Nobody has a right to "appreciation".

Some people are appreciated, some not. Some earn their appreciation, others not so much.

Some people are seen as "worthy" of appreciation, for example on grounds of perceived nationality, others not.

Some people have/ make friends with the press - often with no desire of their own, and often this goes the other way and people become disliked/ criticised by the press, and this often colours the perception of the unwary. (I present Saint Diana and Devil Meghan as examples). I am staggered by how much the general public take of their heroes and villains from the press: how many people have passionate views about (e.g.) various members of the Royal family with absolutely nothing to go on other than what was published in the media.

I don't think that there is much mileage in trying to take up a banner on someone's behalf (or even against someone) purely because they don't seem to get the "appreciation" that one thinks that they "deserve".

-- Country-hopping is not a great way of endearing oneself to the press, but some people manage it: the resulting "opinion" seems to depend on how much the press can be convinced to care about it.

To an extent the "Jo" that we see is an avatar, in the same way that "TTMan", "christ", or "ROSAMUND" aren't actual people, they are creations for public consumption with personalities deliberately crafted to match. We are lucky, in that we get to choose almost completely how we are viewed: Ms Konta and others not so much, but the perception that we have of "celebrities", "personalities" or "sportspeople" is framed - often deliberately, other times not so much - rather than being an actual view of that person. Complaining that this is unfair is not likely to achieve much.

tl;dr: Ms Konta's record will speak for itself when it is in the books, her "appreciation" should be a matter for sublime indifference.

TTMan wrote:

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Thank you "christ" (interesting avatar!) for responding and there is lot of sound observation in what you say.

I do however, believe that ANY elite GB athlete at the top end of their field (Jo is the British number 1 and in the world top 20, after all) should be fully and accurately reported in the specialist sports columns, not so much as a right but because that is the sports reporter's function. In Jo's case, some of them are seriously failing to achieve this. Their negativity will in turn, drive Jo (and others) away from opening up. Thankfully things are slowly changing and Jo IS establishing a rapport with some media. As for earning appreciation, I would have thought her Fed/BJK Cup contributions should be enough on their own.

I don't know Jo Konta personally or have any connection but purely as a fan, I have had to live with the lack meaningful information and analysis about the British number 1's tennis. I also don't know to what degree Jo finds this stuff hurtful. If that does go on to affect her performance it is bad for all of us who follow British tennis both now and into the future. It is noticeable that all her major titles came quickly in a row before she came under the media spotlight and the first thing the media pounced on was her national origins. The rest of the nasty stuff followed.

-- Edited by TTMan on Monday 21st of September 2020 01:23:22 PM

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 Mentioning Jo's winning titles , she has also  been runner up in her last 4 finals. Additionally she has reached multiple  finals on all playing  surfaces i.e.  hardcourt, grass and clay. Going back briefly on a different subject Jo was still having knee trouble at the time of the battle of Britain events.She might not have wanted anymore injury setbacks at the time. Having knee trouble there was brought out by Sam Smith (a really thoughtful commentator) during one of Jo's matches in America. You (TTMan) could always get Jo to do a message for you on the tennis cameo. I'm  sure you'll be pleased with the results. 

dodrade wrote:

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TTMan wrote:

I don't know Jo Konta personally or have any connection but purely as a fan, I have had to live with the lack meaningful information and analysis about the British number 1's tennis. I also don't know to what degree Jo finds this stuff hurtful. If that does go on to affect her performance it is bad for all of us who follow British tennis both now and into the future. It is noticeable that all her major titles came quickly in a row before she came under the media spotlight and the first thing the media pounced on was her national origins. The rest of the nasty stuff followed.

-- Edited by TTMan on Monday 21st of September 2020 01:23:22 PM

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I don't think that's true. Ben Stokes, Bradley Wiggins and Mo Farah all won BBC SPOTY despite being foreign born. Rightly or wrongly Konta got a reputation in the media early on as a cold fish (e.g. the Jonathan Ross interview) which has coloured the wider public's perception of her. Her limited participation and perceived lack of enthusiasm in the Battle of the Brits tournament and curt comments about Laura Robson after her questioning her choice of coach (which turned out to be correct) feed that narrative.

