Ajla Tomljanović vs America

[Mav]

Of course it doesn’t - vectors have nothing to do with bigotry unless you speak corporate jargon (and I don’t).

[LP]

Of course it doesn’t - vectors have nothing to do with bigotry unless you speak corporate jargon (and I don’t).

Almost nobody on here submits posts that imply bigotry is unidirectional, ................. and yet .................... !

[Lods]

"bigot
[ˈbɪɡət]
NOUN
a person who is obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion, or faction, especially one who is prejudiced against or antagonistic towards a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group:"

Hands up if you're not a bigot.

[tonyo]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/20...am-record/

Food for thought.

To be totally frank, it is almost impossible to compare records from one era to the next.

Rules change, conditions change, even equipment.  And almost all of these changes are to the benefit of the players, eg there were no tie-breakers in Court's era, they played on less predictable surfaces, and they used racquets that were ridiculously heavy and user-unfriendly compared to the graphite models of today.

All of this means that most modern-day players can have much longer and relatively injury-free careers than 50+ years ago.  They are also far more affluent so they can employ the best support crew, coaches, personal trainers, physios etc etc. to keep them going throughout the year, as well as each tournament week.

So, our American friend how penned this article has conveniently forgotten to add that it was much tougher to simply get to the end of the tournament in the 50's and 60s.  Serena may have had to battle tougher opponents, but she had the luxury of returning to a penthouse suite in between games and getting a personal massage.  I'm betting Rod Laver and Margaret Court didn't have those same benefits......

[Mav]

Both side-ism at its finest. Bigots like Court are the same as bigots who don’t like Court’s attacks on the LGBTI community. Bravo!

[PaulP]

To be totally frank, it is almost impossible to compare records from one era to the next.

Rules change, conditions change, even equipment.  And almost all of these changes are to the benefit of the players, eg there were no tie-breakers in Court's era, they played on less predictable surfaces, and they used racquets that were ridiculously heavy and user-unfriendly compared to the graphite models of today.

All of this means that most modern-day players can have much longer and relatively injury-free careers than 50+ years ago.  They are also far more affluent so they can employ the best support crew, coaches, personal trainers, physios etc etc. to keep them going throughout the year, as well as each tournament week.

So, our American friend how penned this article has conveniently forgotten to add that it was much tougher to simply get to the end of the tournament in the 50's and 60s.  Serena may have had to battle tougher opponents, but she had the luxury of returning to a penthouse suite in between games and getting a personal massage.  I'm betting Rod Laver and Margaret Court didn't have those same benefits......

There is some truth to that, but I think you've focused on one side of the equation, i.e the aspects that were tougher back then, and I think a more balanced exposition is required.

[Thryleon]

Not sure if bigotry is even worth discussing here.

It literally has nothing to do with the price of fish.

[madbluboy]

Court played in a dinosaur era where it was practically a different sport. Serena 8 months pregnant would have smashed her.

[Gointocarlton]

Margaret court has achieved things no one else has and did it in an era that contained greats such as evonne goolagong,  Billie jean king, and Martina Navratilova.  She held the title of all 4 grand slams in one calender year twice during her career.

I cannot fathom why we are devaluing her sporting achievements because she won 11 Aussie opens with qualifying statements. 

She played in an era with her peers, and achieved a lot against them.  Why the push to requalify what a GOAT is?

We all know why.

[tonyo]

There is some truth to that, but I think you've focused on one side of the equation, i.e the aspects that were tougher back then, and I think a more balanced exposition is required.

I just presented a series of facts that the American correspondent chose to ignore in her article, she spent the whole time talking about how easy it was for Court without considering the other side of that coin.    I have no doubt that there was less competition back in Court's day, and the Australian Open of the early 60's was far less prestigious and challenging than it is today. 

But just as we Bluebaggers are happy to count VFL premiership cups won near the start of the 20th century in our trophy cabinet, so too will the records always show that Court has one more Grand Slam than Serena.

And we all know Serena would have wiped Court off the court - but in the same comparison, an AFL side of today would run rings around our 1970 premiership team.  It doesn't make the heroics of that group any less impressive either.  You can only beat the best that is thrown up against you when you are playing - any other comparison is inherently flawed.