Some stars need sensitivity training

By Harvey Araton

NEW YORK, SEPT. 3. They lead jet-setting lives, continent-hopping from one exotic location and culture to another. But limousines await them at the airport, the practice courts all look the same and the entourage of agents and adulators shield them from distractions often no more threatening than the most benign local custom.

Self-absorption and youth often go together like racquet and hand, but Lleyton Hewitt's unaccountability for his racially tinged outburst in his third-round U.S. Open match last Friday against the American James Blake went beyond standard discussions of maturity and growth.

``If it was said in the heat of battle, that's bad but the lesser offence,'' Pam Shriver said. ``But if it was without any understanding of the sensitivity, then the ATP really has to sit him down.''

Emotional and 20, Hewitt insisted there was ``nothing racial'' to his remarks to the umpire as he complained about an African- American linesman's calls during his five-set victory over Blake. ``Look at him, mate, and look at him,'' Hewitt said, referring to Blake - the son of an African-American father and a Caucasian mother - and the linesman. ``You tell me what the similarity is.'' Apparently embarrassed for their country, the older Australian regulars, current and former players, were said to be livid about Hewitt's behavior. On television, John McEnroe called it unforgivable. Mary Carillo, bless her, said Hewitt's postmatch news conference had ``taken a page right out of Gary Condit's playbook'' and suggested that Hewitt ``own up, shut up, then grow up.''

And while these condemnations were all immediate and necessary, they did not obscure the fact that another fierce and marketable tennis match was blemished by insensitivity and sheer stupidity. It wasn't the first time this summer that major tennis stars served up delicious tennis that ultimately had a sour aftertaste.

The two best matches at Wimbledon, in fact, featured intemperate follow-up remarks, not from the mouths of babes but from those who had hit the big Three-Oh. Eyes rolled after Andre Agassi made unflattering sexual comments about a lineswoman following his five-set defeat to Patrick Rafter. Heads shook when Goran Ivanisevic celebrated his long-elusive Wimbledon title with a homophobic-sounding remark directed at a linesman whose call had cost him a key point.

Here at the Open, Agassi explained away his Wimbledon demonstration by saying that such competition can summon anyone's worst demons. Ivanisevic insisted that his foul expression consisted of words without reference or meaning.

And in the seemingly unending women's tour food fight, Martina Hingis said her occasional misadventures into the realm of political incorrectness with regard to the Williams sisters were partly attributable to her unfamiliarity with American custom and law.

It would be unreasonable to expect a young European woman or an Australian like Hewitt to understand the gravity and complexity of America's racial history. Yet as Hewitt said, he is from a ``multicultured'' country that has its own racial conflict and, let's be honest, there are a handful of hot-button social issues that cross all borders.

While Tiger Woods in golf and the Williams sisters in tennis have in recent years elevated the American discussion of the rise of people of colour in country-club sports, tennis for years has had players of colour from India, the Middle East and elsewhere. It will never be the sport of the masses, but tennis is global and becoming more and more diverse.

``You look at Russia and a lot of the Eastern Bloc countries, people that come out and travel and have a chance to play tennis internationally,'' Monica Seles said. ``Then you look at the Williams sisters, who have brought tennis to a different audience. I think the sport has opened up to people who probably wouldn't have gotten a chance beforehand.''

Yet tennis is also a sport that demands a single- minded lifestyle long before adolescence. Most players don't get the benefit of some socialisation on a university campus like our scholar athletes in basketball and football. They grow up and then live in what Shriver called ``the bubble.''

There are exceptions, of course. There are throwbacks. For all his character flaws, Agassi has a deep philanthropic side. Rafter is an Aussie throwback who took a recent challenge by the same James Blake as an opportunity to encourage, not disparage, him. ``He was just a really good fella,'' Rafter said of his conversations with Blake. ``Take people as you find them.''

It would be good advice for players, men and women, and a good start for tennis to begin some serious sensitivity training on its myopic stars.

Hewitt's girlfriend, the Belgian star Kim Clijsters, said, ``He wasn't upset at all because he didn't mean it badly.'' Too many people surround these players and tell them what they want to hear. It's up to tennis to make them understand how they come across.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Tatas to sponsor Indian Open
Next     : Ferrero, Ivanisevic and Seles sink