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They play to packed stadiums wherever they go. The world knows them by their first names, while their sex appeal and personal dramas make headlines around the world. They speak for the rich and poor, black and white, pampered and abused, and peddle everything from milk and cars to bras and video games. They are the divas of today’s professional tennis. But behind the cover girl smiles and million dollar contracts lies another dramatic and entertaining story. Told by the players themselves, PLAYING WITH FIRE goes behind-the-scenes for a year on the Sanex WTA Tour. The film explores what day-to-day life is really like for these amazing young athletes who have sacrificed what most of us know as a “normal” childhood to pursue the dream of being the best tennis player in the world. But what is the price of a dream? The answers come from the players themselves. This results in engaging and intimate human portraits of young athletes in the most glamorous and highly paid sport for women in the world. Women’s professional tennis has never been more popular in the public eye. PLAYING WITH FIRE gives viewers a rare look at this brash, outspoken new generation of young women with beaded hair and eye-popping outfits of every color. They have taken tennis out of the stuffy, white country clubs and onto the streets, where young fans everywhere scream their names and beg for autographs. Women`s tennis is not just a sport anymore, but a show, where the performers are tennis players who are as recognizable as movie or rock stars. The film also explores how a childhood in the isolated bubble of professional tennis affects these young women as they come of age. From the age of five or six until the age of 30, their entire life revolves around being the best tennis player possible. How do they feel about the fact that they will retire at an age when most young people have been to university, and are entering the prime of their careers? How do they reconcile feelings about the difficulty in finding a boyfriend, maintaining friendships and family ties, or the fact that they spend most every major holiday at a tournament? How do they feel about the media publishing the struggles that most young people experience only in private? The film explores these questions and more with the athletes themselves. Part road movie, part celebration, part human drama, PLAYING WITH FIRE explores the exciting and surprising realities of life on the Sanex WTA Tour. Shot in the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia, the film juxtaposes the day-to-day challenges these young women face with the glamorous world they inhabit. They share with us the personal price that must be paid to be part of a world where a winning performance is everything, and where the show must always go on. TENNIS PLAYERS INCLUDED IN PLAYING WITH FIRE: Billie Jean King (Retired US Pro) Evonne Goolagong (Retired Australian Pro) Natalie Tauziat (France) Amanda Coetzer (South Africa) Justine Henin (Belgium) Barbara Schett (Austria) Nadia Petrova (Russia) Serena Williams (USA) Oracene Williams (Mother of Williams sisters) Denise Capriati (Mother of Jennifer Capriati) Martina Navratilova (USA) Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) Asa Svensson (Sweden) Jana Kandar (Germany) Sonya Jeyaseelan (Canada) Iroda Tulyganova (Uzbekistan) Venus Williams (Press conference format) Anke Huber (Austria) Martina Hingis (Switzerland) Chanda Rubin (USA) Pam Shriver (Retired Pro and ESPN commentator) Mary Carillo (Retired Pro and TV commentator) Bud Collins (NBC TV commentator who has followed tour for 40 years) Jim Fuhse (WTA Player Relations Director – great insights on how the WTA works and the realities of players) |
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