Paula Badosa is all for trash talk in tennis but she wondered whether women could take it for what it is as opposed to taking it personally.
There is a very fine line between insult and trash talk because one is actually hurtful while the other can be playful banter between competitive individuals. Some would argue that there is no difference but for the most part, it's reserved for sports and competitive settings for a reason. It's not something you use in daily life.
Recently though, it's been talked about a lot in tennis thanks to Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff. Both are in favour which they revealed recently in Miami with some players coming out to back them. Badosa is in favour too.
I'm in. Yeah, I mean I'm all day talking trash on the court, but no, I mean, it would be totally different. We're not used to that. I mean, traditionally tennis is, it's very, like, polite, but why not?
Tennis has never encouraged such behaviour as Badosa noted. It's always been about prestige and respect and good manners however most tennis players are very competitive. It's going on in practices but due to the nature of a tennis court being surrounded by microphones, it's not really the visual the sport wants to send into the world.
Badosa herself wondered whether women could they take sort of thing withouth making it too personal.
It's a new generation, it could be a change and it could be different and fun.
But I don't know if women could take that. Like maybe they take a little bit more personally, but on men's side, like, I can see it for sure."
It's an interesting conversation certainly but it's not something that is likely to be embraced by the sport anytime soon. Time will tell.
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