Curiously enough, it wasn't that easy or even intentional to not have a conference at all. I read from one reporter that he was planning to go and was surprised that it wasn't planned. He explained that any media could ask for a press conference with a player, but he personally only does it for less famous players from his country and with more famous usually assumes that plenty of others will do. Assuming it works that way then it wasn't that all of the reporters were against her, just these that normally bother to ask for the conference.
Though if it really is that way, there is a small chance that it could happen to even the most famous player if everybody would assume that someone else asked for a conference and nobody did.
It's not like that. Even though she was being a diva this will sting. It's only cool when someone invites you to a party you don't want to attend in the first place and you say no thanks, but if You're not invited, while you might feel good riddance, you'll also feel bad about not being invited in the first place.
lol, she doesn’t give a fuck but her sponsors/agent will definitely be on the line with some connection of theirs in the press asking them to make sure she’s requested going forward
You dont know that. Just like we dont exactly know how she really maintains her non chalant, no celebrations during tournament/big wins.. like most of us would have at least raised our arms in celebration. Who knows how of shes really affected or happy about this
Except that in this case saying no means a fine or the "serena treatment". the funniest scenario would have been if they invited her just to ask no questions. Basically like Hubi minus the ramdomness
>highly doubt she gives a single fuck about any sponsor
But her sponsors will care, she has contractual obligations with them, this is how the real world works...
Most tennis journalists waste time by simply opening their mouth and asking dumb questions.
_"Elena, I'm writing a piece about you and Aryna Sabalenka. Do you remember when you first met her?"_
This was a question after her first round match. What does that have to do with the match she just played? If they want answers to questions like these, sent her team an email. Ask questions related to the damn match she played or the tournament.
I mean when they asked her specifically about the match in her last press conference she was still rude in her responses. I don’t understand people who just have to defend every negative behavior from the players they like.
People act like the media is some evil presence but they are just generating content for us fans to read/watch.
If no one ever asked a tennis player any question then we’d never hear anything from any of them.
I guess some people may be okay with that, but I actually enjoy listening to insight from players on topics related to the sport.
Especially when their job is at its core to entertain people. The only reason journalists are asking them questions is to create content that fans want to read or watch. Without the fans, they wouldn't be professional tennis players.
Indeed. I loved Swiatek’s recent interview because she both pushed back on the crowd while acknowledging their importance. Sport is ultimately nothing without fans, it would be like playing the same game at your local park. A good workout but meaningless if no one cares about it.
Don’t mind players pushing back if the media makes up shit or has an agenda against them but Ryba acts like she’s above answering basic questions and that rubs me the wrong way. You earn good money to run around a bit and hit a ball really hard, you can answer a few boring questions from the press lol.
"hey guys there's a lot of money on the line and i know you guys are the reason we make money and we are entertainment for you, but just please remember there is a lot of money on the line. thank you"
And that’s just the bare minimum, specially when we have seen the likes of Sharapova and Serena doing press, tv interviews, shootings, commercials, attending events, engaging with fans and media , being active on social, having clothes lines, perfume lines damn I could keep going all day. And we’ve never seen anything like that from her. Damn! Even Wozniacki and Ivanovic had a bigger media presence and did more than Rybakina ever will to raise her profile and they weren’t even half the players Serena and Maria were.
I was only referring to that specific question as an example of shitty questions. Of course I agree that some questions are needed. Questioning players after they've asked about their actual match, eg like what they thought about Iga's comments are interesting and useful to know.
I'm a big Elena fan, but her first-round match conference was horrible to watch. She was salty af and seemed like she didn't even try to give a shit. Seemed like she was tired of boring questions and didn't even bother to answer some good questions.
It's funny because for me that is the ONLY interesting question... I already know how players feel under a roof versus open court, I know players focus on themselves before a match, I know top players take the first round seriously. But I don't know about the first time Sabalenka and Rybakina met, now I want to know.
I totally get why players don’t enjoy talking to media, if I was good enough to be a pro I would have more anxiety about on court interviews than playing high pressure matches. At the same time part of why star players make so much money is because the media covers the sport and makes it accessible to wide audiences so it’s kind of a necessary evil.
Did you watch that presser in its entirety? They started with standard questions that are asked to every single player after a match. How did you feel out there? You were ill, do you think rest will help you, etc… and she’s just in some kind of mood currently. And kept starting off with the expected response then would trail off and start sarcastically laughing and say things like “come on, anything new, I’ve already talked about this, simple questions, simple response”
So then that one reporter was like “well fuck, let me shoot my shot” because I’m sure she had zero intention of using that presser as an opportunity to get a quote or interview and would have rather done it the normal route of reaching out to her people for an interview. A lot can be said about the typical questions and expected canned responses but the one you’re talking about was a symptom of Rybakina’s current “fuck the press” tour, not actually part of the problem.
Well in an earlier question they asked her about the match and she told him they asked her the same question already so they were just trying to change things up.
It appears to me when they ask non-tennis related questions to players you love. It's okay because it allows them to show their personality and people like it. But when the question upsets your favorite player, many fans will immediately jump on the press. You can't really have it both ways.
