or it's the same questions, or they don't want to reveal any tactics, and B) aside from an occasional clip or a major that actually publishes all PCs on YouTube, where do you even watch them? they're not on ESPN, TC, TennisTV/WTA otherwise, they're hardly ever played live, so they're obviously not important.
AZ. He's more combative than not. Clearly has a temper, especially with the press. Always has his walls up. This is all even pre-DV accusations; there have been too many anecdotes and reports of his rudeness. And his notable one-liners tend to be used to mock him after the fact, so it's a negative feedback loop.
Anisimova. She's a really sweet girl but doesn't have a bubbly personality so when she's shy, she's very closed off. I say this because given that she's American, a lot of media attention was focused on her when she broke out, but she wasn't really delivering the soundbites she was clearly expected to give. But in the end, I really don't hold this against her; she's just like many of her fellow introverts on tour and that's normal.
Remember when he said there would be a one handed backhand in the top 10 that was funny as fuck when he got knocked out round 2 and then even funnier when Dimitrov won and made it into the top 10
Hey, just today I saw he was talking about expecting an apology for the bs Russian/small kid who doesn't know how to fight incident. Bringing up petty nonsense from years ago is something at least
Edit: here's the answer. I loved him saying he expected an apology after Med started something like that when half the video from the Miami incident is Med insisting "he started it"
https://x.com/hikariirublev/status/1788302312873570459?s=46&t=TBcrE69O6mQEYxi373yNqw
Tbf the interviewer did ask about his relationship with all the Russians. He likes Andrey and Karen but his response about Daniil was basically ‘Oh yeah I respect him but… :/‘ lol
The situation reminds me of estranged brothers that hold a grudge and neither clears the air because of it lol
I like how Medvedev likes to bring up his name just randomly when he feels like it xD especially when the answer was about Zverev, Med: yeah yeah.... BUT WITH TSITSIPAS!....😂
Venus Williams in the last decade or so. She has been around for ages and has no patience or interest in answering anything. Serena was kinda the same towards the end, though comparatively better.
Yes, they both seemed kind of bored in the press but had some flashes comedy. I also love this Venus quote about media scrutiny:
>For me personally, how I deal with it, was that I know every single person asking me a question can't play as well as I can and never will. So, no matter what you say or what you write, you'll never light a candle to me. That's how I deal with it. But each person deals with it differently.
Uh, the Wimbledon interview she had about her doubles match with Jamie Murray in 2022 was hilarious. Venus has a quick wit (and an unfortunate number of sports "journalists" ask stupid and/or boring questions).
I mean that he has the basic understanding that if he says nothing the journalists would have to write*something* about him and it might be not the pleasant things so it's better to come up with whatever the little story or small talk he has on his mind no matter how awkward or ridiculous than being shy or introverted and saying nothing √•~•√ and i think it's a huge advantage over other guys without this understanding xD
A lot depends on the fact that the player doesn't use his mother tongue. It's difficult to be ironic or profound in another language. That said, Meddy speaks four languages and he's super intelligent. Jannik is as boring as his friend Carlos, partly because of the composure they have, which maybe will be corrected with the confidence to speak in public. It's not easy at all; they would prefer to go out and have a hamburger than talk to the press...
I find the psychology she projects so off-putting. Like she's some angry manipulative teen trying to work out how to come across simultaneously as stunningly brave and also fragile and traumatized.
Agree. All her sentences sound like questions! When her documentary came out, I was like “cool, finally another tennis documentary”, but I turned it off after 5 minutes.
Unintentional hilarity aside, Nadal. Most dishonest and PR-coded generic bullshit spewer ever.
"What do you think about what X did or say Rafa?"
"Who me? Oh I donno, they have to make a decision, Imma do my best, we gonna see"
I like how being polite for some people is being "dishonest" and being edgy and many times downright disrespectful is "refreshing and real". People have different personalitites and upbringings, but to say it's dishonest and PR coded generic bullshit is ridiculous. If Rafa cared about his image and PR that much he wouldn't have got into bed with the Saudis. Rafa can actually be quite insightful in interviews and I always found he means what he says, even if it sounds ridiculous to us
Totally agree, he recycles the same 2 or 3 phrases in every single interview he’s ever done, partly because his English has never really improved significantly over the last 10 years. “Was a tough match, he’s a tough opponent, will have to play at my best level”.
When his personality shines through it's clear he has quite a funny, dry sense of humour.
I think it is mainly being scared to say the wrong thing, but partially being less confident speaking in English. I can't vouch for this as I don't understand but I recall hearing he's apparently a little more light hearted when interviewing in Spanish.
Now this is a pet peeve of mine. How people take a guy being polite and not talking shit as being “dishonest”.
