AIBU to be pleased that Serena and Venus are both out?

[grovel]

I was getting bored with their dominance.

sausagesandmarmelade, well really, how patronising are you? 'you've let yourself down'. Do you want me to 'play the white man' and raise my level of behaviour to a civilised level?

You really do have a chip on your shoulder!
You let yourself down by playing the race card...when it really didn't come into it.

You've let yourself down again by assuming (it seems) that I am white.

I didn't grow up in a culture that had a problem with the type of woman you described

it is an interesting thread in a way but I don't know what it is about now.

So some people think it is good that the Williams sisters are out because they were getting bored with them ineveitably seeming to win.

Other people seem to dislike them.

Some people think it is racist to be glad , or to express the way it was done here, that it is good that they are out.

Other people don't see how that is racist.

Then we did arrogant athletes... or I sort of did

and now it is our culture that does not like assertive, go-get em women so that is why they are not liked.

We like some assertive go-get em athletic women but not all though

so really I am not sure what it is we are actually discussing tbh but I could imagine that yes, they know quite well what racism in sport means and probably they encountered it in some form in their lives. I don't think it is a racist thing if people don't like them, lother athletes are well-liked after all. I don't think it is because they are powerful, assertive women, somehow a feminist issue - Other powerful, assertive women are well liked in sport.

actually I think the whole thing doesn't seem to matter much. I don't have a feeling we are discussing one thing here at all which is why the thread is not making a whole lot of sense

I get bored with it too, it's good to see someone who you don't expect, to win it.

In fact, I want Jensen Button to win it! (or Hamilton!)

I'm not rubbing my hands with glee at their misfortune but I agree it is a good thing that this year's Wimbledon title won't be fought between the same two women again. And I'm sure the organisers and the BBC are over the moon.

I'm speaking as a Formula 1 fan who had to watch Michael Schumacher win 91 grands prix and 7 world titles. It did get boring but I actually think I was lucky to witness the era of such a great driver.

Sports people like Schumacher and the Williams sisters will go down in history. It's great to have been there to see it.

It was boring when Sampras won every year

It's been boring when the Williamses win every year

They have had a long and deserved time at the top. I think the vast majority of people on this thread think that and now think it would be fun to have a change. How that is racist I have no idea

I get how it might seem a bit repetitive if the same people win year in and year out

it's undeniable the impact the Williams sisters have had on womens tennis tho, certainly felt to me like it was a bit in the doldrums until they came along all those years ago and I get that it's hard to keep enthusiastic about the same faces winning every year; not sure anyone else that interesting has come along recently tho, I guess it's possible I may have missed out on all these other super charismatic characters waiting their turn but I doubt it.

many people on this thread have said the Williams sisters play 'boring tennis". I've heard a lot of accusations levelled at them before but not sure boring is that accurate tbh.

either way I'm sure the last few days of wimbledon will be interesting this year

I thought from the thread title they were both gay.

Was thinking OMG, how did I not know this?

I'll be much happier when Shurrupandhitemova gets knocked out. Annoying sexual grunting, annoying silliy little girl voice in interviews. Snubs the line up to get her mobile out on court to phone her mum who is on a plane, d'oh.

I like the Williamses. If they are dismissive of a lot of the women players then so they should be, some of them don't look fitter than occasional club players.

Sausagesandmarmelade, when I see a post written about every boring player to lose a match, I may concede that race does not come into it. As for the chip on my shoulder, hardly, I am of a size that would indicate that chips do not escape from my mouth. You used a patronising phrase to me, I used a sarcastic, old fashioned, 'non-pc' phrase to you. I was accused of using the race card to shut down the discussion, you used the 'chip on your shoulder' card which has been used to shut down minorities' objections to behaviour that they feel is wrong.

creighton - you are being ridiculous (only read until pg 3 I'm afraid). I think you'll find that if the Williams sisters were rich white heiresses from Conneticut, people would be just as glad they are out. It's not the fact they've dominated the game in the past or even that a final between them is boring to watch - it's down to their egos - moaning about being on court 2 etc.

Did anyone else see Michael McIntyre on BBC2 a short while ago expressing the view that he would prefer not to see another Nadal Federer final as it would be good to see some different faces for once?

Well Creighton, which kind of discrimination are you going to accuse him of?

I didn't like watching the Wiliams sisters, playing eachother was worst, but even playing others was boring. Their tennis was boring to watch. And I resent it being implied that this means you think I am jealous, racist, don't liken the clothes they wear, or anything else. It doesn't. It really is simply thta their style of tennis I find boring. Same as Pete sampras, as other posters have said. who was a very good player, won loads of grand slams, but still boring to watch. even federer, who is a talented player, is not thta exciting to watch. aggasi was. nadal is o.k. to watch. I don't expect those views to be twisted into rascism, jealousy or anything else, because they are not.

I find it amusing that everyone is discussing racism/bigotry/sexism and denying that anyone is any of these things, then someone further up the thread posted about Andy Murray's "boring Scottish accent" and no-one has bothered about this at all. What's happened to your British spirit? When the Royal Wedding was happening, there were a million threads about how the Scots should get behind it and that the Scots are all very anti-British and anti-English.

Andy Murray is so much better than Tim Henman ever was but yet all I've heard from a lot of MNers and the news is how they can't wait for him to be put out and that he's Scottish, not British. Interesting.

Ds2 reckons that, according to the press, when Andy Murray is doing well, he's British, but if he loses, he's Scottish.

I think they are amazing athletes and tennis players (and not arrogant actually) and I do like their games but I will be pleased to see a different final for a change this year. I put my money on Sharapova - she's hungry for it this year.

Serena isn't the only high profile player to complain about playing on court 2 - Sampras did too. People who've won multiple times think they have the right to be able to avoid the 'grave yard court'

Two players I was really sad to see go this year were Li Na, and Kimiko Date-Krumm - the latter was beaten by Venus Williams. At over 40 years old, and having been out of tennis for a number of years, she did amazingly - even taking the first set.

And creighton - I am not saying that the Williams sisters play boring tennis (and I suspect most people on this thread aren't saying that either). What we are saying - and do try to keep up - is that it is boring to see the same people winning all the time. It's boring to watch a match where the result is pretty much a foregone conclusion, and that's how it's felt with the Williams sisters. And fyi, people have also said that it is boring when any player gains such an unassailable position. The Williams sisters aren't the first, and won't be the last.

I wanted to see them beaten because I feel that almost any player up against a Williams sister is an underdog, and I tend to side with the underdog.

It would be nice to see a British woman player in the later stages, hopefully Laura Robson will be this in the future, just hope she doesn't get distracted by all the showbiz and media stuff.

I like Sharapova and Lisicki this year, it is a shame they are playing each other in the semi.

The Williams sisters were too dominant. It made the fact that women got paid the same as men look ridiculous when they were winning the final in about an hour while Federer, Nadal etc were coming battling each other for 5 hours or more.

I think the sisters fixed some of the finals played between each other early in their career.