Equal opportunities

Someone somewhere posted recently that he (or she??) couldn't bear watching women's tennis at the FO and was obviously waiting for an appropriate men's match to follow. Well that wish was quickly answered by some fairy godmother Eurosport who decided a geriatric Hewitt was more to the audience liking than Li Na playing Cirstea.

Now my question is this. Last year when she was a relative long shot (although) still in the top 10 they did the same shabby thing to Li Na (from memory0 for at least her first two matches. OK so she's Chinese but I hadn't heard that Lleyton had obviously acquired EU citizenship or whatever. Like it or not a) she's the defending champion and b) she's in with just as much of a shout as Azartenka, Sharapova and Serena. Would they treat those three with the same lack of respect? I don't know if they showed early stages of Li Na's match but they then waited until it was effectively over a contest before giving it much air-time.

It's almost the equivalent of saying let's not show Nadal's match because some thirty year old has-been is having her swan song on some outside court. So Eurosport next time there's a clash between a genuine contender in the ladies event and some dinosaur trying to eek out a few more Euros for their pension plan why not show the girls just a little more respect?!

How about respecting the viewer and putting interesting tennis on instead of adhering to some politically correct agenda?

The players are on court. They get to watch what they're playing regardless of what ITV or Eurosport do; it's the viewer who is affected by their decision, and the viewer who generates the figures that underpin the advertising revenue. So let's respect the customer shall we?

Eurosport shows all year round WTA tournament that no one else shows, and I applaud them for spending money of that coverage.

Maybe you have a thing for Li Na, so keep it private and chill out.

bb fair point. There are indeed perhaps bigger names out there to a Western audience than Li Na but that doesn't alter the fact that she was given a high profile match start time befitting of her status as reigning champion. If Eurosport then decide there are more interesting matches for their viewers the so be it but if you're not careful as a broadcaster you can concentrate so much more on one player than another before they both reach the final that you (the average viewer) might assume one of them is making up the numbers. If they are both highly seeded players then that obviously would not be the case (as happened last year when Li Na was all but ignored until the second week).

jahu Li Na may well be unable to replicate her run of form from last year. There's plenty of good players in the draw after all and regardless of what you may think I won't be heartbroken if she goes out earlyl. What I am suggesting though is (since a similar pattern to last year may repeat itself) all the top contenders are equally worthy of similar air-time in the tournament.

If Eurosport were to show as little of Sharapova for example over the first week this time round there would be howls of derision.

Perhaps. Personally I'd watch any men's match over any woman's, just my taste.

that appears to be the same sad approach of 90% of the people on this site :-(((

I watch WTA often, and do agree with newballs that Li Na should of not been stopped for Hewitt, but the reaction was a little too harsh