When Racism Is Bandied About

NEW YORK —  Since there haven’t been many upsets, and since this is New York, the first week of the U.S. Open has been all about sex and race. Read all about it.

The top women players all hate each other. It’s cat fights galore in the locker room according to a Time magazine cover story and a column on the New York Times op-ed page. Martina doesn’t like Venus and Serena. Jennifer can’t stand Monica’s grunting. Lindsay thinks Venus and Serena’s dad is a joke. And little Ashley’s shorts and stomach-baring top are too tight.

This sexism part has been silly. Martina Hingis, Venus and Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport are fighting to win Grand Slam tournaments and grab endorsement money and, of course, they aren’t crazy about each other. They have to beat each other. So they say mean things and the media glamorizes the sniping, and they all make more money because the sports world (which is all about men) loves it when women fight. Ashley Harkleroad, a 16-year-old junior player who had a wild card into the main draw and wore short shorts and a midriff-baring top, tastefully designed by Nike, was peppered with questions about her fashion choice. So was Ashley’s dad. Harkleroad, a bubbly, blond Floridian, has watched Anna Kournikova and learned.

Sex sells.

The racial context of Week 1 at the Open isn’t so funny. Among her remarks in the Time story, Hingis was quoted as complaining that Venus and Serena Williams received preferential treatment from sponsors and media because they are African American.

And Lleyton Hewitt, a 20-year-old Australian, made no New York friends when he appeared to question the intentions of an African American linesman who had called two foot faults on him, when Hewitt was playing James Blake, an African American New Yorker and Harvard man. If it seems racism is an ugly and overriding part of the tennis tour because of these Hingis quotes and Hewitt’s impolite behavior, look again.

When Hingis, who is ranked No. 1 in the world but who hasn’t won a major title in 21/2 years, whines about her perception of how Venus and Serena are treated, it has nothing to do with Hingis being racist or Hingis not understanding the long-lasting and terrible ramifications of slavery and race relations in the U.S. It has to do with jealousy. It has to do with Hingis’ resentment of how Venus has won two Wimbledon titles and one U.S. Open in the last 14 months. About how Serena won the U.S. Open in 1999. It is about how it drives Hingis crazy that Venus and Serena can take time off from the tennis tour to attend fashion school, then come back to tennis refreshed to just start winning again.

It must be maddening for Hingis, who is 5 feet 7, to watch the 6-1 Venus and 5-10 Serena swallow up Hingis’ nice angles and deft touch shots with an ever-improving array of power and guile. Hingis, deep inside, might very much wish she could trade her skin for Venus’.

Hingis, an obsessive competitor who always has thought she was best, would love to have everything Venus and Serena have--their height, strength, tennis skills, composure, stunning looks and their tennis results over the last two years.

When Hewitt lost his composure and his good sense on the court Friday, it was Blake who defused the situation and Blake who has impressed even casual tennis fans with his grace and class. For three days Hewitt has been denying he meant anything racial when he appeared to point at both the offending linesman and then Blake and ask the chair umpire what it was Blake and the linesman had in common. Now Hewitt says he wasn’t even pointing at Blake.

Blake has been consistent in saying that he understood Hewitt was only venting angrily in the heat of a competitive moment. While Hewitt has seemed petulant and offended at still being asked questions Sunday about the incident, Blake has consistently said he isn’t bothered by Hewitt. Just as Serena answered Hingis’ quotes with a nonchalant explanation that she and her sister work hard for whatever they have gotten, both in endorsement earnings and tennis victories, Blake has been unworried about Hewitt’s actions.

This new generation of African American tennis players seems to know that there are no barriers to success for them on and off the court. It’s almost understandable how Hingis doesn’t know any good way to deal with Venus and Serena. Hingis isn’t steeped in the sad history of racism in America. What Hingis sees are elegant, athletic, well-spoken sisters who can be as good as they want to be at tennis or anything else. What Hingis must think is: “How disadvantaged can the Williams sisters be?” This is where we want the U.S. to be, in every way. We want there to be no disadvantage for anyone, no matter his or her race.

Hingis could learn from Venus and Serena. Hewitt could learn from Blake. Venus says Hingis deserves to be No. 1 even as everyone else wonders how it is the top-ranked player can’t win any of the top tournaments and even as it is clear that Venus is the best player. Serena makes a point of saying how well her opponent has played, how hard the opponent has made her work.

And neither Venus nor Serena has ever played the race card. Their father, Richard, has. But Richard’s daughters seem to understand that what they have are opportunities, not barriers, in their paths. Even while other players were critical of Hewitt, Blake said he had talked to Hewitt in the locker room and accepted Hewitt’s rendition of the contretemps.

“His word is good enough for me,” Blake said. “We put it behind us. We’ve moved past it. We realized it was a good match, and we talked about that. He was very sincere in what he said to me and I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt here.” When Andre Agassi was asked about Hewitt, Agassi had an interesting answer.

“We can focus on the negative if you want,” Agassi said. “But I think Mr. Blake literally set an example, and certainly taught me a lot about dignity and class and tolerance. I think it’s something everybody can learn from.” Everybody. Everywhere.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at diane.pucin@latimes.com