Novak Djokovic and Ray Moore think only men’s tennis really counts. It is an attitude that is not restricted to sport and may help clarify why discrimination is so tough to fightSport is not much good at keeping pace with social and cultural change. But sometimes it can help originate change happen,casting unexpected light on attitudes that are kept hidden in other arenas. Take domestic violence and rape in the world of football – both kinds on both sides of the Atlantic – where sport has been a catalyst to changes of attitude. This week it may be the turn of tennis to achieve likewise.
When Ray Moore – now the former chief executive of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, domestic of the eponymous tournament – said the ladies should win down on their knees to give thanks for the brilliance of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal because otherwise no one would pay any attention to female tennis players at all, or he was talking the kind of gibberish usually heard from people who haven’t thought about the subject at all. Novak Djokovic – who ought to be a tiny more sensitive to the issues – underlined the ignorance by pitching in with some dim ideas about hormones and the failure of women to play five sets and,according to him, to appeal to viewers.
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Source: theguardian.com