Question time in the theatre of the truly absurd

When the man from the BBC asked Anna Kournikova: "What question would you like me to ask you?" she might have replied: "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" Instead Kournikova threatened to walk out before enduring a brief and awkward interview. Most people are aware that she is more successful as a model than a tennis player but her first-round exit at Wimbledon turned her into a hostage to fortune.

When you are very young, very attractive, worth millions and have played in more than 100 events without winning a single singles tournament the green-eyed goddess is never far away, but even Kournikova was surprised at the tone of questioning when she faced the press in the interview room.

Q: Chris Evert was saying that if you really wanted to get your career into top gear you would have to give up the magazine covers and the extra-curricular stuff .

Anna: Well, first of all, I'm not involved in a lot of stuff like you guys say. You know, it's like 99 per cent less of what everybody else says that I do. So that really is not in the way of what I'm trying to do right now. It's just that there has been a lot of changes in my life in the last year, coming back after an injury, starting to play, all that stuff. There's been a lot of changes in the last six months in my game and just me as a person growing up, just the whole thing.

Q: You don't find it sort of complicates your tennis career?

Anna: Trust me, there's nothing... you know, first of all if I wasn't 100 per cent committed to playing I wouldn't be here. I could just go and do all the other things that you guys say that I can do, which I'm not interested in.

Q: Is it difficult to motivate yourself when you have such a successful career off court?

Anna: I don't have a career off court. There's no two Annas, there's one Anna.

By the time the one and only Anna who has done much to glamorise the image of women's tennis, faced a similar line of questioning from the BBC she had had enough.

Given the choice between entering the interview room or jumping into a courtesy car, most players would opt for the latter, particularly after losinga match. After his premature exit from a championship he once monopolised, Pete Sampras had to face the inquisition.

Q: You've always said that when the grass courts come around, when Wimbledon happens, there's a spirit that comes to you, a fire. Are we going to see you back here and are we going to see you in the winner's circle again? What's the future for Pete Sampras?

Pete: Well, the future is flying home. That's the immediate future.

Q: This loss is so recent, can you begin to assess how this fits into your career?

Pete: It's gonna be... it's hard to say right now what it's going to feel like over the next week or so. You have your highs and lows and this is definitely a low point.

Q: As low as any?

Pete: Well, pretty low. Pretty bummed out.

Q: How far would you say you have to pay the price now for having widened the game while you were still at the top? Pete: I don't understand the question.

Sometimes you cannot understand the answers. When Serena Williams was asked if she was distracted she replied: "I was just a bit everywhere. I was there but I was really gone."

Q: Is Lennox Lewis a family friend?

Serena: Yeah, I met him at one of his fights. He doesn't know my mom very well or my dad. I mean he met my mom yesterday. I don't know about a family friend. Maybe. Fan. Family fan, yes.

Q: I missed your gold shoes.

Serena: Me too. But you have to wear white here.

Q: Bit of trouble with a hair ornament? Venus lost an earring yesterday.

Serena: Did she?

Q: Yes. Maybe time to cut down on the accessories?

Serena: Accessorise, accessorise, accessorise. You can never have too many accessories.

Q: Did you find it confining to have to wear white?

Serena: No. I love coming here to wear white. I think it's really nice to have the white against the green grass.It's really pretty actually.

Q: I just asked because four girls are wearing the same dress.

Serena: No, no. I'm wearing something a little different. Mine is kind of special because it has gold sparkles in it.

In a week when prize money parity re-entered the debate, Jelena Dokic said: "I think the matches are getting so much tougher. There's no 6-0 6-0 or 6-1 6-1. It doesn't exist any more."

After breezing through the first round 6-0 6-0, Monica Seles said: "I really didn't want to sweat too much because I've been struggling with a bad cold." It did not, of course, take too long for the conversation to be deflected to the one and only Anna.

Q: You have seen the problems Anna had with the TV interview. Pam Shriver said it showed the real side of Anna that we don't normally see. Would you subscribe to that?

Monica: I didn't see the interview but it's been the talk in the locker room. Anna is going through a difficult period. I think she'll get through it. She's out there many hours hitting the ball.

Unfortunately not in singles matches but you can't have everything. Anna, who appears in the magazine of the WTA Tour, advertising diamond watches and a sports bra called Shock Absorber, returned to the interview room later in the week after she and Chanda Rubin won a doubles match.

Q: Are you still angry at the BBC for showing that interview?

Anna: Well, I wasn't angry, you know. It's not like I'm still angry because I wasn't angry. You know, I really...

At that point a blazer who sits in at the interviews interjected. "I think," he said, "we're here to talk about tennis." He cannot be serious.