Robson may be taken to woodshed for calling women tennis players 'sluts'

Because my subscription to British Vogue has run out (damn recession!), I initially missed the interview with tennis star Laura Robson, in which she called rival women’s players “sluts.” The quotes are the talk of the tennis world now; so much so that the Women’s Tennis Association is investigating. Apparently they’re not investigating the sluts, but taking a look to see if Robson’s quotes are accurate. And then … the rack! Or a strongly-worded rebuke letter. I’m not sure. Here’s the quote as seen in Vogue:

“Some of the tennis girls, they’re sluts. They go with every guy and make such a bad name for themselves — and you don’t want to be known for stuff like that. You want to be more discreet.”

Robson later claimed that her quote was taken out of context, but the WTA still was not amused, contending that the sluttiness of their athletes should not be brought up in large magazine profiles.

“We are aware of Laura Robson’s reported comments to Vogue UK along with her statement that the comments were taken out of context,” said WTA Tour spokesman Andrew Walker.

“We understand that an actual transcript of her remarks exists and we will review it carefully as soon as we receive it.”

Interesting take by a commenter at the London Daily Mail:

The Emma Watson effect. Posh little guys thrown into the limelight with their little girl next door middle class attitudes. Why on earth does she need to comment on other player lifestyles? I think she might be a bit jealous! Stick to hitting balls and raising your game girl. — mat, london, 02/6/2010 13:15

From now on, quotes such as Robson’s will be referred to as “The Emma Watson Effect.” Ha. Perfect.
On another note, can we stop exclusively blaming social media for unwise athlete quotes? British Vogue takes about three weeks to assemble, is delivered by a mailman and makes an audible thunk! when dropped on a coffee table. That isn’t exactly Twitter, now is it?
Also, I wouldn’t call Robson’s Vogue photo spread “slutty” by any means, but she is only the 269th-ranked player in the world, and yet gets profiled in a major publication. It wasn’t all on merit.
Anyway, this is still my favorite Robson quote:

In the interview with Vogue, she admitted to having a crush on the retired Russian player Marat Safin, whom she once pretended was her date to the junior Wimbledon dinner.

She described Safin as “phenomenally good-looking,” but added: “He’s old — he’s 30.”

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WTA to launch probe into Laura Robson’s controversial ‘slut’ comments [London Daily Mail]
Rising tennis star reportedly uses ‘S -’ word for some players [Toronto Star]