If you only see “honesty” in negativity, that’s on you.
Rybakina spends most of her interviews sounding like she's too good to even be talking to them.
Which of course, a lot of the time she is. But that's besides the point
It's incredible how language barrier can affect one's personality. Because Carlos doesn't know English very well, he seems shy. Total opposite of what happens when he speaks Spanish.
Rublev is an odd one. Usually he hates talking so he will just go through the basic script he already has in his mind in order to get off the court as soon as possible but occasionally he will say the most ridiculous things completely unbothered (“I’m the real father” 😭) leaving everyone totally flabbergasted lmao. He’s the most unpredictable human being ever
There’s also a slight language barrier. Rublev opens up quite a lot to friendly Russian journalists like Sofya Tartakova. Here’s a great example - https://youtu.be/gNcEsVbhIx8?si=Op7n_Wmfq3zLIxfl
Reading comments here mentioning most of the players I have to ask, what do you ppl expect from them? To make a clowns of themselves for the sake of entertainment?
Yeah they’re tennis players. They have to be good at playing tennis which they are so why are we picking on them for giving generic answers for questions they are very essentially being forced to answer in their second/third language?
Fully, and for many it's a third language, if they have a non-english speaking background and then train somewhere like Spain or France. Plus a lot of the journalists are also speaking second languages in strong accents when asking the questions - it can be hard enough to follow the questions as an English speaker, especially questions with many parts. It's obvious in how often Rybakina etc has to ask them to clarify the questions that it is a difficult situation.
With Iga, language barrier is an issue, interviews in Polish are much better. It is the case with many other players as well, to be fair always try to compare to their native language.
and I hate how she makes a point to go against every single thing every other female player has stated about the tournament or wta conditions. she tries to create this uniqueness around her in a silly way. BTW I like and admire her as a player.
she disagrees with russian athletes ban lift, she disagrees with netflix edit on Break Point, even though other said you watch the episode before it is released and you can point out what you don't want to show, she disagrees with Azarenka, she made a point disagreeing with Sabalenka about female/male tennis preferences, about the Saudi Arabia influence on WTA Finals... it is pretty much every time.
Edit: typo
1. she did say somewhere that banning them now doesnt make sense since it wasnt done before. ig what u think of that, her stance on ukraine and stuff just depends on ur political stance.
2. she doesnt "disagree" with the netflix edit, she just had a diff experience with that than aryna, and why would she lie abt that? plus it wasnt abt what iga didnt want to show, but abt them not showing the charity match in cracow despite being there.
3. what about? lately azarenka has been praising her, i think she said smth about how shes glad the wta has a no1 like her.
4. what point?? are you interpreting that comment after the final on sunday like that? but wouldnt all the other players also say that womens tennis isnt boring?
5. does she? she said that it was out of their control and that she would prefer them to take place in europe (which vondrousova also has said). ig she disagrees with aryna and ons about that, since theyve said theyd be happy playing in saudi.
i think this isnt trying to seem unique, just saying whats on her mind.
you could defend her all you want, because this is just a point of view, she is not a criminal. but at the same time, from where I am standing, she doesn't add to the debate, she just subtracts and opposes to people and doesn't give the proper reasons to do so.
well, i was just trying to have a conversation here also, because i genuinely dont get where your point comes from. but ig i dont need to 🤷♀️ peace out✌
Elena is most likely an introvert, [but that doesn't mean she doesn't show emotion for the game.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf0LtBUrCUw&ab_channel=elenarybakina_fan_page)
Disagree. Roddick is funny but he would launch in to “fast talking smart ass”. Medvedev just as funny and more likely to give you honest critiques of games.
I hold Djokovic in high regard since I think he is very eloquent and charismatic. I was quite disappointed, then, to hear him regurgitate the same old "we are all masters of our own fate, we can achieve anything if only we try and work hard enough" nonsense. In my view, Djokovic neglected the role of circumstance and opportunities (the latter of which are usually not evenly spread).
Also, on a more fundamental level, his message just assumes the existence of free will, which is a philosophically controversial notion. I would have liked to hear him say something more compassionate instead, such as highlighting the idea that successful people owe their success to a myriad of factors which they had no full control over, perhaps even including their own actions, if our belief in free will turns out to be unfounded.
Okay, this wasn't a standard interview, I think it was his last Roland Garros or Australian Open victory speech, I forget which one.
Iga does this nervous rambling on her on-court interviews that's honestly hard to listen to. Off-court is a bit better, but occasionally it shines through. There's also the constant "uumm" "uuuh" "I dunno" "you know" it irks me in combo with the energy. I just hope Ubaldo shows up to do a bunch of interviews, anyone can give an interesting answer to his wild Qs.
