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CNN Live At Daybreak

Just in TIME: The Domination of Women's Tennis

Aired August 27, 2001 - 08:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the hottest new faces at center court in tennis are all women and the leaders of the pack are sisters Venus and Serena Williams. How did they force the men out of the spotlight? The answer is "Just in TIME" this week.

And "Time" magazine Editor-at-Large Bill Saporito joins us with details.

Bill, good morning.

BILL SAPORITO, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

CELLINI: Before we get to Venus and Serena, just the ladies tennis in general, it's very interesting because not only the style of tennis that they play, more of a style I think that the average person can play without the rip serves that men have and the two shots per point, but also the fact that there's kind of a diva mentality on the ladies side, isn't there?

SAPORITO: Well, it's interesting, they all sort of don't like each other and it adds to the mix. They're very competitive. It's a -- it's a much better game to watch right now, you're right.

CELLINI: In terms of the Williams sisters now, it was Serena winning the '99 U.S. Open, but again, you talk about tennis players not liking one another and certainly they've had their share of accolades but they've also had their share of criticism. And in the magazine article, I'll read you a quote here from Martina Hingis who has been quite the rival for the Williams sisters. She said, "Being black only helps them. They get sponsors because they're black, and they have a lot of advantages because they can always say it's racism. They can always come back and say because we are this color, things happen."

What do you think of that comment?

SAPORITO: Well, I think Martina's a little cranky, and once you get on the court, you know race disappears. It's whoever hits the ball, you know, past the other player. So a little bit of that is disingenuous. It's a little, you know, jealously. I think she's referring to -- and some other players have kid glove treatment that the sisters they think get. But again, once you get on the court, it doesn't matter, you just have to play better. CELLINI: Do you think there's a jealously factor in all of this? And you know really they're an amazing story, learning to play in Compton...

SAPORITO: Absolutely.

CELLINI: ... from their father Richard Williams and then ascending to this amazing status in tennis. It's -- it is a pretty incredible story.

SAPORITO: It is. And you remember Hingis was sort of the princess of the tour for a while...

CELLINI: Right.

SAPORITO: ... and all of a sudden you have two kids come along, you know, out of Compton in California and they're blowing everybody off the court, they're getting all this attention. Yes, you bet there's a, you know, little edge to this -- to this tour right now. It's -- and it's -- and they make -- you know nobody is trying to hide this. This is the great part about it, they're all bad-mouthing each other all over the place.

CELLINI: Plus I think Hingis is realizing that the bigger players are becoming the more successful players now, the more power players on the women's tour.

SAPORITO: Well, yes, but remember she is the number one ranked player right now...

CELLINI: True.

SAPORITO: ... and she gets there because she's really a clever player, she's got great strokes so she's got to work around the power. But you know, the women do have a great combination of power and play right now and that's what the men -- you know the men are blowtorch serving and that's -- you know it's just hard to really get into a game like that.

CELLINI: Well, it should make for a very interesting couple of weeks at the U.S. Open. Watch out for Andy Roddick. He's the guy who may get the men's tennis back on the forefront.

SAPORITO: And they need Andy. They really do.

CELLINI: They really do.

Bill Saporito, thank you so much for joining us and talking some tennis.

SAPORITO: Thank you.

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