Pretty balls

The recently concluded ATP Madrid Masters was hit by controversy when the organiser decided to replace the normal young volunteer ball boys and girls with models wearing slit skirts and tight tops with the name of the sponsor prominently displayed on their ample chest. The 19- to 28-year-olds were drafted in as ball-girls to replace the young fans who usually run around picking up stray balls and handing towels to players and will work in most of the televised matches at the tournament.

Parents of the teenagers they ousted felt it was a heartless move as they said the move have killed the children's dreams of sharing a court with their idols.

In the final last weekend, the eventual winner Marat Safin was shown being srayed with champagne by one of the pretty girls as her model colleagues looked on. Just like in Formula One and MotoGP.

How the game of tennis have changed over the years!

I remember in the early eighties when the tennis players wore simple white tennis shirts and shorts - remember Steffen Edberg? John McEnroe? or their female counterparts, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graff and Gabriella Sabatini?. Things started to change when younger generations took over in the likes of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras and in the women circuit, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis.

Agassi and Sampras were among the earliest players started to wear denim shorts and refused to follow the conventional 'dress code'. I remember at one time, the English press covering Wimbledon Open were more interested in Seles' grunts and her pink panties than her play.

Then came Anna Kournikova which was a classic case of commercialism and marketing endorsement rather than about playing good tennis. She was one of the highest paid player from appearances and product endorsement eventhough she never won any tournament. Of course the William Sisters with their outrageous fashion statement.

Today, you will see female tennis players wearing all kinds of sexy dresses and of course, the sponsors like them, the TVs love them and the crowd have extra reason to watch and cheer upon.

I wonder how long it will take for these commercialism to creep into the more asian dominated sports like badminton and table tennis. Yeah......could not wait for that to happen. I hate to see our women shuttlers wearing those oversized t-shirts and shorts.