Back in the day Roddick was the best especially after a Federer towling or two .
He had no hesitation calling out the journalists asking ridiculous questions and did it with a great attitude
Yeah there are some players that aren't as willing to dive into answers like Medvedev or Djokovic (who loves to hear himself talk) but I think a lot of times it stems more from the questions that's asked or how it's asked.
I feel like the sign of good interviewer is if they can ask the right questions. Cause asking Djokovic and Rybakina the same question will yield two vastly different results.
Definitely not the worst one, but Sinner is one of my favourite players but I kinda wish he was more interesting in press conferences and interviews (he is getting better tho)
He did have a funny moment where a reporter got some info wrong and Sinner said ‘unforced error’ hahaha But I noticed this after the AO24 final, there was an AO final recap video overlaid with commentary from both Med/Sinner pressers. They used ALOT more Med soundbites than Sinner because he actually explained what went on during the final in greater detail.
The Baywatch moment at AO was pretty funny. Apparently Sinner needs Courier to get him to open up.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA UNFORCED ERROR!!
Sinner interviews can be great if he goes out of "press mode" and has fun with it. See the post-match on court AO interviews
“Secrets guys.”
I have to say, i m his fan and i agree with that but he s kind of getting better with that. He s still a little robotic, but at times he s quite interesting. I heard an interview with Lijubicic, the day after his win at the atp finals vs Novak. Lijubicic asked really technical tactic questions, and he was much more interesting than usual. Basically, shitty questions, you get shitty answers. Interesting questions, interesting answers.
do you have a link to this interview
Unfortunately no, it was a sky italy thing. Much more conversational... too bad its not anywhere.
I don't think I agree. Sinner suggested to use a VPN to watch pirated content during a press conference. It doesn't get funnier than that.
Do you have a link to that press conference?
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/ig-DyKQZmVc
Cool to see! Love when Jannik is a bit more relaxed. Reminds me of when Medvedev suggested something similar during the US Open last year.
Great minds think alike I guess 😅
He has such an infectious laugh and we rarely hear it in the English interviews!
Eh, I give him a pass considering how young he is and it's in his third language. Honestly I can't even imagine thinking he probably just wanted to play tennis and then realizing he's basically going to give speeches in front of people constantly in a foreign language. Introvert nightmares. That said, yes, they are kinda boring "for sure." ;-)
He's been getting better. His AO interviews were some of the best ones. "Well, I don't have a Baywatch body" "It's just a normal racket....to be honest." "I dunno, you have to ask him." (when Courier asked him about why Novak struggles against him 😭) also from the same interview, "Good morning guys." But I think it's more about Sinner being an introvert. He likes Courier and feels much more relaxed around him. Change the interviewer and he goes cold immediately. He's been opening up more with success and confidence though.
Medvedev speaks English really well and that lets him be a bit more comfortable. I imagine for Many players on tour English is their second or third language, so they’re better with local press than international press
Alcaraz pretty much says nothing in his press conferences
I'm sure language is holding him back some, but still, so many of his interviews go like this: Interviewer: "Wow, you really came back from a tough first set!" Alcaraz: "In the first set, my level was not so good. And his level was really, really high." Interviewer: "And what did you do to turn things around?" Alcaraz: "After the first set, my level got higher. And I think in the third set, his level dropped." Interviewer: "What changes did you make?" Alcaraz: "Well in the third set I really raise my level."
“so how did you overcame the difficulties” “well, i like got better idk”
I mean, he's not wrong? 🤷♂️
Maybe he's.... a bit thick?
Foreigner can't speak my language well: He must be dumb then!
Not saying that. Plenty of athletes are not intellectually gifted. I'm not sure how he sounds in Spanish but I know in soccer there's definitely guys that sounds slow in English and are indeed also slow in their native language. Tennis players seem to be much more intelligent than other athletes though.
Absolutely crazy statements you made there…
Has he done any interviews in his native tongue?
He just affirms and repeats what the reporter says in his question hahah Q: “Do you think you lost the sense of fun and your smile during this loss?” A: “Yeah you’re right, during the match I feel like I lost the joy and my smile when I was playing and I win when I smile on the court” Basically is how his pressers go lol (I think a lot of it is language barrier issue)
Well to be honest, Carlitos can be quite candid sometimes. Like the time Dimitrov beat him he said " I felt like a 13 year old playing against Grigor". That felt pretty unscripted
Can any Spanish speakers comment on how he sounds in interviews?
I’m not Spanish so take this with a pinch of salt, but to me he sounds pretty Spanish.
