I’m Not Boring, You’re Boring: Wozniacki To Press

World Number 1 tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki, today caught the waiting Australian Open media by surprised when she opened her press conference herself.

She announced that the previous day she had fielded a question from a reporter about her interviews being boring and repetitive but that it was because she always got asked the same questions. “I know what you’re going to ask me already so I’m just going to start with the answer”. She proceeded describe how good her racquet feels and how good she felt on the court. “Now you can maybe give me some questions that are a little bit interesting and are a little bit different to what I usually get.”

It’s not every day that the press get pulled up on their laziness and it could have been accepted as a wake up call. As it turned out, the reporters in the media pack didn’t respond well to having their egos bruised. Wozniacki was forced to field new types of questions, mostly asked in sarcasm, on topics like climate change, the new Liverpool coach and what she looks for in a “guy”.

While schedules are tight and journalists are often pushed to the limit for deadlines, we can excuse the odd dull question and answer session. But when challenged, resorting to questions about what Wozniacki looks for in a male partner is inexcusable. Male athletes are never asked this question and nor should female athletes have to endure this kind of sexist questioning, implying that their quest for a partner has an impact on their performance as an athlete.

The journalists in the room only had to do a two minute Google search to discover that Wozniacki is not at all boring. She turned pro at 15. Why not ask about how she approaches tournaments differently now that she is 20? It is known that Wozniacki likes listening to Rihanna to get psyched up for matches. What does her pre-match routine entail at the moment? She had a cricket session with Peter Siddle and on Thursday and would certainly have something to say about the difference of sporting cultures in Denmark compared with Australia.

It will be very interesting to see how sports journalism reacts to this confrontation by Wozniacki and whether it has any impact during the last week of the tournament or in the coming years. Media companies in Australia are making more than enough money to assist their sports journalist and improve this area of their work.