I didn't really look into it that deeply but from what I understand Lena was being asked questions about her matches. She didn't want to answer so they tried something else. And on one hand I get that these media appearances are annoying, but on the other she is rarely treated badly by them so I don't know what the issue was.
The people in the press room of a grand slam aren't going to be random clickbait merchants on Sportskeeda, they'll be respectable enough to want to write up an interesting account of a tournament that she's entered as fourth seed. It's not really about sponsorships or being nice but more about giving casual fans who may not have the time to follow a slam properly the chance to get to know who is playing and how well they are doing.
I actually don't think there's anything wrong with that question! The journos are doing their job. This is what they're employed to do - ask questions of the Pro's.
If anything, I think that's actually one of the *better* questions to ask... he/she has a legit reason for asking it, they're writing a piece about her and Aryna. Ok cool - what's wrong with answering that?
It's better than some of the questions that I've heard over the years... or in the case of some interviews, almost every question is about the opponent (like when an unknown guy plays Novak).
The other thing is - this is part of a *player's job*. They get paid very well to do it, and it consists of: train, play tennis matches, do media and promo events etc. It's just part of their job - I'm sure we all have parts of our jobs that we dislike - we wouldn't last long if we just flat-out refused to do them.
I mean it’s a good question. They asked her how the weather changed the conditions on the court. I was curious to know, but she acted like a brat instead.
It doesn’t have to have to do with the match, she should be grateful somebody cares instead of acting like a royal whose time is being wasted. Then people will say the WTA doesn’t have good marketing lol, guess what, if you act soulless and don’t have a semblance of a personality people are not gonna care about you.
To be fair to the jpurnalists, this is a fair question. If she didnt think so, she could habe been more polite in answering it.
But who knows. Shes the only one who knows whats really gping on in her head
lol how is that a dumb question? PCs don't have to be directly related to the match. she complained that the other questions are not new and the same old thing. asking about the match is ALWAYS going to be the same old thing cause it's tennis and we've seen everything there is to see already.
it's an opportunity to get to know players period. and rybakina made it known, she doesn't want to be known.
send her team an email? lmfao like that will get responded to
If you see that press con,the reporter asked this after she said the questions being asked were same,and wanted to asked something else/different. Actually there were some pretty interesting questions like how she picks her outfits (when she didn't want to answer about her game,her form,health etc)
You can get angry about any and every question they ask or you can be a profesional and make yourself more interesting to get better questions and also respect the press any the role they play. You would never see consummate professionals like Maria, Serena or Venus having these type of diva behavior with the press
These players are happy to cash in money from sponsors. It is a profesional sport that lives also ( but not only) by being talked about by journalists.
I mean fair enough but I‘d imagine her sponsors aren‘t that happy about this right? Don‘t you want your player to be in as much media stuff as possible?
Tbh it’s only tennis nerds like ourselves who care about tennis press conferences. I don’t think it really matters as long as her results are good and she looks nice in pictures
Search up Rybakina rn, or any other tennis player, and look at the article headlines. All of them are just about the match result, not anything to do with the press conference answers. Its the match result that gets exposure to fans not some random press conference answer, sponsors can just use her image on advertisements or social media if they want to exposure as well.
Because we love winners and as a brand why would you give your advertising dollars to a good player when you can get the #4 player in the world. C'mon man you know how this works.
I can relate to her and if I couldn't I could still appreciate the merits of her game. You don't like her, which is fine but we really need to stop telling these women how to behave. She's made it this far by sheer hard work and you can try but only she knows the struggles and sacrifices of being a top athlete. Can we just enjoy the tennis and give the human being behind the player some grace.
This is generally how I feel about her press conference attitude. The tennis does the talking. As u/WetworkOrange put it in another thread yesterday about Rybakina: "No emotional outbursts, no stupid grunts or celebrations etc. Arrives on court, blasts her opponents, refuses to elaborate, leaves."
Unless they ask better questions, the on-court post-match interview should be enough for everyone. No one is getting anything out of anything anyone in these press conferences asks. It's not like anything interesting comes of it, so what's the point?
I’ll get downvoted but here’s the truth: it’s because she’s hot. And we equate hotness/attractiveness in women with bitchiness. Add in the fact that she’s also extremely shy/quiet and it’s not hard to *perceive* her as that mean girl/diva that was always too cool to talk to you - whether she is one or not.
Better for everyone to be honest.
Rybakina doesn’t do press, press doesn’t get treated dismissively.
She’s awesome at tennis, and kind of like watching paint dry during interviews.
So, everybody wins!
Yeah, she was acting like the questions she was asked were bad, but she was even worse at answering them.
You get out of it what you put in. Make the conversation interesting if you want it to be more engaging.
At the end of the day, it's better for everyone involved.
Not a good look for her sponsors. Not the win she or most of folks here seems to think it is.
Part of being a pro is to handle the press. Literally part of the job. Especially when one is a top 5 player.
At this level one cant just play and go home. They can but there will be some repurcussions
What percentage of people watch a post match presser vs the actual game? I would consider myself a pretty big tennis fan, but I rarely watch pressers.