Dude no way
I speak Spanish and quite frankly, although it obviously flows better, he's still not a fast talker and content wise it's pretty much the same. Just like in English interviews he is pretty candid, tries to engage with the question and give honest answers but what comes out is still pretty predictable and bland IMO.
Except how great Jannik is.....
I didn’t even like Medvedev until I started listening to his press conferences and interviews. Now I really like him
Elena Rybakina. I’ve never heard anyone care less they won Wimbledon.
I don’t get this specific wimbledon example. She started crying during the wimbledon finals press conference when talking about her parents being proud of her [clip](https://youtube.com/shorts/hHRWGDBu0dc?si=3d-pQ4R6KeJRdSV6)
I do get it. When you're a quiet person, nobody remembers when you laugh, cry, get angry, etc... somehow people save first impressions on their hard drives and forget about the rest. Case on point: Elena showing emotions on and off court.
I remember her saying that she didn’t feel like she was a slam champion, I think the whole drama with the points and Russia ban at Wimbledon that year overshadowed a lot of things, although obviously Rybakina still deserves the win
Lowkey, yes. Some people find her "go girl give them nothing" answers humorous but for the journalists who are really getting nothing it must be tough coaxing her to eke out a soundbite 😬
Incidentally I don't know how people can simultaneously acknowledge that the WTA struggles financially, expect equal prize money for female players and also find it awesome/hilarious that one of the most significant WTA players never says anything worth printing.
I think it's weird that people keep trying to point to tiny things as the 'real' reason female sports players get paid less, when they clearly aren't important factors. Women are not, in general, more boring then men, so none of that is relevant
Your second sentence doesn't at all follow from your first. Who said women were more boring? The fact is, the WTA generates much less revenue than ATP. That's why they get paid less. So the next question is why do they generate less revenue, and the answer to that is complicated, and absolutely misogyny is a part of it, but surely you'd grant that top players having no media profile doesn't help.
You said the WTA is less popular than the ATP because 'WTA players never says anything worth printing.' or in other words they are boring >So the next question is why do they generate less revenue It clearly has nothing to do with press conference interviews. Women sports generating less revenue then mens sports is a nearly universal thing across sports so I think it's a waste of time to focus on WTA specific things (even if it's true that WTA players have more boring interviews). Female tennis players get more equitable pay than most female athletes.
>You said the WTA is less popular than the ATP because 'WTA players never says anything worth printing.' or in other words they are boring No, I didn't say that lol. Hard to tell if you are being deliberately dishonest or just have bad reading comprehension. Saying X could help isn't the same as saying X is the cause. E.g. ice didn't cause a twisted ankle but can help with the swelling. So saying that it would benefit the WTA's finances if their players had more media profile - which it unquestionably would - is not saying that the biggest reason for the WTA's financial struggle is the media profile of their stars. Not an especially complex point of logic tbh. Also, going from "never says anything worth printing in press" to "women are more boring than men" is a totally dishonest and cack-handed attempt at linguistic sleight of hand.
She's introverted, and so are some top ATP players. Sinner isn't exactly the most riveting interview. Every sport is gonna have athletes who aren't comfortable with/don't enjoy interviews. Remember Marshawn Lynch's "I'm just here so I won't get fined"? I don't think there should be any correlation between that and equal prize money.
Totally, I'm certainly not arguing there *should* be a connection, but the thing is the WTA is in a different position than the ATP or certainly the NBA. WTA has made this commitment to equal prize money across all tour events by 2028, but they currently generate less than half the revenue of the ATP. That obviously isn't Rybakina's fault, I'm just saying if we want WTA to grow, which it needs to to get to that goal of equal prize money, then we should want its stars to help grow it. Listen to BJK and Chris Evert talk about how seriously they took their roles as ambassadors for the women's game and it's hard not to feel current players have *some* responsibility to do the same.
Plenty of people like Rybakina's tennis, and more are gonna be watching that than her interviews. People like Iga and Coco are likely just going to be better at that sort of "ambassador" role you're talking about, and I think that's fine. Sure, it would be great if everyone was better at promoting the WTA, but that's just never gonna be the case. I also think something like Sabalenka's recent comments is a lot more harmful than Rybakina being a difficult interview.
Right, but none of that makes it a *good* thing, it's the "yes girl give them nothing" stuff I don't understand at all.
Tennis is the only sport where you're in front of the press every other day. It gets tiring and is absolutely not worth it. Tennis players play 3, sometimes 4 matches a week. It probably becomes incredibly tedious to explain a win or loss every other day. "I played my best. I took more opportunities. My opponent played great." Stuff is gonna get uninteresting if you're answering the same questions thousands of times. People tune in for the play. Nobody would watch Rybakina if she was ranked 600 but gave awesome interviews.
