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When Courier Said Nike Schedules US Open Matches
9 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
It’s been said big donors control American politics and that big sponsors control pro tennis.
One Grand Slam champion once actually revealed and confirmed that a major tennis sponsor does indeed control Grand Slam court scheduling…
At the 1995 US Open ATP world no. 3 Thomas Muster complained that his match should have been on Grandstand and not Jim Courier.
When Courier was asked about Muster’s gripe in a press conference, he replied: “He (Muster) wears Lotto so does Boris Becker and they should know that Nike does all the scheduling — a lot of players get — they have no privilege. He is lucky to be playing on the main site — I mean, I am surprised he is not playing in Central Park.”
Courier added: “Phil (Knight) pretty much just decides what court he wants to sit and watch a match on, basically.”
Jim Courier · Nike · Thomas Muster · US Open
catherine · April 18, 2023 at 3:31 am
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2023/apr/18/emma-raducanu-wta-tournament-stuttgart
Interesting read but grim undertones to this piece on decline of WTA tournaments with repercussions for the WTA as a whole.
Maybe one reason for the rush back to China’s embrace ?
Scoop Malinowski · April 18, 2023 at 8:38 am
Thanks Catherine, I didn’t realize the wta is that deep in crisis. Equal prize money is one of the worst injustices in sports history. It’s a shame BJK lied about Arthur Ashe changing his stance to support equal prize money. The wta needs to get it’s act together before it gets much worse. Maybe wheel out the ghost of Serena for two more years.
catherine · April 18, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Ostapenko absolutely mauled Raducanu. Emma’s going nowhere. Really dreadful performance. She’s young, but the foundations don’t seem to be there. She should drop down a level. No reason take a WC into Stuttgart.
This season’s going to be important for the WTA – needs at least 3 or 4 players who are secure in the top 10 and can fill the stands. This is happening in the ATP – more or less a smooth transition but not so among the women.
Pretty horrendous showing from Kasatkina too. What’s the matter with these women ?
Scoop Malinowski · April 18, 2023 at 5:09 pm
Catherine, everyone and especially the elite wta players get extra motivated to stomp down Emma and her uppity ambitions.
catherine · April 19, 2023 at 1:45 am
I don’t knów about Emma’s ambitions but she looks unhappy and devoid of tactics on the court. I doubt the other players rate her. She would not have qualified for Stuttgart.
Next thing we’ll hear she’s with Patrick M. Or maybe off to college which, IMO, is where she belongs at this point in her life.
Important question – where’s Simona ?
Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2023 at 8:15 am
Raducanu, like Sock, has trained very hard and is super fit, but the results are not coming. She’s lost a lot of confidence and it’s possible in her own mind she’s wondering if her US Open was indeed a miracle. Sock crashed out of Sarasota Open to an unknown ranked 1497 and he has dropped out of Tallahasee – he may be finished with tennis and focusing on pickleball pro tournament in April. If Halep was truly innocent I think she would have devoted more energy to fighting the injustice.
catherine · April 19, 2023 at 12:03 pm
Yes – I’ll believe in Simona’s absolute innocence when I see her back on the court. Something murky went on. And the longer Simona stays away the worse it looks.
Yet I really find the idea of her dabbling in dope, or even employing people with the faintest connection with that kind of stuff just impossible to take in. Sharpie yes, Simona no.
I remember Sock’s fall from grace. Just about the time he got married. His disaffection from tennis began about then. Maybe he just found other things to concentrate on. He retains the basic skills but the desire is gone.
Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2023 at 7:34 pm
catherine, her ex agent Ruzici and ex coach Halep profusely defend her character and integrity and innocence. But Halep not fighting the decision isn’t good optics. Innocent people don’t sit quietly, they scream injustice and take legal action. Or in other cases, riot ) At this point, I’d rather see Halep riot than doing nothing. She’s been tagged as a drug cheat.
Scoop Malinowski · April 19, 2023 at 10:29 pm
Hard to say if marriage contributed to Sock’s fall. He had that really bad year in 2019 when he didn’t win one match and lost his ranking. Then in 2020 he came back with his wife at all the tournaments with coach Bogomolov, they worked hard but maybe he couldn’t give full energy to tennis with his wife always around and enjoying her company and keeping her entertained. She had to be a distraction but then again also an extra inspiration. Nobody can say for sure if he would have fared better if he wasn’t married. Last week in Sarasota he came by himself, no wife and still lost first round to a guy ranked 1497. Then dropped out of Tallahassee. Tennis is hard enough when totally focused 100 percent on it, I’d lean towards believing marriage didn’t help his tennis career.