Nothing Ugly About Her Win

CARLSBAD —  A sellout crowd of 6,500, approximately 87.2% of it male, watched Anna Kournikova dismantle Alexandra Stevenson in a first-round match of the Acura Classic tennis tournament Tuesday night, 6-0, 6-1, in 47 minutes.

“It probably took her longer to get dressed,” wisecracked one sportswriter, a female no less.

And so it goes in the world of Anna, the Russian rave who appears on magazine covers more often than President Bush and whose endorsement earnings make her tennis winnings look like chump change.

Just because she hasn’t won a tournament in her first 112 tries and hasn’t advanced as far as the semifinals of a Grand Slam event since 1997, the cynical press continues to stalk her with negativity.

Even with the kind of result she had against Stevenson, ranked 24 notches above her at No. 30, the skeptics with the keyboards give her no slack, going for the cheap lines that deal with looks and sex appeal, rather than serves and volleys. It is the shallow, uninformed types, some of whom write Page 2 columns for major metro sports sections and who wouldn’t know a foot fault from a foot fetish, who relish the opportunity to make light of Kournikova’s tennis skills while tossing out sexist one-liners.

Those are the types who would, when writing about Kournikova’s win here, focus on such things as her cute teal-and-white outfit, with matching teal visor. Or the long blond braided ponytail that bounced gracefully through the air as she glided gracefully from side to side along the baseline. Or the bare midriff and tiny teal skirt that came into play once the warmup outfit came off and the match began.

It is those kinds of details that always seemed to be stressed, along with the signs held up in the stands by groups of panting males that say: “Marry Me, Anna.” Nor will these types of writers fail to report the plaintiff cries that emanate from groups of males in the upper deck as Kournikova waves to leave the court after matches, cries of “We love you, Anna.”

Those who would prolong the negativity would babble on about long legs and blue eyes and things that have absolutely no bearing on how well a first serve kicks or a topspin forehand bites. No, with these people, there is no sense for the societal significance of Kournikova’s tennis, no sense for the international appeal of her cross-court backhand.

She spoke afterward of a recent injury to her stomach muscle, and that brought sexist comments in the press room about the impossibility of anything attached to her being the least bit in need of repair.

So, what is needed is some straight reporting. Such as:

Kournikova got her first serve in an incredible 91% of the time. Stevenson, a big server playing in front of a hometown crowd, never held serve, mostly because Kournikova returned so well.

Kournikova had 16 winners and forced Stevenson into 21 errors.

Kournikova won 53 points, Stevenson 30.

The only game Kournikova lost was in the second set, 37 minutes into the match, on her own serve at 3-0. “It was my fault. I made four errors,” she said.

Kournikova had nine break-point chances and converted seven. She approached the net 13 times and won the point on nine of those.

Afterward, Kournikova said she played “almost perfect.” Stevenson said her “pride was hurt.”

In the late match, veteran Conchita Martinez beat Elena Likhoutseva in three sets, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-2.

About that, the cynical press would trot out another cheap line. It would say that the attendance for that match was 352, approximately 4.2% of it male.