August 3, 2009

Tiger / Serena: Real Champs Always Come To Play



Interesting article: "Real Champions Always Come To Play." Greg Couch writes a (sure to be controversial) article as it relates to Tiger Woods fighting at Non-major events and (in his opinion) Serena only fighting at Major events. Couch states "But she's not No. 1 because she only plays hard for four tournaments a year. The majors. Other than that, she rarely even bothers to stay in shape. Tiger is always in shape, always ready. And while he doesn't hold a major now, he still holds golf's No. 1 ranking. But it's shocking that Serena is the defending champ at Wimbledon, the U.S. and Australian Opens, but hasn't bothered to win a non-major in 16 months."

Couch also feels that it's all about respect and for that Tiger gets high marks. "Respect. That's the key word. Woods shows it for himself, his game, his tournament. You. Williams does not". Couch doesn't stop there, "Really, how insulting of Serena to keep doing this. People, in a tough economy, are paying big bucks to see the woman who won Wimbledon. Instead, she doesn't care enough about them to give them her best." Ouch! Click on the above link to view the article in its' entirety and feel free to post your comments here. I'd love to read your take on this one.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

would I love Serena to show up at every tournament and win? sure, which fan of hers wouldn't? Should Serena know by now that not winning other titles apart from the grand slams does not and should not automatically give her the #1 ranking? I would think so. However, diminishing her accomplishments, however little they might seem to Greg Couch is low. Serena is usually besieged with injuries. Tennis takes much more, I believe, than Golf and has a shorter shelf life. We're all ruled by different motivations, and Serena has been first to say she has mood swings. Her motivation at this late stage is to win grand slams. It's not up to us to decide what Serena should do with her career. Tiger can play for years, Serena, perharps a couple more years. He's a man, she's a woman, they both play different sports that requires different skills. Nadal can play the way he's playing because he's 22, ask him how he feels when he's 27, looking at 28. Rather than belittle Serena's accomplishments and deem her not a "real" champion, why not be happy that she at least showed up to play after 4 weeks of being busy non-stop, winning the match against Li Na after having 6 match points, and playing doubles in the same event. It shows that Greg Couch doesn't care much for Serena, so his article deserves little attention.

Victor said...

I think he makes a good point. But on the other hand, it's a free world, she can choose to play whatever tournaments she wants and just ignore the fact that people paid to see her play, and play well. But whatever, I'm still a fan.

Anonymous said...

hmmm,this comment is really !WRONG!,first off who does this guy think he is criticing serena and the way she plays in her career,shes in considered to be the best in tennis in the history of the sport,11 grand slams!!,,also golf and tennis are entirely different,athletic wise,you can be overweight and play until you !60!proffesionally,in tennis your probably give until your body reaches the age of 35 to be competing for big events,and the only thing you do in golf is patiently swing a ball that is literally sitting laying there while in tennis you have to return 130mph serves and constantly be running around and a match can last for hours i mean didnt he see serena beat dementieava at the wimbly semis,tennis is WAY TOUGHER THAN GOLF!!then serena is a woman,women have a tougher time staying in the shape to be the BEST in the world,i should know both my sisters are serious athletes in college,unless this guy plays tennis like the pros not like probably the most unathletic sport,golf, dont get me wrong i play golf and tennis and i know for a fact that tennis is tougher on the mind and body!!! P.S this websit is awesome your doing an awesome job!

Anonymous said...

Couch's article is given even more credence now. Serena said she was sick when she came to Cincinatti, but she played great against Bondarenko. There really was no excuse for her loss against Bammer in the 3rd round of a premier event, simply no excuse.

Monika said...

Once again Greg Couch really needs to get a clue!! Only an ignorant, spiteful, jealous person would compare a pro golf player's shape and endurance to a pro tennis player's shape and endurance. Is this guy really this dumb or does he have a vendetta agst. Serena? There is no comparison between golf and tennis in relation to trauma, injury, or athletic endurance. Serena doesn't lose non-majors because she is out of shape; rather it's because she doesn't exert 100% in these matches. If the officials had better scheduling skills then the top 10 would not only be more dedicated to non-majors but they would also dominate non-majors. Couch needs to do much more research before he throws Serena under the bus. He has no idea how compact and exhausting her schedule is.