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 Thank you dodrade, pretty much every story you mention is a good example of tabloid style spin, which as you correctly say, has coloured the wider public perception of Jo and still does, despite her many achievements on tour and for team GB. This "fake news" is EXACTLY what I'm concerned about. There are so many real stories they could be writing about Jo and giving the public a more informed understanding of what makes her tick.  As for SPOTY, does anyone still take that seriously?

BTW not quite sure why Laura is in that role, her knowledge and experience of WTA tennis must very limited and considerably less than Jo's and the other presenters on Prime. I think it must be because in the dark and VERY distant past, Jo and Laura were once in the same FED/BJK Cup team, hardly still relevant.  As I understand it, Jo had not yet made a decision about working with Hogstedt when Laura made her comments and was still trying to make it work, as she could see the potential benefit. A good example of Jo's professionalism and how it gets distorted by the tabloids and low grade social media trolls.

Coup Droit wrote:

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TTMan wrote:

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 Don't know who CD is? but rowdy competitiveness is fine by me. I've been to both Davis and Fed/BJK Cup matches at Wimbledon and The Copper Box and the atmosphere was the best I've experienced watching live tennis but bad language and "sledging" is crossing a line for me, particularly during points.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed the BotB Mixed Team format and would like to see more of that sort of event woven into the ATP/WTA calendar. I would also liked to have seen more of Jo but appreciate how it was awkward for her on a lot of levels (eg scheduling, coaching, injury). She did though put in an enjoyable performance in the doubles with Cam and there seemed to be a good chemistry as well I thought?

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That's me, TT, just someone on this forum, no one of real note 

Indy's point was that I've twittered on quite a bit about French team tennis (which I know firsthand very well) and how useful I think it is for the players' development and how brilliant it is as free entertainment for tennis fans.

And, yes, it's very competitive, very partisan, and VERY rowdy at times.

A lot of banter, a bit of needle, and a real experience. 

I love it and find it a welcome contrast to some of the very straight-laced matches I've been to in the UK.

It may not be for everyone (and maybe not for Jo, I've no idea) but I think it's partly what you're used to, what your expectation is, and it certainly won't do the younger players any harm to experience it a bit. 

As to whether Jo is under-appreciated in the UK and, if so, why, that I can't really say....

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 Hello CD, thanks for responding. I'm a true convert to the team tennis format, especially when it brings together young and experienced players, men and women and wheelchair. It could be a real crowd-pleaser to re-invigorate tennis post covid.  I've always been a big fan of Davis and Fed/BJK Cup, etc, which I've been lucky enough to attend. Actually, it's conventional Knock Out tournaments I've fallen out of love with but that's another story.

As for Jo, she has thrived in Fed/BJK Cup, having won her last 11 matches for team GB and getting a Heart Award.  It's only misinformation from the GB tabloids that suggests otherwise, unfortunate timing of the BotB Team event for Jo and a childish reaction mostly from the male players.

TTMan wrote:

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According to Wikipedia, Jo is seeded 3 for Ostrava, below Pliscova and Svitolina (have not been able to confirm this elsewhere).

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 If you look on the tennis forum there is the entry list for Ostrava  Jo is entered.It has got an incredibly strong entry list.This assumes that Covid 19 doesn't stop the tournament being played..  

ROSAMUND wrote:

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TTMan wrote:

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According to Wikipedia, Jo is seeded 3 for Ostrava, below Pliscova and Svitolina (have not been able to confirm this elsewhere).

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 If you look on the tennis forum there is the entry list for Ostrava  Jo is entered.It has got an incredibly strong entry list.This assumes that Covid 19 doesn't stop the tournament being played..  

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 Yes, thanks (and Indiana) the entry list is now confirmed on the official Ostrava website too. Jo did well to get entered early. Small draw and meager pickings ahead gives little opportunity to get ranking points and for Jo to eke out another title (let alone slam) before her time runs out. 

It's such a pity. With 23 of the top 29 ranked entered into a WTA Premier, the players are there, they want to play, but so very little on offer.

I don't know if the WTA has failed them, as I saw someone claim on tennisforum, we are in unique times. But it is very unfortunate.