The product that is Maria Sharapova
Tennis star Maria Sharapova, who has just launched her official website, has also just signed a contract with Prince to promote their racquets, which she uses. It is a "lifetime" deal, scheduled to go beyond her tennis career, and will give her $25 million in the next ten years. Sharapova has endorsement contracts with Motorola, Canon, Honda Japan, and Colgate-Palmolive, and she does a lot of modeling. Her breasts have been marketed in Japan without her say-so.
When asked once by an interviewer whether the WTA was selling sex, Sharapova replied: "I don't care what they're selling." The 19-year-old with one Grand Slam title (2004 Wimbledon) is already a multi-millionaire, and is wildly popular throughout the world. She is not, in my estimation, a pretty young woman (though, as I mentioned once before, it is easy to project anything you want onto her unformed face), but she has a classic European presence and style about her (think Catherine Deneuve) that cannot be taught, and that lends her an air of wit and elegance. She is also quite droll, which makes her very enjoyable as a personality. The television commercials that feature her--whether for Canon or Nike or the U.S. Open Series--are all hilarious, largely because of Sharapova's natural wit.
Writing for Bloomberg News, Danielle Sessa asks "Why Can't Mauresmo As Number 1 Tennis Star Match Sharapova's Riches?" Well, duh. First of all, Mauresmo is gay. Second, she speaks with a French, not an American, accent. Third, she does not have long blonde hair and a lack of prominent facial features. That about does it, despite Sessa's offensive suggestion that Mauresmo lacks personality.
Sessa couldn't be more off-base. In her native France, Mauresmo is like a rock star. With her stylish tennis, good looks, motorcycles, horses, impressive wine collection, delicious sense of humor, and gentle persona, there is everything to like. Mauresmo does fashion spreads in Europe, and is quite a celebrity. But to be a world celebrity, you have to be slim and blonde and heterosexual, or at least not gay. And you have to have people who will market the hell out of you.
My instincts tell me that Mauresmo would not want to be a Sharapova. But that is not the point. The point is that Sharapova is the Chosen One, a product extraordinaire, the post-Kournikova bombshell. Some critics like to point out that she is "Kournikova with talent," but that is unfair, because Kournikova is an extremely gifted tennis player who never won a tournament for reasons that are not relevant to this blog post. However, such commentary only underlines the idea that young, slim, blonde female athletes are commodities, not sports icons. The truth of the matter is that Sharapova is a very good tennis player who is chasing her second Slam and will, in my opinion, get it at some point (it should be noted that world number one Mauresmo has become her on-court nemesis). But really, who cares about the tennis?
When asked once by an interviewer whether the WTA was selling sex, Sharapova replied: "I don't care what they're selling." The 19-year-old with one Grand Slam title (2004 Wimbledon) is already a multi-millionaire, and is wildly popular throughout the world. She is not, in my estimation, a pretty young woman (though, as I mentioned once before, it is easy to project anything you want onto her unformed face), but she has a classic European presence and style about her (think Catherine Deneuve) that cannot be taught, and that lends her an air of wit and elegance. She is also quite droll, which makes her very enjoyable as a personality. The television commercials that feature her--whether for Canon or Nike or the U.S. Open Series--are all hilarious, largely because of Sharapova's natural wit.
Writing for Bloomberg News, Danielle Sessa asks "Why Can't Mauresmo As Number 1 Tennis Star Match Sharapova's Riches?" Well, duh. First of all, Mauresmo is gay. Second, she speaks with a French, not an American, accent. Third, she does not have long blonde hair and a lack of prominent facial features. That about does it, despite Sessa's offensive suggestion that Mauresmo lacks personality.
Sessa couldn't be more off-base. In her native France, Mauresmo is like a rock star. With her stylish tennis, good looks, motorcycles, horses, impressive wine collection, delicious sense of humor, and gentle persona, there is everything to like. Mauresmo does fashion spreads in Europe, and is quite a celebrity. But to be a world celebrity, you have to be slim and blonde and heterosexual, or at least not gay. And you have to have people who will market the hell out of you.
My instincts tell me that Mauresmo would not want to be a Sharapova. But that is not the point. The point is that Sharapova is the Chosen One, a product extraordinaire, the post-Kournikova bombshell. Some critics like to point out that she is "Kournikova with talent," but that is unfair, because Kournikova is an extremely gifted tennis player who never won a tournament for reasons that are not relevant to this blog post. However, such commentary only underlines the idea that young, slim, blonde female athletes are commodities, not sports icons. The truth of the matter is that Sharapova is a very good tennis player who is chasing her second Slam and will, in my opinion, get it at some point (it should be noted that world number one Mauresmo has become her on-court nemesis). But really, who cares about the tennis?
posted by Diane at 4:37 PM
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