Comments on: Will the Williams Sisters Ever Play Indian Wells Again?

By: Peter M. Arel

Peter M. Arel — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:34:05 +0000

If the Williams sisters were to PUBLICLY announce their IMMEDIATE and IRREVOCABLE RETIREMENT FROM PROFESSIONAL TENNIS very few people would care.I know I wouldn’t. By RETIRING THE WILLIAMS SISTERS WOULD BE SENDING THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE VERY LOUD AND VERY CLEAR:”ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO BOOED US AND S*** ON US WHILE WE WERE PLAYING TENNIS AREN’T GOING TO HAVE US TO KICK AROUND ANYMORE!!!”

By: Peter M. Arel

Peter M. Arel — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:20:42 +0000

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena,SHOULD NOT go back to INdian Wells UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! As for the WTA it should cease to exist as punishment for forcing the Williams sisters to play in a venue where they had been so horribly treated before. And the punishment the people who allowed the Williams family to be booed should suffer is BANKRUPTCY!

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:36:11 +0000

I was there, I never heard a racial slur – just booing. It was a few minutes before the match was to start – when they annouced that she was unable to play – I thought they said a tooth ache. (I would love to know what anyone else hear)

Then she showed up to watch her sister play, no limp, no sign of a toothache, walked down the isle like nothing was wrong. I think the audience was taken back, she was too sick or injured to play. But could walk down the flight of stairs like it was nothing. People were upset – If she had not showed up, it would have passed. It seemed like she didn’t get that $50 is alot of money to most people – and the time they took to get to the event – most from out of town and to not even come out and try, and then show up and later like it was not a big deal. Showed great disrepect for her fans in the stands, who probalby had to work 6 hours in one day to clear the 50 buck for the seats.

I have seen players throw up and return to the courts. Have their back rub downed, their ankles or thighs rapped. But they tried.

If she had just come out and said I am really sorry, and told everyone what was wrong. Or even said I am going to give this a try, It might not work – but I will try. They would have embraced her.

As fans we respect our players and hope they respect us. If you have ever travel across a state or across the county to watch a player and then they pull out at the last minute without even coming out. Everyon knew she was there. Why didn’t she just come out for a few minutes. The girls know they are a big deal to the tennis fans, but the fan felt they weren’t a big deal to her.

I love to watch them play and I am sorry that this was made into somehing it was not. This had nothing to do with Race. The fans were hurt and disappointed And let their feeling be hear, it might not have been the correct thing to do. But I believe mistakes were made on both sides….

By: Marine

Marine — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:09:00 +0000

Really? Well, I can see a certain double standard here when you’re saying that in the case of Hingis she brought it upon herself. But Lisa, didn’t the Williams family also brought it upon themeselves in a way by a last-minute withdrawal? Venus was seen practising with Serena the very same day and she was completely fine and after IW went shortly to play another tournament…
So what they did was a bit suspicious.
I saw a bit of that match and I would not say that the crowd was as savage as it is often described. There were a lot of people booing them but also some people cheering them on.
As for the sisters to be angry about it, well, if they don’t want to play, fine, it’s up to them.
I think that there are good and bad moments in the career of every player, not just the Williamses. Others also get booed, get bad calls or are treated unfairly by the organisers and in many cases their voices are not heard at all.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:10:47 +0000

Bad Example Marine…Hingis bought that on herself (on the court ) and she was not on home soil. Serena had nothing to do with Venus not playing even if you believe the ridiculous speculation that Richard (not Serena) fixed the matches.

By: Marine

Marine — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:56:01 +0000

I have got used to them not being there. I think they’ve made up their mind and we should all move on. And as for “stretching the olive branches” oh my, then I think there are more candidates who were treated harshly by crowds at tournaments. One example is Martina Hingis who was booed at French Open by the crowd and she ended up really distraught losing the match. And nobody apologised to her neither.

By: Jay Arr

Jay Arr — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:56:38 +0000

I don’t think the Williams’ should “let bygones be bygones”, as posted by another visitor. They felt that they were treated unfairly, and they are standing up for themselves. If you adopt a cause, you stick with it. The fans were out of control, and neither the chair umpire nor the tournament officials did anything to stop the prolonged abuse. As cliche as this may sound, I’ll say it anyway… “if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” Kudos to the Williams family for standing up for what they believe in.

By: J Sleeth

J Sleeth — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:39:08 +0000

I am so glad there is lots of discussion and discourse going on but here is the reality from a Canadian- and we have had a few hundred years to observe our neighbours to the south when it comes to racism. Everything in the US involving a black athlete or actor or politician is always boiled down to race. In Canada we tend to be a bit more colour blind whereby the colour of the athlete does not seem to register….until the athlete or announcer makes a point of discussing this ‘oh he is the first black baseball manager to win a world series’…oh the Williams are the first black women to win such & such a tournament’….Who cares? I could give a hoot if the athlete is black, white, yellow or pink! Look at the athlete not their colour or race to determine if they are good at their craft and succeed or not – and cheer them on. But please stop commenting on their race or colour as I do not care.
I do care however if the athlete makes threats against a linesperson; I do care if an athlete lies about their use of steroids or other performance enhancing drugs; I care of the athlete rapes a woman in a hotel room; I care if a hockey player hits someone in the head with the intention of causing harm. But I still do not care about their race or colour.
Oh and one more thing – reverse racism does occur on a day to day basis – and it can still be called racism if someone always uses the “racism” card to defend their lack of morality, ethics or class. Please call a spade a spade. Serena is just not a nice gal on or off the court – and it sure as heck is not because she is black. JES

By: pat

pat — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:37:32 +0000

Serena said after the outrage that aliens would land here before she ever played at IW again, and I support her in that. I remember extremely vividly the feelings those boos stirred in me, a white middle aged woman who was suddenly brought up real close to what black people face every day in this country. How would you feel at being 19 and thousands of people are yelling for your blood? It was shocking then, it is shocking now. Don’t come back, Serena, let that sour bunch of rich old white people “soldier on” without you. They can all go take a flying leap off the top of the tram.

By: june chun

june chun — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:47:04 +0000

I’m an African American who will be going to IW for the first time to see Andy Roddick in the final, not because he’s white, but because he’s an American!