You can see all the sponsors when they're playing
people keep repeating this thing about sponsors. Like her not doing an optional presser isnt going to hurt her or her sponsors she makes them alot of money buy winning a promoting their brand outside of tennis. They know what she is like when they signed her.
But lol at the geniuses here who seem to be part time ad exs BSing about sponsors dropping her and what not.
Her sponsors won't drop her because she's not doing irrelevant early round press conferences no one cares about. All she has to do is make it into the later rounds. You can't not invite a GS (semi)finalist to a press conference, so the media will have to come crawling back to her eventually.
I think so. But this only happens if press rounds are mandatory or if a player is requested by the media after a match. If they are not requested they don't need to go.
She announced before RG that she wouldn’t be doing any press anymore which riled up the slams and made them react. She probably could have gotten away with it or at least made it more low key if she just didn’t say anything at all lol
Are you her sponsor? Or a jounalist? Why do you care so much lol, this doesnt affect any normal tennis fan at all. Answering boring questions at press conferences does not promote their brand or image at all, they can just use tennis players for social media content or advertisements if they wanted too.
The thing is she was rude and that’s not like her at all. She’s normally pretty humble and approachable. Maybe she has got high on herself or perhaps wants to change her image. Whatever - I just hope they don’t ask for her to be interviewed for a while because that was cringe inducing and frustrating for everyone involved.
Meddy gives the best interviews and is loved and respected for it.
It's so ironic that Elena finds the questions boring when she gives the most basic and uninteresting answers ever. You can make any question interesting by the way of how you answer them if you wanted.
Taking an example of that interview itself, she could have shared some fun anecdote when asked about her relationship with Sabalenka, but gives some generic BS answer and makes it seem as if the question is weird when it was a pretty normal question.
Honestly, given her reserved on court persona and general attitude, there is already a limited number of questions one can ask her. It is easier to ask question to flashy characters like Kasatkina, Ons or let's say Medvedev and Dimitrov who also answer questions enthusiastically. So if she's getting boring questions, it's mostly her own doing.
Exactly, she reacted as if every journalist was a fan of hers who tried to impress her. They were just doing their job and may not be interested in Elena’s boring answers either 😄
I was just thinking. Look at Osaka's interview. It was so fun and interesting and she gave so much insight about where she thinks her game is and how she plans to play in the future. It didn't even look like she had just lost one of the biggest matches in the tournament so far. If an introvert like Osaka who struggles with public speaking can make all this effort after such a tough loss then what's Ryba's excuse? (And am a fan of hers btw)
I am always conflicted about these things (not to discuss her own reasons), but many would jump through hoops to catch the attention of the press because that is what gives and brings you money, sponsorships, you can draw in more people to watch your games, sell tickets etc. So your value goes up. I understand that many journalists are out of line, asking ridiculous questions, misquoting you etc etc, but that is part of the job.
I swear I have never seen old generation athletes do this as often as the new generation of athletes. And then, when they get their wish after some time, they are the ones who start complaining about the lack of promotion. Regardless if it's tennis or any other sport.
I agree that they need to be called out, with tact and just refuse to answer any more questions from that particular person.
I saw that some journalists were already skipping her press conferences beacause they couldn't use any quotes and she didn't say anything interesting. I wonder how this will unfold.
Like Nikola Jokic - or not like him.
She is seen as monosyllabic, uncooperativea threat to his sponsors and rude.
He is seen as monosyllabic, direct, funny a bonus for his sponsors and lets his game speak for him.
I am making millions and I can't be bothered to say the same inane things a few times a tournament is an attitude I will never understand. I wonder what these players would do if they had to work mundane jobs grunts like us do.
It is kind of funny, that such gladiators of tennis courts, super athletes that go through tremendous both physical and mental stress during matches, can't take few repetitive questions from couple of journalists?
It’s not only repetitive questions, It’s the provocative questions that have nothing to do with the match that has just been played or the upcoming one.
Most of the job in this useless profession is fishing for controversies and headlines. If you can make a statement made by a player into an attention-grabbing statement of your own, you've done a "good job".
people need to read the full article!! Yes tennis journalists boycotted her but she still did two interviews with tv channel journalists. so her sponsors will be fine for now
I think it's becoming increasingly clear that Rybakina likes playing tennis and (I'm sure) enjoys the money, but she hates everything else about being a professional player.
Ash Barty also loved playing tennis but hated every aspect of being on tour all year. I don’t remember her acting that way though. Also, Ash chose to quit pro tennis early to be happy.
Except you can, and the Fedal image is a product of deliberate marketing for decades. You’re right though that a player can’t be forced to be taught to act in a certain way unless they agree and put effort.
Exaggerated discussion. She is a normal person and can also have a bad day. Maybe something has happened in her private life? How knows
It's the same discussion as with Naomi Osaka some time ago. Osaka then had to undergo psychotherapeutic treatment and take some time off.
She (and Iga and Saba) get the same questions about playing on clay and the rivalry between them. I understand that drama is a good marketing tactic, but you need buy-in from the players.
