Claremont Futures; UVa Invitational
Nina Rota, co-author of Tennis Diary, posted this interesting look at the Claremont Futures tournament going on right now in California, entitled Five Diverse Players at the Claremont Futures Event (Robert Yim and Carsten Ball will play in the final--full draws are available at the usta.com Pro Circuit page). She explains how several of the players came to be attached to the United States and how Mike McClune differs from the others. And, as she demonstrates here by asking Stephen Amritraj about the Duke lacrosse incident, you never know what you might learn when you're actually at tournaments talking to players.
One of the big men's college tennis events this weekend is the Invitational at the University of Virginia, which features 27 teams and many ranked players. For draws, click here.
10 comments:
Opening remarks - Stephen Amritraj and his cousin Prakash Amritraj play for India not the US which might have influenced his thought process, although this is pure conjecture.
I know this is a tennis blog, however in the Nina Rota article she said:
"Since Stephen majored in political science at Duke, I asked his opinion about the Duke rape case. Last year three innocent Duke lacrosse players were indicted for raping a black college student who was hired to strip at a team party. The players were vilified by the national media and local population and the District Attorney brought the indictments without corroborating evidence. The District Attorney was recently disbarred for his actions.
Stephen was not lacking an opinion. While he decried the treatment of the players by the media and the judicial system, “I hate what happened to them, no one ever deserves that no matter how bad they are,” he also said, “I just want to go on record - you can print this wherever you want - that group of guys had it coming to them.”
It’s easy to focus on the miscarriage of justice in this case and forget some of the things that actually did happen that night. As Stephen put it:
If you look at the facts of that night and what they did, they definitely hired a stripper, they definitely yelled racial epithets at her, they definitely treated her horrendously and disrespected her, and did whatever they could to berate her.
Yes, it is wrong to hire a stripper and it is wrong for the stripper to accept the money. Where did she think she was going to a high school dance?
This is one of the reasons I like going to Futures and Challengers events. I know I’ll speak to someone from a small country I’ve barely ever heard of, but I also know I’ll learn more than I ever expected about the country I live in."
If Stephen was quoted correctly, which I don't know-
but to say "that group of guys had it coming to them.”
In IMHO Stephen is way out of line -they have been branded for the rest of their lives and for the players/families to go thru what they have gone thru is not deserved, even if they did what Stephen alleges they have done.
The justice system (the District Attorney ) also was proven to be way out of line.
IN NO WAY DID THE LAX PLAYERS DESERVE WHAT THEY GOT.
And if Stephen needs to go to Futures, Challengers to learn about the United States - what difference does it make -he plays for India.
Do you think it was right for him to take USTA money and wild cards in USA if he now plays for India?
Something about glass houses and stones seems appropriate about now.
Follow up to a post david made a couple of days ago. Jarmere Jenkins LOST to Bernard Tomic 2-6,3-6 in the final of the Kentucky International Tennis Derby.
Jarmere had some good results with his wins over the number 5 and 1 seeds although according to the tournament site he was kind of lucky to win against Ignatic because the guy retired injured after leading 6-3, 0-2. A win's a win I guess.
Apart from Jarmere, Formentera got through a round by beating Brad Cox. Bo Seal got to the 3rd round and lost to Ignatic 5 and 3. Devin Britton lost to Jenkins in the quarters and Eric Quigley got through a round by beating Ryan Harrison.
I inadvertenly put the following sentence in Steven's quote.
Yes, it is wrong to hire a stripper and it is wrong for the stripper to accept the money. Where did she think she was going to a high school dance?
Those are actually my words not Stephen's.
I hit the wrong key when I copied my words.
Sorry
Correction to Michael who wrote that Jarmere Jenkins was lucky because Ignatik retired. The fact is that Ignatik did not retire. Jenkins beat him 1 and 1.
Jenkins didn't win by a default, Ignatik won by that score in the previous round. But I was there watching the tourney and there was something totally fishy about the way Dimitrov from Bulgaria retired decided to retire hurt after Tomic had given him a whooping over a set and a half and then the top ranked boy in the world, also from Bulgaria, loses 1 and 1 to Jenkins in the next round. Jenkins had been playing well, thats a fact, but Ignatik looked like he wanted to get out of Dodge, not win the event.
michael u need to actually get some facts straight and quit trying to make ur stories sound good. formentara beat JORDAN cox, not bradly, jarmere beat cesar ramirez 1 and 1 followed by ignatic 1 n 1.....
Can someone please describe Jenkins' game style?
I also wonder how Jenkins beat both Ignatic and Ramirez 1 and 1, and then lost to Tomic?
Mrs Lewis,
I have always been very happy for my son to read this blog and have enjoyed it just as much as he has. But I am now appalled to see you allow a poster, man in the moon, go on a narrow-minded rant about the Duke situation, not once but twice.
"Where did she think she was going to, a high school dance" = she was asking for it. Irrespective of the outcome of the trial, as a woman I find that sentiment disgusting and I am stunned to see that you would allow it to be posted on your site.
I had assumed this blog was a place where people could read about tennis in a neutral or apolitical setting. Looks like I was wrong. If you share the same beliefs as the poster or condone his opinion, and as you allowed them to be posted (and re-posted) I can only imagine you do, I would like to know because I dont want my son browsing any site that harbours those kind of attitudes.
Michelle Prentice.
First, thank you for identifying yourself and for letting me know your concerns. I post many, many comments that I disagree with. Because this issue has been so publicly debated, and it was a former Duke tennis player who began it, I felt it was appropriate to post the comment on it.
I struggle with what comments to post and what comments to reject and I don't really enjoy making that decision, but I continue to feel that this site provides an opportunity for people to voice their opinions. Ultimately I believe that's valuable, although often that is an abstract concept that is difficult to defend on any particular comment.
Colette and Mrs. Prentice,
First and foremost I have the highest regard for women and always, always had that position.
My point was the Duke LAX players were wrong and so was the young lady who accepted the offer, as witnessed by my quote- "Yes, it is wrong to hire a stripper and it is wrong for the stripper to accept the money."
The players were expecting something and the "stripper" knew what they were expecting and received compensation for it -- BOTH PARTIES WERE TOTALLY AND UNEQUICOVABLY WRONG AND this is not a new concept in this case.
Colette, I know that you do not agree with all the posts on zootennis just becuase you post them, which btw is typical of people in charge of posting or editorals in newspapers.
Mrs. Prentice
I meant no disrepsect to women, as a mattter of fact I quoted Ms. Nina Rota in my post.
My point is the Duke LAX players made mistakes as Amritraj stated, but many people including me did not believe the District Attorney was correct in his actions, which was proven later and he was fired.
The proof is the "girl in question" not only LIED to the District Attorney which is a Federal offense but accepted money in doing an illegal action.
I certainly do not have any sympathy for the girl in question and it was proven she was NOT raped.
I would very much like to get back to tennis,
however I did want to make my position clear about women. In general, I think they are terrific.
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