MontrealGazzette
Marion - Not at all happy

One thing that stood out for me about last weeks WTA (saga) Tour in Montreal is the amount of time it took out of my week. I possibly spent more time following this event as a fan than any other event outside of a slam.

Players accept that a certain amount of hanging around comes with the job. Nevertheless it is the role of officials to oversee the organisation of a tournament in order that delays are kept to a minimum, the event runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible, and player and fan incovenience is negligible.

My describing the Rogers Cup a "fiasco", indicates that I feel the officials overseeing the tournament should have did a better job.

Marion spoke of being exhausted and of sleeping between matches. I would like to know why from day 1 was Marion's match pushed around the schedule? I would like to know why it always seemed to be Marion's matches that where the first to be shifted in the order of play and switched from one court to the next? These things didnt just happen once, but throughout the week. Marion Bartoli, Wimbledon finalist, pushed from pillar to post.

When an ongoing match is switched to another court visa-vis rain-break's, then that's a sign of a tournament in disarray. But then the future of the Rogers Cup has been under a cloud for some time. When those clouds revisited Montreal last week, and relieved their annual pent-up angst over Centre Court and Banque Nationale, tournament director Eugene Lapierre and his band of merry men, hand-rung, ran for cover, left Marion to drown, after scuppering her chances.

To her credit, Marion refused the leaven of bad-loser, saying that Cibulkova was just too good in the third set. Marion instead reserved her criticism for the tournament director and match referee. Righly so, for these are the people largely responsible for Marion missing out on a good chance at a debut tier 1 title.

I find myself wondering if things would have been different if Marion Bartoli hadnt been marginalised by official decsion making, and other players continually given preferrential treament at her expense - It cant be easy to wait around for a whole day for someone to bring the keys to open the office so you can go do your job, after a 3000 mile flight spanning three time zones! This is analogous with the way Marion was treated last week.

Just why was Marion singled-out? Is it some kind of vendetta? Maybe they dont like Marion and her fathers style and are meating out a kind of unofficial punishment beating to them. Am I really being hysterical? Well not if you tune in regularly to some supposedly reputable tennis broadcasters. You'd come to believe she deserved to be treated in a second class way.

You dont treat first class players in a second class way. With the exception of The Williams sisters and Maria, no one can convince me that there is anyone else in the top 20 who is a class above Marion. And on her day Marion can beat anyone in the top 20, slams inclusive. I believe that. Facts back it up. Some rotten resuits here or there dont deter me from that conviction. Marion is as first class as anyone else on the tour at this time. Therefore she shouldnt been treated, not as superior, not as inferior, but ib a fair and reasonable in Montreal. Why treat Marion differently?

Whatever the motives of the officials in Montreal, their judgment faculties as tennis people was somewhat defficient. It simply isnt credible in my mind to delegate, or rather relegate, Marion's match to another court while it's in progress. And for what? All for the sake of a perfuctory damp squib affair between Safina and Azarenka. the real fireworks where to be found in the Bartoli Cibulkova match. A three set drama. Not some one hour bagelfest next door.

Are the officials trying to say that Safina is a better player than Marion? Fact is, Marion eliminated Dinara Safina from last years Rogers Cup. And Marion beat her again in their last meeting.

Granted, Safina got to the French Open final and is the player of the moment alongside Ivanovic. But the present form of Marat Safin's sister is not exceptional enough in my view to warrant the reassignment of Marion's match to make way for Safina v Azarenka. Nor do the rankings, grand slam record, or head to head, justify this decision. It's doubtful any reason ever justifes such a shabby decision. But then these officials are not tennis people anymore. They are commercial people looking after their own derrier! The absurd thing is that the constant rearranging of Marion's matches was hardly a gainful enterprise for the Rogers Cup in terms of broadcasting revenue. Indeeed their dithering on Saturday probably cost them.

Despite a virus, Marion showed courage and good faith by not reneaging on her tournement commitments in the way that other players have done with Montreal over the years.

I had word from a friend who was in Montreal last week. Neither she nor her companion where able to locate Marion at the practice courts. Everyone else was there. But no Marion.

This stands to reason for all and any of the following, a). She was tired and sleepy, b). She was dealing with a virus, c). She was waiting nearby for her imminent matches and didnt get a full opportunity to practice anyway.. Immenent.. like 1024 hours later! d). Last year she inadvertenly caused a minor stir in Montreal and San Diego, became talk of the tour again on the basis of Walter Bartoli's introduction of a retractable pipe used during training drills involving upper-body work.. (See YouTube video if your the kind of punter seeking to be agreeably shocked. Sigh.)

So, would you want to try train when you cant get peace and quiet to get on with it? Would you fancy being the subject of yet more whispers and giggles among fans and players?

I'm just guessing. But in addition to not wishing to further spread a virus, I can easily form a narrative to explain dear Marion's practice court absence.

Yet prevaricating tournament director, Eugene Lapierre, said of the virus "a check with the doctor revealed only six minor cases. All the evidence suggests this isn't a Montreal bug, but one imported from Los Angeles, last week's stop on the women's tour".(Montreal Gazette)

We can quibble about the numbers and source, but fact is all was not well at the Rogers Cup.. in more ways than one. I'm sure the Franco-Canadian tournament is one that Marion is only too glad to bid au revior to.

EDITED 18/08/08