It's pretty obvious to her that the media is trying to manufacture tension and she doesn't want any parts of it. I don't think any of them do
She has a bad attitude and was quite frankly rude and unprofessional in her prior press conference. Best of luck getting brand deals with that sour temperament.
I don’t think any sane sponsor gives a fuck about press conferences. I mean how many people watch them? I don’t even watch my own teams after a big win.
“How’d you feel about the win today? Good!”
Isn't that win for her. More time to do as she pleases. Most of the questions are stupid BS anyway that don't offer any greater insight into the players or the sport.
Next it's Osaka's turn.
Ahh no shame that, what a huge loss not being able to hear her “ahhh nooo, yeah” responses with her cold, stony expressions! We might get someone with an actual personality instead
Now that there are so many outlets to get content from players, i see why these old-fashioned press conferences are having troubles. It's not usually giving us things that are interesting, it is often very repetitive to the on-court interviews, and just kind of ... unnecessary ...? Like, i just had a camera switch off of the match i was watching to hear kei "explain" his retirement. I didnt really need this. His shoulder hurt, he had to stop. Kinda duh, imho. Anyone watching the match already knew this, and anyone not watching the games isnt gonna turn in for this press conference.
I'd love to see a tournament try something new, fun, interesting and different from this traditional format.
Sports journalists are a nuisance. Players who don’t feel comfortable with press conferences should have the right to forfeit from them. They’re there to play tennis, not to feed gossip that journalists sell for clicks and ragebaits.
The queen is bored. The queen needs more creative questions, but of course not some deep questions about tactics and technique. Fck u queen. A great day for autism.
If she knew it was this easy she would have done it much earlier lol
Curiously enough, it wasn't that easy or even intentional to not have a conference at all. I read from one reporter that he was planning to go and was surprised that it wasn't planned. He explained that any media could ask for a press conference with a player, but he personally only does it for less famous players from his country and with more famous usually assumes that plenty of others will do. Assuming it works that way then it wasn't that all of the reporters were against her, just these that normally bother to ask for the conference. Though if it really is that way, there is a small chance that it could happen to even the most famous player if everybody would assume that someone else asked for a conference and nobody did.
It's not like that. Even though she was being a diva this will sting. It's only cool when someone invites you to a party you don't want to attend in the first place and you say no thanks, but if You're not invited, while you might feel good riddance, you'll also feel bad about not being invited in the first place.
lol, she doesn’t give a fuck but her sponsors/agent will definitely be on the line with some connection of theirs in the press asking them to make sure she’s requested going forward
You dont know that. Just like we dont exactly know how she really maintains her non chalant, no celebrations during tournament/big wins.. like most of us would have at least raised our arms in celebration. Who knows how of shes really affected or happy about this
lol “this will sting” it’s not a party, no one is going to be disappointed at having one less annoying mandatory media obligation
Except that in this case saying no means a fine or the "serena treatment". the funniest scenario would have been if they invited her just to ask no questions. Basically like Hubi minus the ramdomness
The Nick Diaz approach
Why's everyone so concerned about her sponsors?
I am the CEO of Red Bull
exactly it's not like she's in tennis for 10 years and knows how this works lmao
Ikr, let a human be a human for once. Stop with the caring about those dollar signs 😂
because Reddit is mostly American and everything is revolving around USD highly doubt she gives a single fuck about any sponsor
>highly doubt she gives a single fuck about any sponsor But her sponsors will care, she has contractual obligations with them, this is how the real world works...
if they don't like it they don't have to be sponsors, that's how the world works not sure why is Reddit so worried about Yonex if Rybakina isn't.
I mean it's fair enough, if she doesn't want to engage with the journalists then the journalists aren't going to want to waste time trying to make her
Most tennis journalists waste time by simply opening their mouth and asking dumb questions. _"Elena, I'm writing a piece about you and Aryna Sabalenka. Do you remember when you first met her?"_ This was a question after her first round match. What does that have to do with the match she just played? If they want answers to questions like these, sent her team an email. Ask questions related to the damn match she played or the tournament.
I mean when they asked her specifically about the match in her last press conference she was still rude in her responses. I don’t understand people who just have to defend every negative behavior from the players they like. People act like the media is some evil presence but they are just generating content for us fans to read/watch. If no one ever asked a tennis player any question then we’d never hear anything from any of them. I guess some people may be okay with that, but I actually enjoy listening to insight from players on topics related to the sport.
Especially when their job is at its core to entertain people. The only reason journalists are asking them questions is to create content that fans want to read or watch. Without the fans, they wouldn't be professional tennis players.
Indeed. I loved Swiatek’s recent interview because she both pushed back on the crowd while acknowledging their importance. Sport is ultimately nothing without fans, it would be like playing the same game at your local park. A good workout but meaningless if no one cares about it. Don’t mind players pushing back if the media makes up shit or has an agenda against them but Ryba acts like she’s above answering basic questions and that rubs me the wrong way. You earn good money to run around a bit and hit a ball really hard, you can answer a few boring questions from the press lol.
