Pam Shriver: Williams gets no love at French Open
 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,1357901.story


Just wanted people's opinions on the above article.

I can feel her hurt when you read the line "They don't really pull for me here". I've never understood why Paris wouldn't be crazy about her, to be honest. I hope she uses it as motivation for the rest of the tourney.

Fair and balanced reporting.

I couldn't take issue with a single sentence.

A French person on the blog said that Black women in French tennis are almost unheard of. Why that is, I've no clue.

Why she said that, or why it is Craig? There was a black Frenchwoman in the main draw. Stephanie Foretz.

Since you put it that way, I'd say both. But I took her at her word, Foretz notwithstanding, and meant why it is.

Based upon what I have been shared to me by North African friends that live in Switzerland:

My friend has relatives in France and there is a low tolerance for people of color in France. There is this dichotomy of "we don't see color," but a implicit reality of no-one can show pride in their color. Women of color are practically "invisible" in that country.

The French love black American culture and music, but there is another reality there that has worsen in the past 10 to 15 years.

She is "mixed-race." Europeans view mixed-race people differently. In America we would categorize Foretz as black. Not in Europe.

She bought a house in Paris and speaks pretty good French. One would think that would endear her to Parisians. So far, not so much.

I suspect it's not just one thing, but the combination of several. But I won't work out that theory because it's simply conjecture on my part.

All I know is that I'm actually kind of glad Venus is done with that environment. It's a relief in many ways because I honestly wasn't going to watch much more of it. For what I saw today, the television was on mute.

Also, there is another aspect of this French thing. The French are big fans of finesse tennis. That is why they like Federer. If you watch the French players with the exception Monfis (I can't spell his name), they play like swashbucklers with smooth strokes and panache.

The French fans hate brute force players (thus the reason Nadal is not appreciated). I don't think they like Sharapova's game either. That is another layer to the whole thing as well.

Hard not to agree with this. Serena seems to want to conquer it, though. Almost too much, maybe. She's certainly never been the same there since 2003, and I don't say that to bash her opponent, but to recall the crowd's reaction to a player who did absolutely nothing untoward in the match, played well within the rules by having calls that went against her checked by the chair, and was nothing short of attacked from the stands.

I just think France's social relations have become tarnished in recent years. And they are are in deep denial about it.

Let's not forget the Sometimes Roland Garros Crowds Are Just Pure A**holes Theory.

But they love Andy Roddick.

Amazing how I forget this every year... http://forum.talkabouttennis.com/ima...lies/frown.png

Agreed

http://www.talkabouttennis.com/forum...milies/yes.gif

This came as a shocker to me.

And then there's that.

Yet the Bercy Masters crowd is wonderful.

It seems to me that the American bravado is romanticized abroad, and Roddick embodies that.

Funny, Rafa's bravado isn't, and it would also seem as bravado in women would not be as well seen, cause Serena's got as much, or more, bravado than Roddick.

Let's not forget that Roddick wears Lacoste. I'm sure that helps.