By Scoop Malinowski
Top American Taylor Fritz won his first round Roland Garros match but suffered from an embarrassing encounter with the fake news tennis media yesterday.
The controversy stemmed from Fritz harmlessly stating that he would like to see more colorful personalities in pro tennis.
“One thing we can do on the tour is be accepting of crazier attitudes. There should be more openness for players to be crazier and create drama.”
An irritated Fritz saw how the fake news media changed his words into a misleading story and consequently tweeted a threat to boycott the tennis media because of the unforced error that misportrayed his intent: “Yo Iām actually never answering questions in press again, this title is ABSOLUTELY WILDā¦. Tell me where I called on anybody to have crazy āmega outburstsā – let me clarify my stance officially… I think being crazy/animated/interacting with the crowd is entertaining and there should be leeway for players to do it without worry of being fined, AS LONG as OBVIOUSLY the players actions donāt put anyone else in harms way, that is not okay and should be punished harder then itās been.”
One outlet got a hold of Fritz’s original comment and mangled the story with a sensationalized fake news headline.
Express Sports misinterpreted Fritz’s statements and altered it into this falsified headline:
“Taylor Fritz calls on Nick Kyrgios and fellow players to act crazier with mega outbursts.”
Fritz was understandably upset: “Horrendous from you (Express Sport), should be embarrassed with that title.”
Fritz reinforced his point about wishing to see more colorful, charismatic expressions of personality on the courts of professional tennis with an example. “Saw a Yannick Noah clip the other day where he went into the crowd and had a sip of someoneās champagne, it was pretty funny/entertaining…. definitely would get fined for that today.”
Nick Kyrgios himself even came to the defense of Fritz with this Tweet reply: “Hahahahahahah brother, the media do what they want. Itās embarrassing.”
It’s not known if the no. 13 seed Fritz will follow through on his threat to boycott the tennis media or if he will continue to do press conferences during his bid to win the 2022 Roland Garros title which resumes today vs. Spain’s Bernard Zapata Miralles in a second round showdown.
It is also not known if this embarrassing episode will be a useful spark to correct the flaws, biases, agendas and sloppiness of the fake news tennis media, which last year fellow American Reilly Opelka slammed as “the worst, awful.”
California · Express Sport · Head tennis · Nike · Roland Garros · Taylor Fritz
Bill McGill · May 25, 2022 at 7:47 am
I should know this, but I don’t with certainty. Express Sports stories carry a byline as if written by a reporter, but the weird sentence construction and repetitive formula of stories strongly implies machine-generated copy. Am I correct in assuming these stories are largely computer generated from other media?
Scoop Malinowski · May 25, 2022 at 9:34 am
Bill, I dont follow express sport at all so no idea how they create content or who writes for them.
catherine · May 26, 2022 at 6:57 am
If ‘Express Sports’ has anything to do with Express newspapers in the UK I wouldn’t waste a second of my life reading it. We can all make choices.
BTW Scoop, is there any tennis medium which isn’t ‘fake’ ? Just asking. Give me some names. Or are you simply referring to attention getting headlines, written of course by subeditors, not by reporters.
It’s my view, based on experience, that press conferences in tennis are in the main boring and unneccessary and could be abandoned without anyone really noticing. The quality of reporting would definitely improve.
Scoop Malinowski · May 26, 2022 at 8:08 am
Catherine, there are a couple of sites that provide good tennis content, magazines too. ATP site has some good features. There are some really good twitter sources too. But generally a lot of the content is too general and boring, vanilla, bland. I like Final magazine a lot, and the second issue is even better. Cool original content, quality writing, no political agendas.
Sam · May 26, 2022 at 8:25 am
catherine wrote:
Itās my view, based on experience, that press conferences in tennis are in the main boring and unneccessary
Yeah, I’ve never really understood why there are so many of them. After the big matches, I could see. But after every single match? I can only conclude that it has to be about money. āŗļø
Scoop Malinowski · May 26, 2022 at 8:31 am
Yes press conferences are seldon worth going to, i stopped a long time ago. it’s the same questions, same answers, most players would prefer not to do it, most players reveal very little. Some are super nice though, Dimitrov used and may still say think you to the repoters who attend his press conference.
catherine · May 26, 2022 at 9:52 am
Sam – I tend to think press conferences are a response to media demands, which increase year on year. Some reporters watch very few matches live and depend on quotes (or transcriptions) to lead their stories. If press conferences were cancelled, or reduced in frequency, hacks would be the first to complain. Generally, good writers can do without, the rest depend on them.
