"Maybe serena Williams will start another positive trend" - Pam Shriver calls for losing players to be allowed to talk at on-court interviews
Serena Williams was interviewed on court after her second-round defeat to Belinda Bencic at the Canadian Open on Wednesday. Former doubles World No. 1 Pam Shriver, while happy to see Williams being spoken to following her defeat, has called for a change in rules to allow the losing players in all matches to be interviewed on-court going forward.
The 60-year-old hoped that Williams, who is set to retire from the sport after the US Open, has made another positive following her on-court interview.
Shriver, who currently works as an analyst for ESPN, took to social media to give her thoughts on the subject.
"For years efforts to hear from the player who comes in second has been a challenge. It’s usually been no by tennis establishment. @serenawilliams maybe will start another positive trend. Obviously tonight special circumstances, but still fans want to hear from both players," she tweeted.
For years efforts to hear from the player who comes in second has been a challenge. It’s usually been no by tennis establishment. @serenawilliams maybe will start another positive trend. Obviously tonight special circumstances, but still fans want to hear from both players.
"Well, it was a lot of emotions obviously; it's been a pretty interesting 24 hours" - Serena Williams bids adieu in Toronto
A day after announcing her imminent retirement from the sport she has graced for over two decades, Serena Williams has been the centre of all the talk. Her Canadian Open journey was cut short following a straight-sets defeat to 12th seed Belinda Bencic.
The 23-time Grand Slam winner was not at her best as her Swiss opponent registered a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 victory.
From Serena 💜
To Toronto 🇨🇦 https://t.co/gjcX1QnoeG
Speaking in the on-court interview, Williams acknowledged Bencic's efforts and also bid goodbye to a packed stadium.
"I wish I could have played better but Belinda played so well today," she said, adding, "It's been a pretty interesting 24 hours. It's been so memorable, like I said in my article I'm terrible at goodbyes but…goodbye Toronto. "
Bencic also paid tribute to the 40-year-old and spoke about the 'intimidating' aura of Williams.
"You can feel her presence everywhere. She has this aura that's just, you know, if you want it or not, you are intimidated, you are scared. Once she's just standing there at the return, you just get a little bit scared. Of course it's Serena," Bencic said.
"I mean, in a way with her it feels almost like I'm star struck every time I see her. So it's difficult to play her. It's difficult to kind of put that aside and just like focus on the match. Because I feel like, I just don't know how I then play, because I feel like I'm paralysed a little bit just like watching her," she added.