Tennis tour keeps players, media at a safe distance

Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

As Lindsay Davenport's postmatch press conference on Wednesday strayed into nontennis related topics, Roger Gatchalian sensed enough was enough.

After the top seed at the Wismilak International explained that she spent her off time reading, eating takeout with her husband and playing with her two dogs, Gatchalian, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour senior manager for new media and publications, moved in with a familiar statement.

"Last question, please."

The Australian said he had developed a "feel" for when it's time to pull the plug.

"There's no rules on when a conference should end, but it's when I feel the press has got all they need about the match, that it's more about off-court things and the players cannot really communicate anything more meaningful," Gatchalian told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Local journalists are accustomed to almost free-for-all access to national badminton stars, both at their training center and in tournaments. But the women's tennis tour carefully controls player commitments to the media, sponsors and fans under its Aces policy.

It is a relatively new development.

In her recently published book The Rivals -- detailing the 16- year rivalry between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova -- Johnette Howard writes that women's tour pioneer Billie Jean King was willing to go the extra mile to spread the word about the fledgling women's tour. She once flew up to New York City for a TV interview and then back to Florida to play a final on the same day.

When the shy 16-year-old Evert emerged at the 1971 U.S. Open, Howard says the statement of "last question, please" -- now heard in press conference rooms around the world -- was used to protect her from seasoned journalists ready to pounce on a verbal misstep.

"In the past, women's tennis was considered a poor cousin to the men's game, but the result of the efforts of Billie Jean King was that it got the attention it desperately wanted," Gatchalian said.

"The demands are so great today on the players that you need to have a structure to control it."

The Aces policy, he added, was a response to complaints from the media that it was not getting the access it needed. It sets out guidelines for player off-court commitments to the media and sponsors, such as attending postmatch press conferences or promotions, without disturbing their training routines.

He acknowledged it' was a "middle point" and cannot keep everybody happen.

Longtime tennis commentator Benny Mailili believes the stabbing of Monica Seles in Hamburg in 1993 inevitably led to a tightening of security around the players, including in limiting media access to the players.

"I think there is a gap between us today that wasn't there before Seles was stabbed. Everything is very controlled, too much perhaps, about when you can interview a player, all the rules."

Barry Wood, a British journalist who has focused on women's tennis for the past 18 years, remembers a simpler time when he could wander into the players' lounge to socialize.

He said the rules today were only to be expected because tennis was big business.

"It's a bit of a delicate balance. There must be some sort of restrictions, or else the stars of the sport would be pestered constantly."

The rules are also in place to control the less professional media, he added.

"The media don't always act in a professional manner, especially in the less tennis educated countries. For instance, as a journalist, you should never clap for a player ... If you clapped in the press box at Wimbledon, you would be asked to leave."

Benny feels that in the next five years there will be a relaxation of the rules to provide more accessibility to the players.

"It will have to happen. All sports will have to open up as they start to go down in popularity and vie for more attention."

For Wood, the rules are all about being professional.

"You don't wander in and talk to someone in their office," he said.

"The players need their personal space. Just because they're in the public eye doesn't mean they're your personal property."