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In psychology, some people are refered to as an "indentified patient" either at home, school, work, etc. This person is the one that everyone is that particular group views as the person with the "problem." Let me make an example. Say there is a family in which one of the children has say, obsessive compulsive disorder. That child would be the family's indentified patient, even if he/she showed signs of improvement and was seeking help for that problem. Any time this person would even do something minor, say, forget to do his laundry, he would get scolded differently than one of his siblings who might do exactly the same thing.
Jennifer Capriati is definetly tennis' "identified patient" based on her past problems, which she overcame several years ago. She is far from perfect (only Mary Poppins is practically perfect), but she DEFINETLY is still looked upon as the person with "problems" when she does certain things that other players do all the time. Some examples:
-A LOT OF folks in the media and on message boards either called Jen a "cheater" at the US Open or at least said that she was responsible for having the call overturned. NONE (or almost NONE) of these folks called Agassi a cheater against Dent, or called Serena a cheater against Jen in the French Open quarters on MATCH POINT last year, or called Lindsay a cheater for not asking Alicia Molik to be given an ace in their qf match at the AO this year. And no athlete in any team sport is ever expected to reverse a call to help the other team. Yet "bad girl" Jen was given more blame for the bad call on these boards and in the press than the UMPIRE herself! Jen didn't even INFLUENCE that call
-Nearly everyone took Billie Jean King's side during Fed Cup Gate, yet saw Billie as a biach when she wouldn't let Lindsay come late to Fed Cup when her mom had surgery. Also, when Chanda Rubin demanded her coach be allowed at practices, her teammates and King were more than happy to accomodate her demands, but Jen was the wicked bitch of the west for wanting to practice with daddy. Prrfft
-Jen is considered disgusting for swearing on court even though she doesn't call the refs or opponents names, but pretty much every other player who acts the same way and ten times worse gets off the hook. Look at Wertheim who has basically said Jen is disgusting trash for her foul mouth, but he thinks Andy Roddick the tantrum throwing cussing king is a class act?!!!!!
-Jen shows up to a tournament sporting a little gut, but running down every ball and she's "Out of shape" and "needs to consult a nutritionist"(that one came from Tracy Austin. It's kind of funny since Jen reportedly eats very well and doesn't even allow herself fries during the season. Players like Kim and Sveta, who have very similar builds/weight as Jen are considered fitness gurus as is David Nalbandian who sports a bigger gut than Jen.
-When SHE gets a horrendous linecall, she doesn't get the same "victim" label that Serena did at the Open (sorry it's true). Everyone knows if Elena Dementieva gets a bad call that helps Anastasia Myskina in a Slam quarter, the media would say nothing about it and fans wouldn't call Myskina the cheating horse.
She also gets criticsed heavily for.....
-not smiling and hugging her opponent after losing a heartbreaking match (like you'd want to hug the guy that got a promotion over you at work?!!)
-saying how she feels, but without making personal insults at other players
-saying "you know" a lot in interviews (like she's the only player who does?Give me a break) and therefore must be really dumb
-not being in bed with the media
etc
I'm not saying Jen is above criticism, but I am just pointing out that Jen has this label as being a "bad girl" and the "identified patient" based mostly on her past. It's much easier to find fault in someone whose past problems are well known and a lot harder to find fault in folks like Kim, Serena, Lindsay and Andy. If you really look closely her reputation and behavior don't really match up. She's no worse than "class acts" like Lindsay, Andy and yet you'd think she was based on the way some folks talk about her. She's human, as we all are. But does she deserve to be seperated from her peers as the one with the problems? Absolutely not.
Jennifer Capriati is definetly tennis' "identified patient" based on her past problems, which she overcame several years ago. She is far from perfect (only Mary Poppins is practically perfect), but she DEFINETLY is still looked upon as the person with "problems" when she does certain things that other players do all the time. Some examples:
-A LOT OF folks in the media and on message boards either called Jen a "cheater" at the US Open or at least said that she was responsible for having the call overturned. NONE (or almost NONE) of these folks called Agassi a cheater against Dent, or called Serena a cheater against Jen in the French Open quarters on MATCH POINT last year, or called Lindsay a cheater for not asking Alicia Molik to be given an ace in their qf match at the AO this year. And no athlete in any team sport is ever expected to reverse a call to help the other team. Yet "bad girl" Jen was given more blame for the bad call on these boards and in the press than the UMPIRE herself! Jen didn't even INFLUENCE that call
-Nearly everyone took Billie Jean King's side during Fed Cup Gate, yet saw Billie as a biach when she wouldn't let Lindsay come late to Fed Cup when her mom had surgery. Also, when Chanda Rubin demanded her coach be allowed at practices, her teammates and King were more than happy to accomodate her demands, but Jen was the wicked bitch of the west for wanting to practice with daddy. Prrfft
-Jen is considered disgusting for swearing on court even though she doesn't call the refs or opponents names, but pretty much every other player who acts the same way and ten times worse gets off the hook. Look at Wertheim who has basically said Jen is disgusting trash for her foul mouth, but he thinks Andy Roddick the tantrum throwing cussing king is a class act?!!!!!
-Jen shows up to a tournament sporting a little gut, but running down every ball and she's "Out of shape" and "needs to consult a nutritionist"(that one came from Tracy Austin. It's kind of funny since Jen reportedly eats very well and doesn't even allow herself fries during the season. Players like Kim and Sveta, who have very similar builds/weight as Jen are considered fitness gurus as is David Nalbandian who sports a bigger gut than Jen.
-When SHE gets a horrendous linecall, she doesn't get the same "victim" label that Serena did at the Open (sorry it's true). Everyone knows if Elena Dementieva gets a bad call that helps Anastasia Myskina in a Slam quarter, the media would say nothing about it and fans wouldn't call Myskina the cheating horse.
She also gets criticsed heavily for.....
-not smiling and hugging her opponent after losing a heartbreaking match (like you'd want to hug the guy that got a promotion over you at work?!!)
-saying how she feels, but without making personal insults at other players
-saying "you know" a lot in interviews (like she's the only player who does?Give me a break) and therefore must be really dumb
-not being in bed with the media
etc
I'm not saying Jen is above criticism, but I am just pointing out that Jen has this label as being a "bad girl" and the "identified patient" based mostly on her past. It's much easier to find fault in someone whose past problems are well known and a lot harder to find fault in folks like Kim, Serena, Lindsay and Andy. If you really look closely her reputation and behavior don't really match up. She's no worse than "class acts" like Lindsay, Andy and yet you'd think she was based on the way some folks talk about her. She's human, as we all are. But does she deserve to be seperated from her peers as the one with the problems? Absolutely not.
