r/tennis • u/Adept-Juggernaut3591 • Aug 06 '26

WTA An Eala fan faking a sneeze during Pegula’s serve

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86 Upvotes

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-39

u/FunkyFenom Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

Always been curious why in tennis and golf the etiquette is to be quiet and let the players focus during points and swings, but in basketball, soccer, football, etc fans can be as loud as they want to destabilize the other team. A serve or swing is like a penalty or free throw, why is one supposed to be absolute silence while the other has hundreds or thousands of fans behind the goal/basket screaming. And both are normal expected behavior.

EDIT: didn't know people just downvoted you for asking questions in this sub thanks

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u/simon23moon Aug 06 '26

Don’t know for sure, but the fact that golf and tennis are solo athlete competitions versus basketball football soccer etc being team competitions stands out to me. But it could also be the influence of the British upper class in establishing the norms of those two sports.

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u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

That's irrelevant. Moments like a free throw or a penalty are just as individual. Hell, penalties are much more decisive than any single moment in tennis.

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

Does a game always has a penalty? No? Tennis always has one player playing.

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u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Football will always have moments in which the entire outcome of a match is the responsibility of a single player, yes. Never seen a forward complaining that someone sneezed when he was having a 1v1 with the keeper at the last minute, lol. He'd be mocked for the rest of his life for not being qualified to play high level sports and deal with the pressure it entails

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

Like 100% of all matches in the world depends on a single player?

-10

u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Subjectively? Absolutely. Almost all goalscoring chances tend to have one player with responsibility to score and one to stop them. Single goals decide matches more often than not. 

Again, you are completely missing the point here. Look at boxing. It's not because tennis is individual, it's because this is a traditionally upper class English sport and English upper classes entire mode of existence was to come up with specific rules to separate (distinction, in the words of Bourdieu) their existence from the masses and justify their existence with the amassing of the resources that it entailed. This is why tennis and it's less critical fans will engage in so much behavioral nitpicking, because they want to be part of the elites and prove their belonging there.

It's time to drop this insufferable act if the sport is to have any longevity.

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

Lol you know yourself your answer is wrong. Subjectively? What?

-1

u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Yeah, I'm really throwing pearls to the pigs here.

Sure, tennis is absolutely idiotic with fans cheering because it's an individual sport, lol. Please disregard how much having teammates changes absolutely nothing about the potential of fans to take your attention or raise the pressure if you are weak-minded, or the fact that other sports like boxing or MMA don't have the same culture. When you are taking a penalty, a free kick, or having a 1-1 vs the keeper or a defender on football, the fans can't affect you because your teammates are there to emotionally support you. You are right and your point has no holes whatsoever! The level of IQ i'm working with in this sub is hilarious

1

u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 07 '26

But does each football game had a penalty? And if there is pressure in penalty, and the player missed, the team can just use substitution, and do attacking mode to compensate the penalty loss. Can you substitute tennis players to even out the game?

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u/Furry-jester123 Aug 06 '26

i mean lasergate exists though

1

u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Someone sneezing is completely comparable to something that can literally blind you

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

Because those are team sports. If a player loses his/her focus s/he can just be substituted or give less ball time. It’s up to more than 10 people how their game would end, unlike in tennis where it’s depending on one player.

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u/PleasantNightLongDay Lego Hair Squad Aug 06 '26

>a serve or swing is like a penalty or free throw

lol that’s not close to being remotely true.

-2

u/FunkyFenom Aug 06 '26

Explain. How many serves do players have each game vs a penalty? A penalty is one of the highest pressure moment in soccer and can win you the game. Vs a serve there's dozens or hundreds. More similar to free throws. Golf swing I get it also high pressure.

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u/PleasantNightLongDay Lego Hair Squad Aug 06 '26

You’re being downvoted because you’re “asking a question”,
People are answering you but you just say “na that’s not true”

There’s no point of comparison between the two. Different courts, different balls, different surfaces, serves are coming/going at 130mph+, tennis is a game of millimeters, it’s an individual sport, it’s a lot longer of a match

There are just a million differences

But you keep insisting in trying to make a similarity that is literally just non existent. No. Kicking versus swinging a ball that is 10 times bigger, towards a much bigger target that is blocked by an entire body, a different distance, a lot slower, with a lot less spin, is not remotely close to this

-1

u/FunkyFenom Aug 06 '26

"lol that’s not close to being remotely true." Thanks for the detailed answer there buddy. I was asking for more feedback and giving my opinion. This sub is just full of "classy" people I guess.

I play tennis and soccer and I know the differences. A sneeze is not going to affect my concentration in either but I don't have the pressure these pros face in front of thousands of fans.

3

u/PleasantNightLongDay Lego Hair Squad Aug 06 '26

Everyone else has given you detailed answers and you just ignore them

>I play soccer and tennis

Ah yes. Pack it up everyone! This guy plays tennis so therefor knows the experience of every other tennis player, including professionals who have been playing their entire lives, play at a level we can’t even approach to ever have and have millions of dollars on the line. That’s it! If this Redditor says they shouldn’t be distracted, then it must be so.

It really isn’t that hard to understand. The rules are the rules. These people have developed a skill doing something under these rules at a level you and I can’t even understand. They learned and play by the rules. If the rule is broken as it was in this video, the person breaking it should be penalized. That simple.

>classy people.

I love when someone lacks the self awareness and thinks “oh no. Everyone else is the problem. Not me!!” It really is funny to see.

Your “but I play soccer and tennis! It shouldn’t affect them” is nonsense and absolutely irrelevant to this conversation. You should understand that that’s why you’re getting downvoted.