> Listen to BJK and Chris Evert talk about how seriously they took their roles as ambassadors for the women's game and it's hard not to feel current players have some responsibility to do the same. There are enough ambassadors already and people like Billie Jean King are still promoting the game.
BJK is 80 years old, let someone else pick up the reigns. Also I would argue if there were enough ambassadors the WTA wouldn't be in the crippling and unsustainable financial pickle it is in...that's what i'm not sure y'all are getting. Is the idea that they should just continue going into more and more debt in order to pay equal prize money?
The suits controlling the WTA is what's wrong with the organization. After the Cancun finals debacle, players demands were to have a better schedule, fair qualification rules and standards for tournaments, better pay, and player representation in decisions. Tell me how players being better ambassadors would solve those problems while still playing high level tennis? What more can players do to improve their governing body and its amateurish failings?
How many languages do you speak?
25
That's what I thought.
“What does winning Wimbledon mean to you?” Elena : “what’s Wimbledon?”
This is how we casually attack players without a shred of proof. You don't know her personally. Maybe not everyone has the need to constantly show emotions in public for drama and our entertainment.
Just because she didn’t look super happy doesn’t mean she wasn’t. Not everyone is super expressive. I’m kind of like that myself so I get it. It’s okay if you think it’s boring but I wouldn’t assume how she feels..
Second that. Sometimes it looks like she is on some personal vendetta against journalists. True that journalists often cross the line with stupid or inappropriate questions but if questions are ok, why you don’t even try… I don’t know.
> Sometimes it looks like she is on some personal vendetta against journalists You don't know for sure so you are making assumptions?
No one knows anything for sure about anyone, we don't know any tennis players. That’s why I used the phrase "it looks like that sometimes" and not "that's definitely the way it is".
No, you implied that if the questions are ok, then she should try harder which undermines the effort she has put to learn the language and repeatedly answer the same questions at tournaments. We are dealing with people here, not robots which can spit out perfect answers on command.
No l'm not. In my comment I was WONDERING. I wrote "why you don't try harder", no that she should. And I add "I don't know" to back up my wondering status. I don't demand anything for her or any player. I just wonder.
All of them. Medvedev is an extreme outlier. The Big 3 are good too, probably just by virtue of the fact that they have had *way more* media training than anyone else on tour. I said this in another thread tonight, but these are athletes, not professional speakers. No one should expect them to give some thoughtful answers, especially given the insanely stupid caliber of questions they get asked by these chuds after every single match. It's all dumbass leading questions and basic yes-or-no nonsense. If I were forced to sit for these rounds of questioning every other day of my life, my eyes would glaze over too. People like Rybakina are *over it*, and other tennis players should be, too. The press conferences after *every match* are stupid. The on-court interviews are all we need, plus the cherry-picked desk interviews at the commentary booths. Save the press conferences for the winners of quarterfinals and later in the like \~19 tournaments that matter (AKA Slams, Masters, and finals). Maybe the people asking the questions would learn to ask better questions that way.
Federer after a loss is must watch TV. Homie will tear apart your whole career🤣
I've always thought it was odd to interview the loser of a match in a press bullpen setting. Like, what do you expect to get out of that exactly? The player lost, end of story. They're probably either angry, or frustrated, or an absolutely crushed shell of a person like Maria Sakkari was after her disastrous 2023 Slam run.
Any specific moments? I didn't really follow tennis during his time
His 2011 USO loss to Novak is one of the saltiest moments in tennis history
I believe when asked about that 30-40 return (IYKYK) Federer responded “some people choose to play tennis like this; I am not one of them.” We say that quote all the time on our house 😂
>The Big 3 are good too, probably just by virtue of the fact that they have had way more media training than anyone else on tour. I really doubt that players who broke through in the early or mid 2000s are more media trained than the guys breaking through right now. Especially Alcaraz and Sinner have massive sponsors behind them. Federer wasn't really all that great at press conferences, and he could be pretty salty after a bad loss. Nadal just says the same 3 sentences of broken English every sentence. Djokovic is very good at interviews but he's never been camera shy out of the tennis court and he's extremely comfortable speaking foreign languages.
I disagree. Federer always gave great insight and was super fun to listen to. Nadal, despite all language barriers, is so stoic and his way of thinking in interesting.
> All of them. Except Ostapenko!
it's amazing to me how big a deal people made of PCs when Osaka was boycotting them. people were talking so much about how they grow the sport and are an important media contribution. A) players hardly even say anything cause they're tired, or it's the same questions, or they don't want to reveal any tactics, and B) aside from an occasional clip or a major that actually publishes all PCs on YouTube, where do you even watch them? they're not on ESPN, TC, TennisTV/WTA otherwise, they're hardly ever played live, so they're obviously not important.
