I think tennis in the U.S. is not doing well because people would rather watch football, basketball or baseball. Making people more aware? Not really, I don't think so. Tennis is boring--no personalities anymore. (Andy) Roddick's got a personality, but that's about it. They need to do something different. Something needs to happen.
I agree that people would rather watch football, basketball or baseball. Americans like team sports, and especially testosterone-loaded team sports. But Harkleroad must live in a hole to believe there are no pro tennis personalities. Pro tennis is a veritable stage show of antics, wit, candor, charm, and glamour. Maria Sharapova, Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Marat Safin, Amelie Mauresmo, Sam Stosur, Marcos Baghdatis...come on. Is Francesca Schiavone screaming in Italian and making sexy signals to her boyfriend not enough personality? Is Dmitry Tursunov putting on a tennis skirt and imitating Sharapova not enough personality?
Perhaps Harkleroad believes that American viewers do not care about players who are not American. Where would she ever get a silly idea like that?....
But even if viewers restrict their interest to Americans, we have the Williams sisters, who have added as much personality to tennis as anyone has to any professional sport. And we have Bethanie Mattek, and that's as good as it gets.