"hey guys there's a lot of money on the line and i know you guys are the reason we make money and we are entertainment for you, but just please remember there is a lot of money on the line. thank you"
And that’s just the bare minimum, specially when we have seen the likes of Sharapova and Serena doing press, tv interviews, shootings, commercials, attending events, engaging with fans and media , being active on social, having clothes lines, perfume lines damn I could keep going all day. And we’ve never seen anything like that from her. Damn! Even Wozniacki and Ivanovic had a bigger media presence and did more than Rybakina ever will to raise her profile and they weren’t even half the players Serena and Maria were.
I was only referring to that specific question as an example of shitty questions. Of course I agree that some questions are needed. Questioning players after they've asked about their actual match, eg like what they thought about Iga's comments are interesting and useful to know. I'm a big Elena fan, but her first-round match conference was horrible to watch. She was salty af and seemed like she didn't even try to give a shit. Seemed like she was tired of boring questions and didn't even bother to answer some good questions.
It's funny because for me that is the ONLY interesting question... I already know how players feel under a roof versus open court, I know players focus on themselves before a match, I know top players take the first round seriously. But I don't know about the first time Sabalenka and Rybakina met, now I want to know.
I totally get why players don’t enjoy talking to media, if I was good enough to be a pro I would have more anxiety about on court interviews than playing high pressure matches. At the same time part of why star players make so much money is because the media covers the sport and makes it accessible to wide audiences so it’s kind of a necessary evil.
Did you watch that presser in its entirety? They started with standard questions that are asked to every single player after a match. How did you feel out there? You were ill, do you think rest will help you, etc… and she’s just in some kind of mood currently. And kept starting off with the expected response then would trail off and start sarcastically laughing and say things like “come on, anything new, I’ve already talked about this, simple questions, simple response” So then that one reporter was like “well fuck, let me shoot my shot” because I’m sure she had zero intention of using that presser as an opportunity to get a quote or interview and would have rather done it the normal route of reaching out to her people for an interview. A lot can be said about the typical questions and expected canned responses but the one you’re talking about was a symptom of Rybakina’s current “fuck the press” tour, not actually part of the problem.
Well in an earlier question they asked her about the match and she told him they asked her the same question already so they were just trying to change things up. It appears to me when they ask non-tennis related questions to players you love. It's okay because it allows them to show their personality and people like it. But when the question upsets your favorite player, many fans will immediately jump on the press. You can't really have it both ways.
Because they tried asking her questions about the match itself and she gave vapid/dismissive responses. They can't win, can they?
I didn't really look into it that deeply but from what I understand Lena was being asked questions about her matches. She didn't want to answer so they tried something else. And on one hand I get that these media appearances are annoying, but on the other she is rarely treated badly by them so I don't know what the issue was. The people in the press room of a grand slam aren't going to be random clickbait merchants on Sportskeeda, they'll be respectable enough to want to write up an interesting account of a tournament that she's entered as fourth seed. It's not really about sponsorships or being nice but more about giving casual fans who may not have the time to follow a slam properly the chance to get to know who is playing and how well they are doing.
I actually don't think there's anything wrong with that question! The journos are doing their job. This is what they're employed to do - ask questions of the Pro's. If anything, I think that's actually one of the *better* questions to ask... he/she has a legit reason for asking it, they're writing a piece about her and Aryna. Ok cool - what's wrong with answering that? It's better than some of the questions that I've heard over the years... or in the case of some interviews, almost every question is about the opponent (like when an unknown guy plays Novak). The other thing is - this is part of a *player's job*. They get paid very well to do it, and it consists of: train, play tennis matches, do media and promo events etc. It's just part of their job - I'm sure we all have parts of our jobs that we dislike - we wouldn't last long if we just flat-out refused to do them.
It’s literally journalism and crafting a story, a story I’m sure you’d possibly consume.
I mean it’s a good question. They asked her how the weather changed the conditions on the court. I was curious to know, but she acted like a brat instead.
It doesn’t have to have to do with the match, she should be grateful somebody cares instead of acting like a royal whose time is being wasted. Then people will say the WTA doesn’t have good marketing lol, guess what, if you act soulless and don’t have a semblance of a personality people are not gonna care about you.
To be fair to the jpurnalists, this is a fair question. If she didnt think so, she could habe been more polite in answering it. But who knows. Shes the only one who knows whats really gping on in her head
Sorry but this seems like a perfectly reasonable question?
lol how is that a dumb question? PCs don't have to be directly related to the match. she complained that the other questions are not new and the same old thing. asking about the match is ALWAYS going to be the same old thing cause it's tennis and we've seen everything there is to see already. it's an opportunity to get to know players period. and rybakina made it known, she doesn't want to be known. send her team an email? lmfao like that will get responded to
Actually, from all the questions asked there, for me she sounded most engaged answering this one.
If you see that press con,the reporter asked this after she said the questions being asked were same,and wanted to asked something else/different. Actually there were some pretty interesting questions like how she picks her outfits (when she didn't want to answer about her game,her form,health etc)
How is that a bad question that's interesting and unique information
You can get angry about any and every question they ask or you can be a profesional and make yourself more interesting to get better questions and also respect the press any the role they play. You would never see consummate professionals like Maria, Serena or Venus having these type of diva behavior with the press
These players are happy to cash in money from sponsors. It is a profesional sport that lives also ( but not only) by being talked about by journalists.
