You are a tennis journalist covering the Australian Open. Right in front of you, a 19-year-old defeats 14th-ranked Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals, putting her two wins away from her first Grand Slam title. Now you can interview him. What should you ask?
Maybe you’ll ask her how she feels about going further than Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova. Maybe ask her why she seems to have Ivanovic’s number, given that she also beat the former world number one at Wimbledon last year. Or what it’s like to be a 19-year-old in the semi-final of your first Australian Open. Maybe you draw on your knowledge of tennis history and ask her if she knows she’s the first Canadian woman never reached the Australian semi-finals and the first to reach a semi-final of a Grand Slam since 1984. You have many options, most involving tennis, which makes sense, because that’s the sport she practical – and that it plays quite well.
Instead of sticking to those questions, you – intrepid tennis observer that you are – ask 19-year-old Eugenie Bouchard the story of the 2014 Australian Open so far, who she would date if she could date any man. Then, when an embarrassed Bouchard responds, “Justin Bieber” (she’s Canadian, after all), you ask him to send the Biebs a personal message, just in case he’s watching (via SB Nation):
Many will be outraged by this, which you seem to realize when you clearly state that “they asked me to say this”, but your logic is impeccable. You are Samantha Smith, a woman who I used to play professional tennis and who now comments on the game for a living. So you know better than anyone that there is no reason to ask serious questions about the wonderful sporting achievements here, because as a womanEugénie Bouchard is not a serious athlete capable of answering serious questions about great sporting achievements. It’s better to find out who she’d like to date, a subject her wandering teenage mind was certainly contemplating throughout the Australian Open quarterfinals. When they criticize you, remind them it’s tennis, and there never was one all sexism here.
Of course, you would never ask Rafael Nadal or anyone else in the men’s draw that kind of question, especially not on court after a big win. These guys are serious tennis players. They can talk all day about backhands and forehands and long rallies and trick volleys, about how special it is to be in the thick of another Australian Open draw, about what it feels like would mean winning a Grand Slam title. On serious topics related to tennis. But Eugénie Bouchard? She’s just a woman. No need to care what she thinks.