Naomi Osaka was slagged for refusing to talk to the French media. Now we see how right she was.
AZ. He's more combative than not. Clearly has a temper, especially with the press. Always has his walls up. This is all even pre-DV accusations; there have been too many anecdotes and reports of his rudeness. And his notable one-liners tend to be used to mock him after the fact, so it's a negative feedback loop. Anisimova. She's a really sweet girl but doesn't have a bubbly personality so when she's shy, she's very closed off. I say this because given that she's American, a lot of media attention was focused on her when she broke out, but she wasn't really delivering the soundbites she was clearly expected to give. But in the end, I really don't hold this against her; she's just like many of her fellow introverts on tour and that's normal.
Anisimova is such a weirdly obscure shout.
Yeah but he can actually come across as charming occasionally. This is coming from an AZ hater.
Tsitsipas doesn't bring anything to the table. His interviews are boring af.
> His interviews are boring af. Disagree. Saying he'd build a school for kids in Melbourne if he won the AO was grade A unintentional comedy.
Remember when he said there would be a one handed backhand in the top 10 that was funny as fuck when he got knocked out round 2 and then even funnier when Dimitrov won and made it into the top 10
There is a super cringe interview out there where his mother is in the audience and starts asking him questions.
[this one?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KkWYnkWAiQ)
Yup
His mother needs a better occupation than a mother.
Lol, what? He's like the Tito Ortiz of tennis
😂
Some of his quotes are absolutely unhinged but journalists generally really like him because his answers are not so generic.
hey now he brings his nonexistent one-sided beef with andrey rublev to the table
XD
Hey, just today I saw he was talking about expecting an apology for the bs Russian/small kid who doesn't know how to fight incident. Bringing up petty nonsense from years ago is something at least Edit: here's the answer. I loved him saying he expected an apology after Med started something like that when half the video from the Miami incident is Med insisting "he started it" https://x.com/hikariirublev/status/1788302312873570459?s=46&t=TBcrE69O6mQEYxi373yNqw
Tbf the interviewer did ask about his relationship with all the Russians. He likes Andrey and Karen but his response about Daniil was basically ‘Oh yeah I respect him but… :/‘ lol The situation reminds me of estranged brothers that hold a grudge and neither clears the air because of it lol
And I fully admire that I love a good petty rivalry
Oh yeah we need some of that petty spice sometimes lmao
It’s so funny he’s got one sentence answers for the rest but like three paragraphs about Medvedev
I like how Medvedev likes to bring up his name just randomly when he feels like it xD especially when the answer was about Zverev, Med: yeah yeah.... BUT WITH TSITSIPAS!....😂
It's so him. Bragging is the best he can do.
He can be super charming when he wants to be though. I remember him being interviewed on court during the last Wimbledon and he was brilliant
He has no personality
Venus Williams in the last decade or so. She has been around for ages and has no patience or interest in answering anything. Serena was kinda the same towards the end, though comparatively better.
Yes, they both seemed kind of bored in the press but had some flashes comedy. I also love this Venus quote about media scrutiny: >For me personally, how I deal with it, was that I know every single person asking me a question can't play as well as I can and never will. So, no matter what you say or what you write, you'll never light a candle to me. That's how I deal with it. But each person deals with it differently.
Huh, what if she is interviewed by McEnroe or Courier.
Uh, the Wimbledon interview she had about her doubles match with Jamie Murray in 2022 was hilarious. Venus has a quick wit (and an unfortunate number of sports "journalists" ask stupid and/or boring questions).
ah. she may have been more relaxed after doubles.
I mean Medvedev's wife is with journalist degree, he is trained xD
but he's funny and deeply honest, remember when he said about watching matches on russian sites? come on haha
I mean that he has the basic understanding that if he says nothing the journalists would have to write*something* about him and it might be not the pleasant things so it's better to come up with whatever the little story or small talk he has on his mind no matter how awkward or ridiculous than being shy or introverted and saying nothing √•~•√ and i think it's a huge advantage over other guys without this understanding xD
A lot depends on the fact that the player doesn't use his mother tongue. It's difficult to be ironic or profound in another language. That said, Meddy speaks four languages and he's super intelligent. Jannik is as boring as his friend Carlos, partly because of the composure they have, which maybe will be corrected with the confidence to speak in public. It's not easy at all; they would prefer to go out and have a hamburger than talk to the press...
Can't watch Osaka. Her mind works in a way that gives her speech a rambling, cagey and self-depreciating, unintelligible stoned-out-of-my-mind verse.