At Wimbledon in the (very) old days, enough journalists had to request that a player come and answer questions, it wasn’t automatic, let alone a ‘duty’. Naomi would’ve loved that.
Scoop Malinowski · May 26, 2022 at 1:32 pm
Even Danielle Collins has become a cliche machine: “You need to trust the process and take it one point at a time because the first round of a major can be the most difficult.”
Sam · May 27, 2022 at 12:17 pm
If press conferences were cancelled, or reduced in frequency, hacks would be the first to complain. Generally, good writers can do without, the rest depend on them.
You’re probably right, Catherineātheir main purpose is to prop up lazy journalists! š
At Wimbledon in the (very) old days, enough journalists had to request that a player come and answer questions, it wasnāt automatic, let alone a ādutyā. Naomi wouldāve loved that.
I wonder what decade press conferences became standard? š¤
Scoop Malinowski · May 27, 2022 at 12:41 pm
At US Open ad Miami Open too most reporters never even leave the confines of the press room, cafeteria and interview rooms, most do not go out to watch actual matches. There are some name tennis reporters I have never seen watching a match, they all just filter in and out of the cafeteria, press center and interview rooms. I am one of the few who does watch a ton of matches and so I’ve been fortunate to see and learn a lot to share with you here. Press conferences are as predictable as a Nadal first week match at Roland Garros.
catherine · May 27, 2022 at 3:21 pm
Sam – end of the seventies press conferences were more or less established and the press facilities had begun to expand. More foreign journalists appeared to follow Borg, Vilas and players from countries other than the traditional US, Australia, Europe. Press passes became harder to get.
Problems at W’don (including a punchup) as ‘non-tennis’ media invaded the press room. Generally tabloids looking for scandal. McEnroe usually good for a shouting match with favoured journalists. Transcriptions of Pcs became routine, making it easy for lazy hacks to stay in the cafeteria/bar all day as Scoop notes. Lot of drinking in 70s/80s.
Scoop Malinowski · May 27, 2022 at 5:42 pm
Catherine was there a sense of corruption lurking in tennis back in the 70s and 80s like there is now? Did politics ever crossover into tennis besides the South Africa apartheid issue which we don’t need to go into? I feel the tv coverage back then was superior and more purely about the tennis. Now you have Martina, Shriver, Stubbs, Roddick on the tennis channel all seemingly trying to impress their left wing bosses by pushing lefty politics, perhaps for job security. Drysdale, Stolle, young Carillo, McEnroes were better.
catherine · May 28, 2022 at 3:45 am
Scoop – I wrote a reply which disappeared so I’ll just summarise.
No, partisan politics didn’t come into tennis in those days. In fact that was something to stay away from. Coverage was less extensive, no plethora of commercial channels and of course no internet and in the UK mostly on the BBC.
Tennis politics was a very active scene – everyone pushing for a slice of the prizemoney cake and opposition to the ITF.
I liked Wimbledon when Dan Maskell and Jack Kramer did the commentary. Long silences. Lovely.
Your definition of ‘left’ is probably not mine so we won’t go there. Just say that in the US the British Conservative party might seem dangerously ‘left wing’ to some.
Really, the main difference between Then and Now (in the UK) is the appearance of the word ‘media’ and the disappearance of the Old Fleet St culture where hacks were drunk from dawn to dusk but somehow managed to get work done and ink came off in your hands when you read the paper.
And reporters could actually speak to stars of the game – just like a real conversation.
Sam · May 28, 2022 at 5:46 am
Sam ā end of the seventies press conferences were more or less established and the press facilities had begun to expand. . . .
Transcriptions of Pcs became routine, making it easy for lazy hacks to stay in the cafeteria/bar all day as Scoop notes.
Thanks for all the interesting info, Catherine. šæ Wish we could go back to the very old days. š°
Scoop Malinowski · May 28, 2022 at 8:33 am
Ok thanks for these details Catherine. Times have changed indeed.
Marina T · June 1, 2022 at 3:09 am
To tell the truth, it is such a frequent case when journalists misrepresent the words of famous people and present information in a favorable light for them, but it is so unfair. I absolutely agree with Nick Kyrgios that the media do what they want and they really often cross the boundaries that, from my point of view, is absolutely unacceptable. The situation with Taylor Fritz is a direct confirmation of this and I think that he should boycott tennis media because they feel a lot of freedom, acting in a very impudent way. In my opinion, tennis media performs a really significant function and they need to bring true information to the masses because they write about important things which can affect the peopleās consciousness or perception. I think that Taylor Fritz wanted to convey wise thoughts which make a great sense if you delve into them. I think that people need to know the true message of his statement and take it into account because the words of Taylor Fritz carries an important idea which can affect professional tennis in a positive way.