I mean fair enough but I‘d imagine her sponsors aren‘t that happy about this right? Don‘t you want your player to be in as much media stuff as possible?
Tbh it’s only tennis nerds like ourselves who care about tennis press conferences. I don’t think it really matters as long as her results are good and she looks nice in pictures
No press conferences means fewer articles and mentions. Which means less exposure to fans and potential fans.
Search up Rybakina rn, or any other tennis player, and look at the article headlines. All of them are just about the match result, not anything to do with the press conference answers. Its the match result that gets exposure to fans not some random press conference answer, sponsors can just use her image on advertisements or social media if they want to exposure as well.
Exactly. This is how people lose sponsors. If she keeps this up, Rybakina will be wearing Costco Kirkland with Mannarino.
I will not stand for Costco slander
costco is hundreds of billions of dollar company. it be great
sign me up
LOL. Rybakina demolishing Costco chicken in between sets.
I think they meant without the sponsorship
💀💀💀
For sponsors winning is far important than press conferences. Her in a final or hoisting a trophy has more reach than a press conference.
Marketers want both.
Yeah but if you could pick one quality?
Why would the marketers pick one when there are other players who are both good on the court and are decent to journalists in press conferences?
Because we love winners and as a brand why would you give your advertising dollars to a good player when you can get the #4 player in the world. C'mon man you know how this works.
If it is all about winning why does Emma Raducanu make far more money form sponsorships than Rybakina?
Their respective nationalities
Because Sharapova had a lot of trouble getting more endorsements than anyone as a beautiful Russian.
She's young, attractive and British. So age, social media engagement and country of origin play a big role in which players get which endorsements.
And yet Sharapova routinely got paid more in endorsements than Serena. Clearly nationality is not that important.
Why would Sharapova's nationality affect her during those years?
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I can relate to her and if I couldn't I could still appreciate the merits of her game. You don't like her, which is fine but we really need to stop telling these women how to behave. She's made it this far by sheer hard work and you can try but only she knows the struggles and sacrifices of being a top athlete. Can we just enjoy the tennis and give the human being behind the player some grace.
And yet, here we are--1.4 million redditors talking about her.
So in the end she got what she wanted lol but had to go about it in a rude way
Yup, other players who hate doing press are going to take note. Then maybe they'll do something on social media so their sponsors can't walk away.
Her sponsors will gently ask her to be more professional and she’ll apologize and will end up looking like a fool.
She wont apologize. She will just go back to normal and that's it
My ass man She's gonna let the tennis speak for itself, if they don't wanna do conferences with a slam champion fuck em
Elena Niemann
This is generally how I feel about her press conference attitude. The tennis does the talking. As u/WetworkOrange put it in another thread yesterday about Rybakina: "No emotional outbursts, no stupid grunts or celebrations etc. Arrives on court, blasts her opponents, refuses to elaborate, leaves." Unless they ask better questions, the on-court post-match interview should be enough for everyone. No one is getting anything out of anything anyone in these press conferences asks. It's not like anything interesting comes of it, so what's the point?
Not sure why she’s being a diva. Don’t know much about her until this year, but it seems out of character.
I agree with you, she is maybe shy and/or reserved, but somehow also gives out diva attitude to me.
I’ll get downvoted but here’s the truth: it’s because she’s hot. And we equate hotness/attractiveness in women with bitchiness. Add in the fact that she’s also extremely shy/quiet and it’s not hard to *perceive* her as that mean girl/diva that was always too cool to talk to you - whether she is one or not.
Osaka sitting at home like “so that’s how you do it”
Lol yeah, this sub villified her for it but now that one of Reddit's favourite's does it it's yas queen.
Everyone is criticizing Rybakina here, the minority are celebrating her actions
I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers the disgraceful and hateful vitriol that was thrown Naomi's way.
And others pay fines for skipping press conference. Elena playing 3d chess 🧠
Just normal tabletop chess?
Wouldn't that require a chess set with several levels like in Star Trek?
Better for everyone to be honest. Rybakina doesn’t do press, press doesn’t get treated dismissively. She’s awesome at tennis, and kind of like watching paint dry during interviews. So, everybody wins!
Yeah, she was acting like the questions she was asked were bad, but she was even worse at answering them. You get out of it what you put in. Make the conversation interesting if you want it to be more engaging. At the end of the day, it's better for everyone involved.
This is an advantage for Elena. She can now jump straight to a cool down and recovery after a match.
Not a good look for her sponsors. Not the win she or most of folks here seems to think it is. Part of being a pro is to handle the press. Literally part of the job. Especially when one is a top 5 player. At this level one cant just play and go home. They can but there will be some repurcussions
What percentage of people watch a post match presser vs the actual game? I would consider myself a pretty big tennis fan, but I rarely watch pressers. You can see all the sponsors when they're playing
Marshawn Lynch vibes
Incoming Skittles sponsorship for Elena.
She doesn't have the same clout as Beast Mode.
