http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/12/11/is-caroline-wozniacki-impersonation-of-serena-williams-racist Comments On: Is Caroline Wozniacki's Impersonation of Serena Williams Racist? by Charles Mudede en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
The sisters met each other in the French final a decade ago, beginning their greatest streak of domination when Serena defeated Venus in four major finals running. Neither had been to the FO final before or has made it since. But there isn't any clear favourite to take the #2 on clay spot of the post-Graf era (the marvelous psychodrama in which Steffi won her final major in 1999 when Ms Hingis had a mental breakdown on court still wins polls for favourite FO final) behind Justine Henin.

In fairness to Ms Graf, she was at one time the biggest server then on tour, though obviously both Williams sisters have advanced that particular distinction past recognition. And the Graf game was constructed for the daunting purpose of dismantling the most successful juggernaut in women's (and possibly overall) tennis history, the Evert-Navratilova rivalry. Recalling not just that she did so but how she executed very deliberate and very different game plans against each, I can't write off how she'd do against a contemporary Ms (S) Williams. Weirdly, though, my favourite memory of Ms Graf is how at the same time she won her first title and defeated Ms Evert, Mr Nicklaus was winning his last Masters. She rallied from 0-4 down in the second set at almost the exact time in which he had his eagle-birdie-birdie run from four strokes behind on the back nine.

On the men's side, I well recall the Sampras-Ivanisevic Wimbledon final in which the number of points on which the ball was hit more than four times was exactly ONE. But then, had it not been for that final, they might not have slowed the court to the extent that produced the 2008 final, the last and greatest match in the three-year run of the Nadal-Federer French-Wimbledon double.
Posted by vennominon]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 21:18:30 -0800 The Stranger Posted by SiSiSodaPop in Vegas]]> Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:40:44 -0800 The Stranger
Next time you need to verify facts before firing insults.

Being a Black woman myself, I don't think it was racist. Caroline is known for her fun personality and therefore I believe she did it in good spirits. I love Serena to bits and not really a Caroline fan and it would be easy for me to just trash Caroline but Caroline does have a history of communicating with the spectators and playing a fool. So I can't call her racist she just traded on dangerous grounds.
Posted by only_saying]]> Thu, 13 Dec 2012 05:21:16 -0800 The Stranger Posted by TenrSinger]]> Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:34:00 -0800 The Stranger
2. Is it true, as #36 above states, that Wozniacki and S. Williams are friends? That might make a difference. (Or did you mean that Wozniacki and her opponent in this match are friends, and she was just trying to bust up her pal on the court?)
Posted by clashfan]]> Wed, 12 Dec 2012 07:47:38 -0800 The Stranger
Serena and Venus are fantastic tennis players. Have always loved them. Serena should just ignore this and not even comment about it. She's better known than Caroline will ever be.
Posted by Patricia Kayden]]> Wed, 12 Dec 2012 04:31:21 -0800 The Stranger
Did she yell out, "Hey everyone, look my impression of Serena Williams!"?
Posted by Ipso Facto]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:23:38 -0800 The Stranger Posted by this guy I know in Spokane]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:10:50 -0800 The Stranger
Now, it might be unsportsmanlike or in bad taste. But racist? It's hard for me to go that far.
Posted by TenrSinger]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 19:39:52 -0800 The Stranger http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/tennis/ri…
Posted by pg13]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 18:19:42 -0800 The Stranger and better than you at tennis, you're already down a set and a half and starting to shake, while she's just getting warmed up.

(Seriously -- when was the last time anybody saw Serena tired?)
Posted by this guy I know in Spokane]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:39:50 -0800 The Stranger Yes. Do you?
Posted by Urgutha Forka]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:02:44 -0800 The Stranger
second guy >> "Racist!"
Posted by a dumb dirty Polack]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:46:05 -0800 The Stranger
(Today on ESPN's Pardon The Interruption, J.A. Adande made the point that Wozniacki's "impression" wasn't racist because it was clearly a spoof on Serena Williams' assets but also, just as clearly, not a spoof on her sister Venus' differently shaped body...thus, not a spoof of Serena being "black" as much as it was a spoof of Serena having big boobs and a big butt...which she does.)
Posted by pg13]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:37:34 -0800 The Stranger
Posted by bigyaz]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:19:38 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Sargon Bighorn]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:01:31 -0800 The Stranger
I understand what you're saying, though. It's why I vastly prefer college football to pro- the pros are too good at preventing unconventional play from being successful to allow it, which makes the game a lot less interesting.

I was appalled during the Olympic coverage, however, that not one of Serena and Venus' tennis matches were covered in primetime, when they were American, and won gold medals. It annoys me that we ignore sports Americans aren't good at, but we couldn't even see Americans winning gold medals in a pretty mainstream sport?
Posted by alguna_rubia]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:40:26 -0800 The Stranger
The answer is:

YES!
Posted by Cascadian Bacon]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:37:57 -0800 The Stranger
Serena's body makes me drool, but her game leaves me apathetic. She is so much stronger and often faster than her opponents that she just blows them off the court, or looks really sloppy in failing to do so. Either way, it just isn't interesting to me. Her "A" game would blow Steffi away, and even that wouldn't be much fun to watch.

Remove the sexy part, and it's the same for Becker & Sampras. Loved watching Boris, but Sampras was a machine.
Posted by Sir Vic]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:21:27 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Charles Mudede]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:04:02 -0800 The Stranger
Or is that merely an assumption?
Posted by Ipso Facto]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:03:45 -0800 The Stranger Kim Clijsters played net all the time and wasn't a particularly strong server. Steffi Graf was a great server, but I think definitely better known for her volleying and agility than her serves. I think both were way more interesting to watch play than the Williams'
Sampras WAS boring (in my opinion). I know it wins games, but that doesn't mean it's not boring.
Even back court volleys are more interesting than watching serves all day long. Agassi was great fun to watch.

But this is all just my own opinion on it. Some people love watching Serena Williams serve all day, that's cool, just not what I'd want to do.
Posted by Urgutha Forka]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:02:36 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Amanda]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:57:57 -0800 The Stranger Posted by giffy]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:53:30 -0800 The Stranger
By the way, I guessed they were friends, then had it confirmed by this post: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/tennis-bus…
Posted by Ross]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:45:23 -0800 The Stranger