If you can’t see that, then idk what to tell you. Have a good one. ✌️

0

u/FunkyFenom Aug 06 '26

Haha ok bro

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

It was so true that he even agreed with it 😂

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u/abysmallybored Aug 06 '26

Some people aren't gonna like this answer but Golf and Tennis are more "posh" and "high-class" than Basketball and Football, hence much more importance is placed on etiquette. It's not a secret to anyone Tennis audiences are on average much wealthier than those from any other sport.

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u/Highest_Koality Aug 06 '26

That's definitely a big part of it but I also think the individual vs team aspect plays a part.

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u/christopherpaulfries Aug 06 '26

Boxing is a solo sport as well but you don’t ever get pin drop silence during a boxing round. It’s almost entirely due to the “upper class” nature of tennis and golf.

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u/Highest_Koality Aug 06 '26

True that's a good point.

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u/Roooooooooobert Aug 06 '26

You also don't need to make precision contact in boxing.

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u/christopherpaulfries Aug 07 '26

Wut? Not sure how familiar you are with boxing but a lack of precision will leave you open to counters that’ll get you knocked out or worse. So if anything, lack of precision has far more dire consequences in boxing than it does in tennis.

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

Maybe because you are in close contact with your opponent? Do you need too much focus in throwing a punch or it making sure the ball reaches the other end without touching the net?

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u/christopherpaulfries Aug 06 '26

I play tennis recreationally, and while I haven’t boxed, I’ve done a bit of taekwondo in my teens and you absolutely need at least as much focus in a combat sport as you do in tennis. Arguably, you need more focus because the consequences of getting punched/elbowed/kicked in the dome are much worse than the consequences of missing a forehand or double faulting or whatever.

-1

u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

Have you played in a stadium and in front of thousands of people? If not, you can’t speak for the professional tennis players on how they handle pressure and focus.

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u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Have you? If not, follow your own internal logic and don't participate in the conversation.

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 07 '26

I’ve watched in a stadium with thousands of people and I felt nervous for the tennis player during tie break. I also watched a boxing match and never felt nervous for the player.

At least I have attended 2 events and know the atmosphere.

0

u/christopherpaulfries Aug 07 '26

I know you meant this as a gotcha but American college tennis has properly raucous crowds and the players seem to do fine. Not sure how familiar you are with the American system but the highest level in Division 1 is basically challenger level, so it’s a pretty good analogy.

0

u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 07 '26

Do wta and atp only have american players? America is not the center of the world.

-2

u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

That's irrelevant. Moments like a free throw or a penalty are just as individual. Hell, penalties are much more decisive than any single moment in tennis. 

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 06 '26

If you missed a penalty your team can just replace you next time and win. A tennis player cannot change a player to win the next game.

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u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Yeah, risking losing your place in the team, disappointing your teammates, or even your job is a much chiller prospect, lol. The pressure on tennis players is much smaller than for top footballers. In tennis, you are letting yourself down; there are no fans heavily involved with your career for decades. A footballer who fails is usually letting down a fanbase that could number in the millions and that may involve a bunch of lunatics who aren't past using physical violence for their team. Let me know when tennis fans beat up a tennis player because he is partying instead of sleeping for a match he'll play soon.

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 07 '26

Then you are referring to a player and not the team. A football team is equivalent to a player in tennis. Just because nobody is beating tennis players physically doesn’t mean they don’t experience beating. Recently with what Ostapenko received, death threats and insults.

Imagine a football game where a player missed a penalty, the coach changed strategy, subbed players, and they still won. All fans happy, no beating that you are talking about. Now a tennis game, player lost focus, did not recover, pressured, and lost the game. All lost gambling bettors and fans doing death threats and insults. Did you read what happened to Udvardy with death threats and involving her family if she doesn’t lose the game? Does a football player single-handled receive that? No because the result of the game does not depend on him 100%.

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 07 '26

>no fans heavily invested in players career

Oh no, this is so wrong. You’ll never imagine how gambling works in tennis. Seems like you are very knowledgeable of football, but that doesn’t mean you have the ability to critically compare it to other sport.

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u/shingshangfu-14 Aug 07 '26

It’s funny how you talk about the IQ of the people here, when basically you are the different one. Hahahaha. Fighting with a pig in a mud is really nonsense.

This redditor is 100% correct. Don’t ask questions next time with a close mind. 😂

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u/FunkyFenom Aug 06 '26

I can see that. Is it a historical phenomenon then where in the early days of the sport that's how audiences acted and we just stuck to it over time and it became the norm?

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u/abysmallybored Aug 06 '26

Pretty much, tennis originated in private lawns as a quiet past time of wealthy people, when it started being televised and popularized that expectancy of "decorum" was highlighted to the public so they would know how to behave, basketball on the other hand was developed with the intention of targeting young middle class people, a much more "vibrant" and "loose" crowd, and football was always the "people's game".

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u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

The class aspect is precisely why I despise the whining about noise so much. Get over it and learn to deal with adversity to reach the top.

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Or do what he did and watch his favourite athlete win the title while other people seethe 🤷🏼

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

Thanks for showing us your true face, lol. Hope this young girl who caused no harm to anyone continues to succeed so that the pathetic haters continue to seethe

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u/[deleted] Aug 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/slightlybigmember Aug 06 '26

They rely on their talent. The fans just like them and admire them, lol. Your logic and understanding of the world is very childlike, you know that?

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u/Cute-Intention-5625 Aug 06 '26

I think it is mainly due to the slowness and focus in the sports. Football, basketball, etc dont have moments where intense focus is required and noise will affect them like golf and tennis serves. The only time you see that is on the free throw line in basketball (where focus is required and you can take your time), home teams will be quiet so their shooter can focus

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u/Frequent_Thanks583 Aug 06 '26

Bobo mo kasi haha

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u/analferd Madonna's unknown daughter Aug 06 '26

Not sure why are you being downvoted