Henin complained about Yuri’s gesture; WTA remains a useless entity
THE fallout from Yuri Sharapov’s Australian Open throat-slitting gesture gained new life yesterday with revelations Justine Henin lodged a complaint about the incident.World No. 1 Henin telephoned Women’s Tennis Association chief executive Larry Scott after seeing Maria Sharapova’s father run a hand across his throat in her quarter-final loss at Melbourne Park last month.
The gesture, caught by photographers and on TV, was investigated by the WTA Tour.
But Sharapov, who drew criticism for his hooded appearances at the Open, escaped censure.
He argued he was innocently sharing Hollywood terminology with his daughter, suggesting his hand movement signified “cut”.
“It’s over,” he offered as an explanation.
Henin still bristles at memories of the aftermath of her 6-4 6-0 defeat.
“I was really annoyed and I telephoned Larry Scott to ask his opinion. He told me that he found the gesture unacceptable,” Henin said.
“You shouldn’t have to see this type of thing in a tennis stadium. It takes away from the image of women’s tennis and can open the door for all types of problems.”
Sharapova advanced to the title as the rivalry between the Russian and Henin continued. Herald Sun
It is becoming even more clear to me that the WTA is catering to Maria Sharapova and her insane father because Maria is bringing in crowds and money to the tour. Personally, I am fed up with it - this story would long be dead had they just banned him from the next match or something similar.
Clearly, he did something disrespectful. Clearly, the target of the gesture, Justine Henin, was offended. She made her opinion known. And the WTA called up Yuri and probably asked him to not do it again.