!!!--Duiz™--!!!
Sep 29th, 2004, 01:20 AM
Sex appeal sells tickets, but athletic skill is also appealing
By Shelley K. Wong, Record-Journal staff
NEW HAVEN — When "Maria Mania" ended unexpectedly Tuesday evening at the Pilot Pen Invitational, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova probably took hundreds of fans with her.
As heart-wrenching as it was watching Sharapova double fault 12 times to wild card Mashona Washington, it was just as heart-stopping for fans, who enjoyed gazing at the Russian beauty as much as following the match.
"For the male audience, the fact that the women are attractive brings out an audience that wouldn't normally come out," Milford resident Noah Czarny said during Tuesday night's match. "I'd say Maria Sharapova is the person I liked to see the most. She just came off of Wimbledon and she's pretty.
Quin Parkhurst from Glastonbury agreed. "After she won Wimbledon, I became a fan," he said. "She is very attractive, of course, and she's good. You've got the best of both worlds. It's almost like she's the new (Anna) Kournikova, but she's doing well. She's already broken in on a different level."
And that was the difference for most Sharapova fans at the Pilot Pen. The 17-year-old has a singles title n one of the sports biggest — an achievement Anna Kournikova never attained in any WTA tourney. But for both players, known for their stellar looks, sex appeal is a shared trait and one that has been marketed to the hilt in sports, not just tennis.
Sex has driven women's sports for decades. It's no surprise why beach volleyball is far more televised than women's weightlifting. Then there is the attraction of Jennie Finch, the blonde blue-eyed U.S. Olympic softball player. And it is not surprising that Kournikova is known more for her beauty than her forehand.
Even the tennis skirts give evidence to sex appeal.
"Look at these women playing," Fairfield resident Patrick Krajci said.
"They're wearing much smaller outfits than they used to. It seems like their skirts are getting shorter and shorter; but if they're selling tickets, they're selling tickets."
Despite the allure for model-athletes, Pilot Pen Tournament Director Anne Worcester couldn't say the "Maria Mania" campaign was about sex appeal.
"She won Wimbledon," Worcester said.
"She's unbelievably charismatic. She's on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She has a seven-page spread in Italian Vogue. She's in GQ. She's in every single major publication in the world. Everyone has chosen her as a marquee name, not just the Pilot Pen."
Gilford resident Donna Scarano agrees. "I think she's really good at tennis and happens to be beautiful," Scarano said. "There are a lot of good-looking women who can't play tennis. She just happens to have both."
In spite of the "female-as-sex-symbols" era, veteran Jennifer Capriati, the No. 3 Pilot Pen seed, believes talent will always shine before beauty.
"I think the tennis will always speak for itself, whether you are a sex symbol or not, but it just makes it more interesting," Capriati said, adding. "I think it's a little bit of an exaggeration to call her, really, a sex symbol."
By Shelley K. Wong, Record-Journal staff
NEW HAVEN — When "Maria Mania" ended unexpectedly Tuesday evening at the Pilot Pen Invitational, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova probably took hundreds of fans with her.
As heart-wrenching as it was watching Sharapova double fault 12 times to wild card Mashona Washington, it was just as heart-stopping for fans, who enjoyed gazing at the Russian beauty as much as following the match.
"For the male audience, the fact that the women are attractive brings out an audience that wouldn't normally come out," Milford resident Noah Czarny said during Tuesday night's match. "I'd say Maria Sharapova is the person I liked to see the most. She just came off of Wimbledon and she's pretty.
Quin Parkhurst from Glastonbury agreed. "After she won Wimbledon, I became a fan," he said. "She is very attractive, of course, and she's good. You've got the best of both worlds. It's almost like she's the new (Anna) Kournikova, but she's doing well. She's already broken in on a different level."
And that was the difference for most Sharapova fans at the Pilot Pen. The 17-year-old has a singles title n one of the sports biggest — an achievement Anna Kournikova never attained in any WTA tourney. But for both players, known for their stellar looks, sex appeal is a shared trait and one that has been marketed to the hilt in sports, not just tennis.
Sex has driven women's sports for decades. It's no surprise why beach volleyball is far more televised than women's weightlifting. Then there is the attraction of Jennie Finch, the blonde blue-eyed U.S. Olympic softball player. And it is not surprising that Kournikova is known more for her beauty than her forehand.
Even the tennis skirts give evidence to sex appeal.
"Look at these women playing," Fairfield resident Patrick Krajci said.
"They're wearing much smaller outfits than they used to. It seems like their skirts are getting shorter and shorter; but if they're selling tickets, they're selling tickets."
Despite the allure for model-athletes, Pilot Pen Tournament Director Anne Worcester couldn't say the "Maria Mania" campaign was about sex appeal.
"She won Wimbledon," Worcester said.
"She's unbelievably charismatic. She's on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She has a seven-page spread in Italian Vogue. She's in GQ. She's in every single major publication in the world. Everyone has chosen her as a marquee name, not just the Pilot Pen."
Gilford resident Donna Scarano agrees. "I think she's really good at tennis and happens to be beautiful," Scarano said. "There are a lot of good-looking women who can't play tennis. She just happens to have both."
In spite of the "female-as-sex-symbols" era, veteran Jennifer Capriati, the No. 3 Pilot Pen seed, believes talent will always shine before beauty.
"I think the tennis will always speak for itself, whether you are a sex symbol or not, but it just makes it more interesting," Capriati said, adding. "I think it's a little bit of an exaggeration to call her, really, a sex symbol."