[Rod_Laver Slam]

WTF is Ben even talking about... "Or today on the court: Hey, Ben, how does it feel that no matter who you play in your next match, no one is going to be cheering for you?"

That's not what the interviewer said at all. He actually said that in Ben's SF match the crowd will likely be on either the home guy's (AdM) or the world #1's (Sinner) side [i.e. who the crowd will side with and not that no one would be cheering for Ben], and asked if Ben sees it that way. And Ben agreed that this is probably the case, but that he will also have people backing him. To which the interviewer replied: "Definitely... lots of support in your corner... lots of American flags throughout the crowd. Congratulations, through to the semis! Best of luck to you!"

Bunch of BS.

The fact that the interviewer is speaking about that at all is absolutely disgusting. To talk with the player "who the crowd will support", "who loves who and who hates who". Djokovic is constantly asked how does he feel as "hated player" when he is loved by millions of people. The journalists are totally out of touch. Absolutely agree with Ben.

 

[R]

Not offensive per se but a very awkward set of questions that Tien could barely find answers to.

Nothing here either. Which of the questions or remarks is supposedly an issue here?

And Saraya wrote: "Wasn´t it Tien who was so angry that he take the mic from the interviewer and do the "interview" alone?" An eye and an ear exam is in order ASAP.

Never seen a guy this angry before. Fuming.

 

[IBM]

Feel like AO interviewers are getting a lot of stick for being ‘offensive’ when in reality they’re at utmost cringe. It’s just that most of the interviewers try to conduct interviews the same way Courier does, but most of them don’t have his wit or charisma to ask this kind of questions. Besides Courier got a connection to the tennis players since he is a former one too and always involved in the tennis world, much more than the likes of Petkovic.

So Courier is well respected, known for his banter, most of the other folks who get to interview the players are only known to Australian viewers and pretty sure the players themselves don’t even know them. So it’s a bit silly to pretend to be best buddies with some, as the vibe ain’t quite there.

To cut it short, much ado about absolutely nothing and tennis players (Djokovic included) should grow a thicker skin, AO otoh get folks who are a tad more serious

 

[MWW]

Nothing here either. Which of the questions or remarks is supposedly an issue here?

And Saraya wrote: "Wasn´t it Tien who was so angry that he take the mic from the interviewer and do the "interview" alone?" An eye and an ear exam is in order ASAP.

Never seen a guy this angry before. Fuming.
View attachment 425053

Explained here: Star's Australian Open interview goes viral for all the wrong reasons

I don't think it was as bad as written about. It was 3am after all, and John's style of interviewing aims to establish rapport with the player even if that didn't come off sweetly ("I know where you live!"). He brought up some good points (e.g. 1st ten pt TB) but the way he phrased some things confused Tien as to how he should best respond.

 

[James1979]

The fact that the interviewer is speaking about that at all is absolutely disgusting. To talk with the player "who the crowd will support", "who loves who and who hates who". Djokovic is constantly asked how does he feel as "hated player" when he is loved by millions of people. The journalists are totally out of touch. Absolutely agree with Ben.

Wth are you talking about? He was simply saying „surely the crowd is going to be more on the side of de Minaur for that one.?!“

 

[MWW]

Ben Shelton - hats off to you! Bravo for you honest words. I can't believe the interviewer said to him that ""no one is going to be cheering for him"- totally disgusting! I am going to cheer for him and even wish him all the best - if he can win this GS it will be great for the sport.

I don't think that was the intent to mean he doesn't deserve to be cheered on. The idea is Shelton is playing either a home favourite De Minaur, or the world no.1, which means crowd support may not be on his side. Granted, the world no.1 is Sinner, rather than Federer or Nadal, but the point remains. Could the question be phrased in a more sensitive and less blunt manner? Yes.

 

[James1979]

Having watched again it’s hard to tell if the interviewer means the Sinner Minaur match or the semifinal.

 

[gonzo79]

And why does he demand respect? Players are traditionally classless clowns for the most part. Don't show respect to anyone from fans, umpires, linesmen, their equipment, physios (with all the fake MTO) and most of all ball kids. Not long ago they demanded for kids to carry their dirty a$$ towels.

 

[R]

Explained here: Star's Australian Open interview goes viral for all the wrong reasons

I don't think it was as bad as written about. It was 3am after all, and John's style of interviewing aims to establish rapport with the player even if that didn't come off sweetly ("I know where you live!"). He brought up some good points (e.g. 1st ten pt TB) but the way he phrased some things confused Tien as to how he should best respond.