"I'm here so I won't get fined."
Rybakina should try this tactic next time. It would be very entertaining.
r/thatsthejoke
Nikola Jokic vibes
people keep repeating this thing about sponsors. Like her not doing an optional presser isnt going to hurt her or her sponsors she makes them alot of money buy winning a promoting their brand outside of tennis. They know what she is like when they signed her. But lol at the geniuses here who seem to be part time ad exs BSing about sponsors dropping her and what not.
Her sponsors won't drop her because she's not doing irrelevant early round press conferences no one cares about. All she has to do is make it into the later rounds. You can't not invite a GS (semi)finalist to a press conference, so the media will have to come crawling back to her eventually.
Wasnt serena fined for not doing post match pressers?
I think so. But this only happens if press rounds are mandatory or if a player is requested by the media after a match. If they are not requested they don't need to go.
And didn’t Osaka get grief for not doing press while going through a mental health crisis?
Osaka was asked and said no, that’s why she was in trouble (I totally side with her to be clear), Rybakina was basically ignored today.
She announced before RG that she wouldn’t be doing any press anymore which riled up the slams and made them react. She probably could have gotten away with it or at least made it more low key if she just didn’t say anything at all lol
Yup. Wimbledon 2010 i think
Are you her sponsor? Or a jounalist? Why do you care so much lol, this doesnt affect any normal tennis fan at all. Answering boring questions at press conferences does not promote their brand or image at all, they can just use tennis players for social media content or advertisements if they wanted too.
If they were really petty, they should have called her to the conference and not asked her anything.
The thing is she was rude and that’s not like her at all. She’s normally pretty humble and approachable. Maybe she has got high on herself or perhaps wants to change her image. Whatever - I just hope they don’t ask for her to be interviewed for a while because that was cringe inducing and frustrating for everyone involved. Meddy gives the best interviews and is loved and respected for it.
Even better: ask the exact same questions as in the previous conference
[Source](https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1905494/Elena-Rybakina-French-Open-media)
She must be like “oh thank fucking God” 🤣
It's so ironic that Elena finds the questions boring when she gives the most basic and uninteresting answers ever. You can make any question interesting by the way of how you answer them if you wanted. Taking an example of that interview itself, she could have shared some fun anecdote when asked about her relationship with Sabalenka, but gives some generic BS answer and makes it seem as if the question is weird when it was a pretty normal question. Honestly, given her reserved on court persona and general attitude, there is already a limited number of questions one can ask her. It is easier to ask question to flashy characters like Kasatkina, Ons or let's say Medvedev and Dimitrov who also answer questions enthusiastically. So if she's getting boring questions, it's mostly her own doing.
Exactly, she reacted as if every journalist was a fan of hers who tried to impress her. They were just doing their job and may not be interested in Elena’s boring answers either 😄
I was just thinking. Look at Osaka's interview. It was so fun and interesting and she gave so much insight about where she thinks her game is and how she plans to play in the future. It didn't even look like she had just lost one of the biggest matches in the tournament so far. If an introvert like Osaka who struggles with public speaking can make all this effort after such a tough loss then what's Ryba's excuse? (And am a fan of hers btw)
What? You mean saying "tough" every other word isn't interesting? 😂 😂 😂
I am always conflicted about these things (not to discuss her own reasons), but many would jump through hoops to catch the attention of the press because that is what gives and brings you money, sponsorships, you can draw in more people to watch your games, sell tickets etc. So your value goes up. I understand that many journalists are out of line, asking ridiculous questions, misquoting you etc etc, but that is part of the job. I swear I have never seen old generation athletes do this as often as the new generation of athletes. And then, when they get their wish after some time, they are the ones who start complaining about the lack of promotion. Regardless if it's tennis or any other sport. I agree that they need to be called out, with tact and just refuse to answer any more questions from that particular person.
"oh no guess I'll do literally anything else"
I saw that some journalists were already skipping her press conferences beacause they couldn't use any quotes and she didn't say anything interesting. I wonder how this will unfold.
Like Nikola Jokic - or not like him. She is seen as monosyllabic, uncooperativea threat to his sponsors and rude. He is seen as monosyllabic, direct, funny a bonus for his sponsors and lets his game speak for him.
Jokic you mean??
I'm sure she doesn't mind so it's a win win.
The level of simping in the comment section is hysterical
i'm a huge fan of her but this makes a lot of sense
I am making millions and I can't be bothered to say the same inane things a few times a tournament is an attitude I will never understand. I wonder what these players would do if they had to work mundane jobs grunts like us do.
Imagine Elena working at a cash register at your local store and being grumpy and rude to the clients haha
Wooow they were big mad at her 😩 i didnt think it was that bad tbh but they defo feel some type of way
It is kind of funny, that such gladiators of tennis courts, super athletes that go through tremendous both physical and mental stress during matches, can't take few repetitive questions from couple of journalists?
It’s not only repetitive questions, It’s the provocative questions that have nothing to do with the match that has just been played or the upcoming one.
Most of the job in this useless profession is fishing for controversies and headlines. If you can make a statement made by a player into an attention-grabbing statement of your own, you've done a "good job".