Scoop Malinowski · June 1, 2022 at 8:29 am
Marina, the tennis media has to be MUCH BETTER. As Reilly Opelka said about the tennis media, “it’s the worst, awful.” Now Fritz will hold back on his public comments to media and we will likely no longer see his real character and charisma. As Trump said, “The media is the enemy of the world.”
Scoop Malinowski · June 1, 2022 at 8:55 pm
Was told this interesting quote today by a former top 10 WTA pro: “Can you imagine being exposed to Martina strutting around naked in the locker room with her man’s body as a 15 year old? The WTA is a despicable organization.”
Sam · June 2, 2022 at 9:03 am
Scoop, about the quote, what exactly was this pro trying to say? Was Martina actually hitting on the other women? š¤
Is she also implying that Martina was on the juice?
Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2022 at 9:14 am
Sam, she did not specify exactly, she kind of left it cryptic, I’m trying to obtain more info. She also added Martina is not a nice person at all and she’s also rather dumb and not intelligent as she tries to pretend she is. This ex player is very disgusted with the whole culture of the wta and the redundant way most of the players play though she did like Barty.
Sam · June 3, 2022 at 9:42 am
She also added Martina is not a nice person at all
Scoop, that’s what I’ve gathered. In fact, I believe that Martina treated some of her former lovers like absolute garbage. š
sheās also rather dumb and not intelligent as she tries to pretend she is
I can believe that too. š
This ex player is very disgusted with the whole culture of the wta
Sounds like a wise woman. š
Scoop Malinowski · June 3, 2022 at 12:15 pm
Sam, Can’t even rule out Barty quitting to just get out of the whole freak show mess. Barty just published a kinds book series with all positive messages, great champion Barty was like Margaret Court she is doing positive great things after tennis. WTA site hasn’t even mentioned Barty’s books. But WTA site is all about promoting gay pride month, heavy promotion all over the wta site. Not a word about Barty’s positive books. Awful. https://www.celebritykind.com/celebritykind-books/ash-barty-announces-release-of-little-ash-childrens-book-series/
Scoop Malinowski · June 3, 2022 at 12:42 pm
At this point with all of Nadal’s miraculous luck is it okay to wonder if Nadal has made some kind of deal with the devil? You know, like the Hollywood horror film classic “Rosemary’s Baby” which somebody once told me actually is not a film but it’s a “documentary.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary%27s_Baby_(film)
Scoop Malinowski · June 3, 2022 at 12:46 pm
illuminati shoes. Encompassing the Black Sun (Saturn Rings) on the outside of the symbol (Along with the Nike Saturn ring), Lightning bolt “Satan fell like lightning”, and it comes together to create Devil horns.
The number 9 (Six upside down) Yes I know he won 9 French opens, but it has a double meaning.
Most incredible athletes become puppets of the illuminati because of their fan base and groups of people that they influence. Rafael Nadal was most likely sworn into the illuminati because of his fame and talent, now he wears their symbols to show his allegiance. Lebron James is another example of Illuminati Athletes. https://steemit.com/illuminati/@ajscarp/rafael-nadal-dressed-in-full-illuminati-gear
Sam · June 3, 2022 at 2:34 pm
But WTA site is all about promoting gay pride month, heavy promotion all over the wta site.
Blech. Well, I don’t ever plan to visit that site again. š¤® As you said, maybe Barty was smart to leave the freak show.
Most incredible athletes become puppets of the illuminati because of their fan base and groups of people that they influence. Rafael Nadal was most likely sworn into the illuminati because of his fame and talent, now he wears their symbols to show his allegiance.
Hmmmm, I’d never really thought of that before. Very interesting, Scoop. And I think there could well be some truth to the matter. . . . š¤
Scoop Malinowski · June 3, 2022 at 10:03 pm
Sam, yes there is a lot of evidence and research showing people like Lebron and other making illuminati signals. Larry Johnson 27 is a former NFL running back for Kansas City and his twitter account was fascinating as he would make non stop reveals about illuminati and satanism in pro sports at the highest levels, they banned him from twitter a year ago but his account is still there frozen but all his tweets are still there and it’s an amazing read. He somehow knows a lot and drops bombs. Worth a long study… https://twitter.com/2LarryJohnson7