Only the Pretty Need Apply

I came across a very amusing story today. As a few of you (I wish it was all of you), may know, the Wimbledon tennis tournament is currently going on over in England. As there are 128 men and 128 women who enter the singles events, let alone the men and women's doubles and the junior events, a LOT of courts are needed to accommodate all that matches that are being played. But there is one court that all players aspire to play at - Centre Court, the Court where the finals are played, the court that obviously has the most seat, the court which signifies that you have made it to the big time. Well, that is if you are male. As expected, the best male players almost always get to play on this court. Roger Federer, the #1 player in the world; he gets to play his matches there. But notice I said male players. What about the females? If the top seeded male got to play on Centre Court, surely, Dinara Safina, the top seeded female would play there too, right?

Well, if that were the case, we wouldn't have a story, would we? As it turns out, which females get to play on Centre Court in the earlier rounds is partially decided on the beauty factor. Yes, if you are pretty, you have a better chance to play on Center Court than if you are considered less that stellar on the attractiveness scale. I am not making this up. Jonny Perkins, who works for the All England Club (the organization that runs the tournament) came out and said that "good looks are a factor" in deciding who gets to play on Centre Court and that "It's not a coincidence that those (on Centre Court) are attractive." So, the other day when #1 seed Dinara Safina (Pic 1 below) and #2 seed Serena Williams were playing on outer, smaller courts, Centre Court saw a matchup of the 8th seed, Victoria Azarenka (pic 2 below) against 28th seed Sorana Cirstea (pic 3 below).







I like hot women as much as the next guy, but this isn't a beauty contest. The best ATHLETES should get the best treatment in an athletic event. Pretty sad....