Dumb. Trash sensationalism. Ok, let's break it down a bit:

-- 'Nineteen-year-olds are not meant to be that good,' he said. ---> A joking way of saying "That was an incredible performance from a 19 year old."

-- 'I don't know what to say to that,' Tien said as the crowd laughed at his response. ---> Nothing wrong with the answer or the reaction.

-- Fitzgerald kept digging himself into a hole as he totally confused the teenager with a puzzling statement. ---> He hadn't dug himself in a hole to begin with.

-- 'I used to live in Newport Beach so I know where you live, by the way,' he said. ---> Building rapport as you said. Maybe a bit awkward, but harmless.

-- It left the exhausted Tier looking around the court for any way to get out of the interaction. ---> Not really. Sensationalist BS.

-- Instead of asking his first question, Fitzgerald followed up by making another statement. 'Goodness me, that is an exceptional effort. You know, it is the first a five-setter has gone to a super tiebreak this year,' he said. ---> More praise for what he just witnessed.

-- Finally, came his first question: 'You don't know what to say to that either, do you?' ---> Wanted to hear Tien's thoughts on playing and winning this marathon, the first of its kind this year.

-- 'I was definitely hoping it was not going to go to a fifth set breaker,' Tien replied. 'But you know, either way, just really happy to get a win. 'I know I made it a lot harder than maybe it could have been, but you know, whatever.' ---> And he got the thoughts.


And so on. Not gonna go through it any further. Sensationalist BS from Daily Fail. People clearly have too few issues going for them in their lives. Hopefully this will be rectified and they will use clergymen to conduct the interviews going forward. We need order and textbook grammar to these situations.

 

[Kooyong]

The problem with on court interviews is they are aimed at the casual viewer

 

[MWW]

Watch it again, he is saying that the crowd will be on De Minaur‘s side against Sinner.

The question was slopped together subject wise in a slightly ambiguous manner "you're making it through to the semi, you're going to play either Jannik Sinner or Alex De Minaur...the crowd are going to be on the other guy's side for that, aren't they?"

What is "for that" and "other guy" referring to? To me I see the best fit to be referring to the semi final, and "other guy" to mean Shelton's SF opponent, whether that be Sinner or De Minaur..

 

[James1979]

The question was slopped together subject wise in a slightly ambiguous manner "you're making it through to the semi, you're going to play either Jannik Sinner or Alex De Minaur...the crowd are going to be on the other guy's side for that, aren't they?"

What is "for that" and "other guy" referring to? To me I see the best fit to be referring to the semi final, and "other guy" to mean Shelton's SF opponent, whether that be Sinner or De Minaur..

Yeah, I edited my post, it’s ambiguous in this case.

 

[Bumsby]

Shelton is definitely marketable. Yes he's arrogant, but he has swagger, he has game and he has personality when being interviewed. He's also shown that he's a big match player, with this being his second semifinal along with an additional quarterfinal from the past couple of years.

Certainly one to watch for the ATP if they're smart.

why do people keep saying he’s arrogant? he’s not more arrogant than, say, djokovic, but i guess it sticks out more when one isn’t white

 

[Bumsby]

I have a (white British) colleague who moved to Australia and then left because he couldn’t stand the racism there. So maybe there’s a pattern there.

The AO will stay in A but imo Ben has a valid point.

 

[dany.p]

A few sensitive princesses on the ATP tour.

 

[The Federest]

Aussie humour once again misunderstood by humourless.

Fixed it for you.

 

[R]

Exactly, the interviewer was simply talking about Sinner vs De Minaur. So Ben is wrong about this too.

Nope, he was talking about who Shelton would be facing next. And that in either case the crowd would likely be more on the side of Ben's opponent (for the fact that AdM is the home guy and Sinner is the #1 player (and generally gets support I might add)).

 

[R]

Ben Shelton - hats off to you! Bravo for you honest words. I can't believe the interviewer said to him that ""no one is going to be cheering for him"- totally disgusting! I am going to cheer for him and even wish him all the best - if he can win this GS it will be great for the sport.

You may find it hard to believe that the interviewer said that... Understandably so... because he didn't. Ben putting words in his mouth.

 

[Kooyong]

I have a (white British) colleague who moved to Australia and then left because he couldn’t stand the racism there. So maybe there’s a pattern there.

The AO will stay in A but imo Ben has a valid point.

How do you explain surging support for Reform?

 

[Tezza12]

why do people keep saying he’s arrogant? he’s not more arrogant than, say, djokovic, but i guess it sticks out more when one isn’t white

Of course that must be it. It couldn't possibly be the phone symbol for example that everybody called him out for. I'm really hoping that wasn't an accusation of racism...