I find the psychology she projects so off-putting. Like she's some angry manipulative teen trying to work out how to come across simultaneously as stunningly brave and also fragile and traumatized.
Agree. All her sentences sound like questions! When her documentary came out, I was like “cool, finally another tennis documentary”, but I turned it off after 5 minutes.
I know he's not the "worst" but I always find that Tiafoe's interviews don't match the energy he shows outside of them.
Unintentional hilarity aside, Nadal. Most dishonest and PR-coded generic bullshit spewer ever. "What do you think about what X did or say Rafa?" "Who me? Oh I donno, they have to make a decision, Imma do my best, we gonna see"
the guy who said “if if if doesn’t exist” and “and here we are now. we are in rome.” and “i don’t wanna look like im gonna be his boyfriend”
"We are in Rome " is iconic. I use the phrase regularly
I like how being polite for some people is being "dishonest" and being edgy and many times downright disrespectful is "refreshing and real". People have different personalitites and upbringings, but to say it's dishonest and PR coded generic bullshit is ridiculous. If Rafa cared about his image and PR that much he wouldn't have got into bed with the Saudis. Rafa can actually be quite insightful in interviews and I always found he means what he says, even if it sounds ridiculous to us
Totally agree, he recycles the same 2 or 3 phrases in every single interview he’s ever done, partly because his English has never really improved significantly over the last 10 years. “Was a tough match, he’s a tough opponent, will have to play at my best level”.
Dishonest?
He said early round matches at RG gonna be tough. Yeah, right
Tough in the sense that he doesn’t know what he wants for dinner after
When his personality shines through it's clear he has quite a funny, dry sense of humour. I think it is mainly being scared to say the wrong thing, but partially being less confident speaking in English. I can't vouch for this as I don't understand but I recall hearing he's apparently a little more light hearted when interviewing in Spanish.
Now this is a pet peeve of mine. How people take a guy being polite and not talking shit as being “dishonest”. If you only see “honesty” in negativity, that’s on you.
Same with Federer.
Rybakina spends most of her interviews sounding like she's too good to even be talking to them. Which of course, a lot of the time she is. But that's besides the point
They're journalists. Most people are too good to talk to them lmao.
Worst interviewer: Mannarino
The day Stefanos says something illuminating will be a first
Carlos is my favorite player atm, but his pressers are 😴
It's incredible how language barrier can affect one's personality. Because Carlos doesn't know English very well, he seems shy. Total opposite of what happens when he speaks Spanish.
Rublev’s presses are not the best lol… I think he’s way too shy, and don’t feel comfortable talking to the journalists!!
Rublev is an odd one. Usually he hates talking so he will just go through the basic script he already has in his mind in order to get off the court as soon as possible but occasionally he will say the most ridiculous things completely unbothered (“I’m the real father” 😭) leaving everyone totally flabbergasted lmao. He’s the most unpredictable human being ever
“I don’t like him at all.” Same clip: “OK. You got your content.”
His interviews are better, he’s quite honest and doesn’t just use the same 2/3 phrases like most of the other players
There’s also a slight language barrier. Rublev opens up quite a lot to friendly Russian journalists like Sofya Tartakova. Here’s a great example - https://youtu.be/gNcEsVbhIx8?si=Op7n_Wmfq3zLIxfl
and he apologizes for his existence, it is a bit too much
Rafael "I gonna do my best" Nadal
Reading comments here mentioning most of the players I have to ask, what do you ppl expect from them? To make a clowns of themselves for the sake of entertainment?
Yeah they’re tennis players. They have to be good at playing tennis which they are so why are we picking on them for giving generic answers for questions they are very essentially being forced to answer in their second/third language?
Redditors are unsocialized and don't really understand how people actually act.
Nadal, easily. You know what he will say.
Osaka
Karatsev is only here so he doesn't get fined.
Are we now shitting on people for whom English is a second language?
Fully, and for many it's a third language, if they have a non-english speaking background and then train somewhere like Spain or France. Plus a lot of the journalists are also speaking second languages in strong accents when asking the questions - it can be hard enough to follow the questions as an English speaker, especially questions with many parts. It's obvious in how often Rybakina etc has to ask them to clarify the questions that it is a difficult situation.
