#rianswers

[tennisribbons]

Sometimes I wonder if Iga is even aware of the impact she made on the WTA tour?

Aryna - looks up to her and worked so hard to raise her game to compete with her. She calls the Madrid match that she lost the best of her career.

Coco - Changed her approach on grass this year after watching Iga last year

Jessica - spoke about how everyone raised their level after the 2022 season to compete with her

Mirra - spoke about how she wanted to know how to beat Iga and only Iga and didn’t care about the others.

She isolates herself so much from tennis like it’s a toxic environment. Which it is to an extent. It’s sad that she might not even be aware of how the girls take her as an inspiration and even if she is, I’m afraid that she’ll perceive that as pressure.

I honestly think she isn’t really aware of it ☹️ or if she is maybe she doesn’t fully believe it idk. That’s why I would love for her to just come out of her shell a bit and maybe talk a bit with Coco or Aryna because I honestly think it could do her wonders. She’s such an inspiration for so many players, like most of them probably looked up to her in 2022 and it should’ve given her so much confidence to be considered the standard. Instead it’s like it doesn’t even register with her :( but we all know who to thank for that and who to thank for her being so isolated on tour

[roses-n-rads]

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙!

[tennisribbons]

yipee i hope you enjoyed the (mostly) pinoy crowd for alex!!!

Thank youuuu!! My section was entirely filled with Germans and Czechs but we cheered for her like we were pinoy ourselves haha. Definitely my favourite match I watched today, what a win for her 🥲

Also here’s an Alex looking cutiepie during her on-court interview, I feel like you would sooo appreciate it hehe

[tennisribbons]

This photo of Iga 🥵

https://x.com/igaswiarchive/status/2020590661699875138?s=46&t=kyOyCzZk_ijxCXHgLMVGPg

I’m on the floor

[tennisribbons]

Iga bothered by the skirt so I blocked Roger Federer on instagram

So real of you, let me do the same

[tennisribbons]

Her argument was bs. An average man is stronger and bigger than an average woman but brute force does not translate necessarily to enjoyable sport/athletic prowess. Because serena can't beat Roger in both of their primes does not indicate serena is an inferior athlete to Roger because her game was fierce vicious powerful and had all its merits. The wta is objectively much more brutal and competitive than the atp. Sincaraz pr friendship is honestly. Let's not go there. But saying that an average npc who's watching tennis can calculate that sinner is hitting harder than sabalenka and is hence a superior athlete is pure bioessentialist and misogynistic bs, furthermore I don't think we even need to debate where she's coming from because she openly admits to internalized misogyny and self hate and doesn't see it as a soemthinf to be rectified but as a shield to hide behind. Furthermore women rally better than men at many times and are better returners and frankly? Igas rpm stats ? The factoids you posted earlier? The spirit that Baptiste demonstrated against aryna is not something I even see players display against a paleolithic djokovic in grand slams let alone sincaraz in their prime. So calling them less vicious is WRONG.

And to all this, I often wonder if I am misogynistic for finding male atheltes attractive and hence watching tyhem more or idolising men more than women as a child or thirsting over them or for loving wearing pink and sweet girly clothes and things and being attracted to men bigger and stronger than me but she's showing me there's levels to this shit.

Palaeolithic Djokovic 😭 strawberry look away omg

But another anon with a brain, thank god. And the last paragraph is interesting because personally I don’t think it’s bad to watch athletes because you’re attracted to them (I only ever watch the England women’s national team because I have a crush on Lauren James) and then there’s also the whole thing with internalised misogyny, which takes a lot of time and effort to unlearn. As long as you’re aware of it i don’t think it’s necessarily bad to be more traditionally feminine, it only becomes a problem when someone tries to adhere to every beauty standard for example without ever questioning why they feel the need to do that.

[tennisribbons]

Already saw people say that she wasn’t trying and played like shit 😍

Iganation when she doesn’t double bagel an opponent that’s been playing well and a match is actually competitive: is this the most washed she’s ever been

[tennisribbons]

To come in in support of you and some of the anons (purposefully or obtusely) misinterpreting your response, I think the point (as I see it) is that it's OK to prefer male or female players just as people have preferences for certain sports teams and playing styles, but to presume that one's one PERSONAL PREFERENCE holds the weight of objective value while assigning that preference moral weight along the gender line is a very um . . . false and problematic viewpoint, and potentially requires doing some introspection as to why she thinks that is valid.

Beyond which, she cannot fall back on the "opinion" card after claiming men were "naturally" better and more "vicious" and thus "objectively" more fun to watch. That's the biggest motte and bailey I've seen in a LONG while: you can't claim something as truth and then downgrade to opinion in order to fortify your flimsy argument.

Like sure, women's tennis is played differently than men's tennis. It's actually much more tactical because the serve plays a smaller part and shots are, on average, flatter so the way you coordinate your game around winners is different. That doesn't make it worse. I think it makes it extremely interesting. Strategy can more often outplay force. You can enjoy the style of the men's game without doing the whole comparison gambit.

Also, not that she cares but (because I hated that argument): college american football is more popular than professional american football in over 15 states in the united states (by revenue and viewership). All to say: popularity and enjoyment of watching a sport isn't only just about who would beat anyone at this ever. There are intangibles involved. If she cannot tangibly or intangibly understand why people enjoy watching women's tennis, perhaps she should watch more of it. Everyone should.

(P.S.S.: the men's and women's matches at Indian Wells had EQUAL TV viewership numbers.)

Finally someone with a brain, thank you anon!! Amen to everything you said and I love that you come with receipts. Also very interesting that the matches had equal tv viewership, didn’t know that yet but tracks with the general development of public attention for women’s sports