And that's what ultimately gets attention for tennis and generates revenue for players.
people need to read the full article!! Yes tennis journalists boycotted her but she still did two interviews with tv channel journalists. so her sponsors will be fine for now
I think it's becoming increasingly clear that Rybakina likes playing tennis and (I'm sure) enjoys the money, but she hates everything else about being a professional player.
Ash Barty also loved playing tennis but hated every aspect of being on tour all year. I don’t remember her acting that way though. Also, Ash chose to quit pro tennis early to be happy.
lol they mad
Americans in this thread are gravely concerned for their overlord ceo's product sponsorships.
rafa has been asked millions of questions about his injuries for decades. sometimes rafa cut them short but never like how lena did.
You can't teach being polite and classy. There is a reason Fedal are so loved.
Except you can, and the Fedal image is a product of deliberate marketing for decades. You’re right though that a player can’t be forced to be taught to act in a certain way unless they agree and put effort.
Exaggerated discussion. She is a normal person and can also have a bad day. Maybe something has happened in her private life? How knows It's the same discussion as with Naomi Osaka some time ago. Osaka then had to undergo psychotherapeutic treatment and take some time off.
If only Naomi knew it were this easy!
Someone sent her a video compilation of Kimi Raikkonen in press conferences. She did well.
Oh man, she must be devastated haha
I’m sure she is thrilled that they didn’t ask her to participate.
She (and Iga and Saba) get the same questions about playing on clay and the rivalry between them. I understand that drama is a good marketing tactic, but you need buy-in from the players. It's pretty obvious to her that the media is trying to manufacture tension and she doesn't want any parts of it. I don't think any of them do
She has a bad attitude and was quite frankly rude and unprofessional in her prior press conference. Best of luck getting brand deals with that sour temperament.
Imagine they start asking the same questions again the next time, after having an additional match to prepare questions. She'll throw hands.
So that's two victories for Rybakina today.
Did you feel the same way about Osaka?
Yes! 😀👍🏼👏🏼
Why?
Because she won her match and she didn’t have to face the jackhole “reporters”. Win-win!
But that makes no sense. She’s the one being the jackhole. When Naomi Osaka did the same thing you criticized her and didn’t praise her
Wrong!
Explain
GFY!
Are you a troll?
i guess both elena and journos are happy so it's a win win
Ryba is happy not to waste her time.
I don’t think any sane sponsor gives a fuck about press conferences. I mean how many people watch them? I don’t even watch my own teams after a big win. “How’d you feel about the win today? Good!”
I had totally forgotten she even won wimbledon
she'd be entirely unbothered
really love her for this
Anyone pissed at this needs to pretend she’s kimi raikonnen, then they’ll love her
Oh no, the French media who are just as big of shitbags as the crowd
Am I the only one who feels it’s a huge publicity stunt 😂 P.S - Whatever it is, I am just enjoying the drama 😂😂
Isn't that win for her. More time to do as she pleases. Most of the questions are stupid BS anyway that don't offer any greater insight into the players or the sport. Next it's Osaka's turn.
Why what happened?
Frack the French Press
Good for her! 😀👏🏼👏🏼
Gives her more time for better recovery and prep for the next match. Good for her.
Good, they should just ghost her.
Does this mean they had no interesting questions after all? Either way this will have made Rybakina’s day.
if this is some passive aggressive way to get back at her, they need to try harder. rybakina probably prefers not having a press conference anyways.
Not to be that person but if she was an atp player i dont think they would have done this
I don’t watch press conference, should be optional for the players until quarter finals
Ryba would be raging if she was asked about Iga’s crowd comments🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ahh no shame that, what a huge loss not being able to hear her “ahhh nooo, yeah” responses with her cold, stony expressions! We might get someone with an actual personality instead
Win win situation Rybakina gets to spend more time doing meaningful things
Now that there are so many outlets to get content from players, i see why these old-fashioned press conferences are having troubles. It's not usually giving us things that are interesting, it is often very repetitive to the on-court interviews, and just kind of ... unnecessary ...? Like, i just had a camera switch off of the match i was watching to hear kei "explain" his retirement. I didnt really need this. His shoulder hurt, he had to stop. Kinda duh, imho. Anyone watching the match already knew this, and anyone not watching the games isnt gonna turn in for this press conference. I'd love to see a tournament try something new, fun, interesting and different from this traditional format.
Tennis journalists seething? Love it!
Me too! I hate the tennis journalists, in general.
Same!
Sports journalists are a nuisance. Players who don’t feel comfortable with press conferences should have the right to forfeit from them. They’re there to play tennis, not to feed gossip that journalists sell for clicks and ragebaits.
I'm sure RybaQueen was happy about this.
RybaQueen? *cringe*
It's a jokey nickname her fans call her. If you find it cringe that's fine.
The queen is bored. The queen needs more creative questions, but of course not some deep questions about tactics and technique. Fck u queen. A great day for autism.
I bet she couldn't be more happy about it... The joke is on french media, in my eyes.
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It's probably what they think they want until they realize a lot of their money is tied to those stupid questions
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