UK Sport

Tennis bids farewell to Mac Factor

Jerry Bingham 09 July 2001

RESEARCH CARRIED out by UK Sport at this year's Wimbledon Tennis Championships indicates that standards of behaviour among top tennis professionals are rising. Based on a sample of over 200 spectator interviews, a majority of the tennis-watching public believed that players' conduct has improved over the last ten years. 45% of respondents considered that conduct had improved, while only 14% felt it had deteriorated. 38% said it has stayed the same.

But the public was concerned about some issues in the modern game. Four out of five spectators thought that time-wasting tactics are unacceptable in tennis. A number of interviewees mentioned the women's quarter-final match between Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams as a recent example of players employing dubious tactics.

On a different note, spectators were in two minds as to whether racket technology is changing tennis for the better. 40% of respondents felt that the power of the modern racket is spoiling the game, but this idea was refuted by another 40% of interviewees. One view was that the new hi-tech rackets were actually having a beneficial effect on the women's game.

When asked about the influence of the media on perceptions of sporting conduct, a quarter of spectators said that the media placed too much emphasis on unfair play.

THE RESEARCH carried out at Wimbledon was part of UK Sport's ongoing Valuing Sport initiative. As part of the exercise, UK Sport is looking at the UK public's attitudes towards professional sportsmen and women's conduct and fair play. Throughout the summer the research will focus on the opinions of spectators attending a number of major sporting events - including Wimbledon and the British Open Golf Championship.

Full results will be available this autumn.

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