Game, Set, Watched: Governance, Social Control and Surveillance in Professional Tennis

GAME, SET, WATCHED: GOVERNANCE, SOCIAL CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE IN PROFESSIONAL TENNIS By Marie-Pier Guay A thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada November, 2013 Copyright © Marie-Pier Guay, 2013 Abstract Contrary to many major sporting leagues such as the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB, or the Olympic Games as a whole, the professional tennis industry has not been individually scrutinized in terms of governance, social control, and surveillance practices. This thesis presents an in-depth account of the major governing bodies of the professional tennis circuit with the aim of examining how they govern, control, constrain, and practice surveillance on tennis athletes and their bodies. Foucault’s major theoretical concepts of disciplinary power, governmentality, and bio-power are found relevant today and can be enhanced by Rose’s ethico-politics model and Haggerty and Ericson’s surveillant assemblage. However, it is also shown how Foucault, Rose, and Haggerty and Ericson’s different accounts of “modes of governing” perpetuate sociological predicaments of professional tennis players within late capitalism. These modes of surveillance are founded on a meritocracy based on the ATP and WTA rankings systems. A player’s ranking affects how he or she is governed, surveilled, controlled, and even punished. Despite ostensibly promoting tennis athletes’ health protection and wellbeing, the systems of surveillance, governance, and control rely on a biased and capitalistically-driven meritocracy that actually jeopardizes athletes’ health and contributes to social class divisions, socio- economic inequalities, gender discrimination, and media pressure. Through the use of top- players’ accounts, it is also shown how some players resist certain governing, controlling, and surveillance practices designed for their benefit, while others understand and accept the resultant constraints as part of their choice to be a professional tennis player. ii Acknowledgements Like high-profiled tennis stars, I also have a great team to be thankful for. There are so many people who have helped shape this thesis and degree, but also my overall Kingstonian journey at Queen’s University during the past two turbulent yet exciting years. First off, I would like to thank Michelle Ellis for being so helpful, always with a genuine smile, and for bringing a form of familiarity away from home with her bilingualism. Merci Michelle. I would like to thank my supervisors Dr. Annette Burfoot and Dr. Rob Beamish. Annette, I knew from the moment I met you that I wanted you as my supervisor and boy, did I get it right. Your caring support, understanding, thesis advice, and your desire for me to do well helped shape this thesis immensely. Thank you infinitely. Rob, as a professor and a supervisor, you are a force to be reckoned with. Your in-depth knowledge and passion on the sociology of sport were great to share with you in this thesis. Thank you immensely. I would also like to thank Dr. Samantha King and my “killjoy” colleagues from KHS 869. Sammi; you and the girls pushed me to another intellectual level that I did not know existed in me. Albeit demanding and not always in a good physical shape, I was always looking forward to being in this classroom with you all. Everyone’s support was so critical at that time and it was greatly felt. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Many thanks to my professors Barbara Hunting and Dr. Gerry Coulter for believing in me from the very beginning of my undergraduate studies and who pushed me and gave me the confidence to apply for grad school. iii Finally, this thesis would not have been possible without the unconditional love and support of my family, my backbone. Alex, when I am coming home to you, it makes me happier than ever and gives me the strength and motivation to do well and look ahead for an awesome future together. Thank you for always bringing a smile to my face with your humour and kindness especially during stressful times. Thank you for being the perfect loving husband. Te amo con todo mi ser. Dominick, you inspire me. I am so proud of you twin brother. Anytime I struggle, I can only look at you and be immediately inspired and know I can achieve it all. Thank you for being there for me and for being so resilient. Je t’adore. Mom, we did it. I would not have had the strength to end this journey without you. I know you are and always will be there for me in the good and bad times. I feel so privileged to have you in my life as my mother. Merci pour être la meilleure mère au monde. Je t’aime à la folie! iv Table of Content Abstract.………………………………………………………………………………….…ii Acknowledgements.