Politics Are Everywhere

Professional tennis is performed on a global scale. Even though America might be more welcoming all cultures and walks of life, not all countries are. Yesterday, February 20th, the Women's Tennis Association served the Dubai Tennis Championships organizers with a $300,000 fine. This fine was recieved after Israeli player Shahar Peer was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates. This would never happen in today's sporting events in America.
Andy Roddick commented on the citation stating, "I really didn't agree with what went on over there. I don't know if it's the best thing to mix politics and sports, and that was probably a big part of it." The WTA handled the situation well, providing compensation to Peer and taking steps so future Israeli players won't have similar problems. The Tennis Worldstage is unique from many other sports, for instance football and basketball which are contained within the states. In the month of February alone, the ATP has events scheduled in Chile, Croatia, South Africa, Brazil, The Netherlands, France, Argentina, U.A.E., Mexico, and America. This makes the sport even more challenging as American players face off in different climates and wider ranges of opponents everywhere they go, not to mention the culture which may induce conflict mirroring yesterdays events.