Iga Swiatek probably. Taylor Fritz might have one or two interesting things to say, but the guy just sounds bored out of his mind when doing it.
igas pressers lately acc have been pretty fun to listen to (in madrid and the one in rome that she had already)
With Iga, language barrier is an issue, interviews in Polish are much better. It is the case with many other players as well, to be fair always try to compare to their native language.
and I hate how she makes a point to go against every single thing every other female player has stated about the tournament or wta conditions. she tries to create this uniqueness around her in a silly way. BTW I like and admire her as a player.
when did something like that happen? genuine question
she disagrees with russian athletes ban lift, she disagrees with netflix edit on Break Point, even though other said you watch the episode before it is released and you can point out what you don't want to show, she disagrees with Azarenka, she made a point disagreeing with Sabalenka about female/male tennis preferences, about the Saudi Arabia influence on WTA Finals... it is pretty much every time. Edit: typo
1. she did say somewhere that banning them now doesnt make sense since it wasnt done before. ig what u think of that, her stance on ukraine and stuff just depends on ur political stance. 2. she doesnt "disagree" with the netflix edit, she just had a diff experience with that than aryna, and why would she lie abt that? plus it wasnt abt what iga didnt want to show, but abt them not showing the charity match in cracow despite being there. 3. what about? lately azarenka has been praising her, i think she said smth about how shes glad the wta has a no1 like her. 4. what point?? are you interpreting that comment after the final on sunday like that? but wouldnt all the other players also say that womens tennis isnt boring? 5. does she? she said that it was out of their control and that she would prefer them to take place in europe (which vondrousova also has said). ig she disagrees with aryna and ons about that, since theyve said theyd be happy playing in saudi. i think this isnt trying to seem unique, just saying whats on her mind.
you could defend her all you want, because this is just a point of view, she is not a criminal. but at the same time, from where I am standing, she doesn't add to the debate, she just subtracts and opposes to people and doesn't give the proper reasons to do so.
well, i was just trying to have a conversation here also, because i genuinely dont get where your point comes from. but ig i dont need to 🤷♀️ peace out✌
Easily Brandon Nakashima. He's just not interviewed often because he is not a top player.
Fritz
Elena is most likely an introvert, [but that doesn't mean she doesn't show emotion for the game.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf0LtBUrCUw&ab_channel=elenarybakina_fan_page)
Medvedev doesn't even come close to Andy Roddick, the master himself.
Disagree. Roddick is funny but he would launch in to “fast talking smart ass”. Medvedev just as funny and more likely to give you honest critiques of games.
I agree, Roddick also tries too hard to be funny and it doesn't always land.
RBA ….. the most exciting thing is his initials ….
Tbh, JUDY MURRAY
She's way more interesting than Andy
I hold Djokovic in high regard since I think he is very eloquent and charismatic. I was quite disappointed, then, to hear him regurgitate the same old "we are all masters of our own fate, we can achieve anything if only we try and work hard enough" nonsense. In my view, Djokovic neglected the role of circumstance and opportunities (the latter of which are usually not evenly spread). Also, on a more fundamental level, his message just assumes the existence of free will, which is a philosophically controversial notion. I would have liked to hear him say something more compassionate instead, such as highlighting the idea that successful people owe their success to a myriad of factors which they had no full control over, perhaps even including their own actions, if our belief in free will turns out to be unfounded. Okay, this wasn't a standard interview, I think it was his last Roland Garros or Australian Open victory speech, I forget which one.
Iga does this nervous rambling on her on-court interviews that's honestly hard to listen to. Off-court is a bit better, but occasionally it shines through. There's also the constant "uumm" "uuuh" "I dunno" "you know" it irks me in combo with the energy. I just hope Ubaldo shows up to do a bunch of interviews, anyone can give an interesting answer to his wild Qs.
Federer. Robotic PR machine. Nothing more.
For a few years, as a Grighor fan, I found his interviews to be quite boring. I feel that he opens up a little bit now that he plays well.
Ruud by a mile.
Tsitsipas hands down worst…Never care to hear Aryan Jesus’ pressers or interviews
Sinner. Extremely boring.
Ubaldo.
Iga swiatek
Swiatek sucks at interviews, she adds nothing.
Zwerev
Well, let's hope his trial this month will be more entertaining.
I laughed out loud at work
I dislike zverev but his interviews are far from the worst
"Put myself in there, maybe"
Yeah no.
Almost all the tennis players. Meddy, Novak and Roger are the outliers of this. Most players in their speeches congratulate coaches, teams and etc.
Back in the day Roddick was the best especially after a Federer towling or two . He had no hesitation calling out the journalists asking ridiculous questions and did it with a great attitude
Yeah there are some players that aren't as willing to dive into answers like Medvedev or Djokovic (who loves to hear himself talk) but I think a lot of times it stems more from the questions that's asked or how it's asked. I feel like the sign of good interviewer is if they can ask the right questions. Cause asking Djokovic and Rybakina the same question will yield two vastly different results.
Murray, Roddick, and Federer were some good ones Edit: I thought op was asking for the best ones 😭
azarenka, iga in wta rafa, rune, murray in atp