………………………………………………………………….........iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………......v List of Abbreviations..........................................................................................................vii Chapter One Introduction…………………………………………………………...................................1 Chapter Two Game On: Exchanging with Foucault, Haggerty and Ericson, and Rose...…………....7 Foucauldian Perspectives.............................................……………………………...8 Disciplinary Power........................………............................……………...11 Governmentality & Bio-Power……………………………………..……...17 Haggerty and Ericson’s Surveillant Assemblage…………………….…………….24 Playing the Game Differently with Nikolas Rose.…………………………………29 Concluding Word.………………………………………………………………….34 Methods & Concepts.………………………………………………………………36 Chapter Three Studying the Opponent’s Game: A Literature Review on Governance, Social Control, and Surveillance in Sports..……………………………………….........................……...39 Governing the Health of Athletes…………………...................…………………..39 The Yin-Yang Social Control Nature of the Media.……………………………….45 Surveillance for Secured Games.……………………………………………..........48 Doping and WADA.………………………………………………………………..53 The Neo-liberal Politics of Sport and Freedom........................................................59 Chapter Four Break Point: Identifying the Contemporary Governing Bodies of the Professional World of Tennis and their Sociological Effects on Athletes……….....................……...64 Major Professional Tennis Leagues and their Main Structural Elements………….64 v Players’ Council………………………………………………………...….67 Membership Privileges..…………………………………………………....73 Major Elements of the ITF, ATP, & WTA Rules& Codes of Conduct for Players 75 Time Constraints and Continuous Play.………………………………...…75 Bathroom Breaks……………………………………………………….…..78 Medical Time-Outs (MTOs)……………………………………………......79 On-Court Coaching………………………………………………………...80 Hindrance………………………………………………………………......81 Media and Sponsor Obligations…………………………………………....83 Dress Code…………………………………………………………….…...86 Electronic Reviews with the Hawk-Eye Technology………………….........87 The Tennis Anti-Doping Program (TADP) as Signatory of WADA…………..…..88 The IBM Data Tracker…………………………………………………………......93 Chapter’s Conclusion: The Game’s Highlights…………………………………....94 Chapter Five Match Point: Top Players’ Voices on Being Governed, Controlled, and Surveilled....97 Health Concerns: Athletes Challenge Biopolitics……………………………….....98 Court Surfaces and Modern-Day Tennis Rackets linked to Injuries.………99 Medical Treatment & Playing through Pain……………………………...100 The Media Pressures and the Commercialization of the Sport: Trapped in Capitalism?..............................................................................................................106 The Tennis Anti-Doping Program: Athletes Demand the Surveillant Assemblage112 Match Fixing & Betting Corruptions in Tennis: The Limitations of Foucault, the Surveillant Assemblage, and Rose’s Ethico-Politics Framework..…….....……....120 Conclusion: Good Game..………………………………………………………….....…126 References..........................................................................................................................135 Appendix A........................................................................................................................153 vi List of Abbreviations ABP – Athlete Biological Passport ADAMS – Anti-Doping Administration & Management System ATP – Association of Tennis Professionals FIFA – Fédération Internationale de Football Association ITF – International Tennis Federation TADP – Tennis Anti-Doping Program TIU – Tennis Integration Unit UTACP – Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme WADA – World Anti-Doping Agency WTA – Women’s Tennis Association vii Chapter 1 Introduction “Only shooting stars break the mould.” (Cash 2002: 333) Where retired and former top-five professional tennis player Pat Cash ended his autobiography by quoting the band Smash Mouth in their song called “All Star”, I chose to begin with it. Whether it would be professional tennis players, other high-profile athletes, or even academics, in today’s society we seek to witness or find those shooting stars that break those Grand Slams records like Roger Federer did, or Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated Olympian of all times in 2012, or even Michel Foucault who forever changed the way we theorize the body today. Yet behind this stardom imagery often hides an unparalleled reality. This current reality strongly contrasts Pierre de Coubertin’s amateurism ideal that seems long forgotten in contemporary high-performance tennis. As commonly known among scholars of sport, toward the end of the 19th century, French aristocrat de Coubertin renewed the

Load more