Mirza and Pe'er Update

Because of the high volume of comments on my "Sania of the Times" post, I feel obliged to do a brief update. A number of posters shot me links to the Yahoo! Sports site where Mirza’s agents at Globosport issued a simple denial of the thrust of the original story, which ran at an Israeli website. I might have noted the source of the original story, but generally I'm not comfortable doing that; it highlights the source in a negative way, implying that it may not be reliable. I had no reason to think that was the case here, despite the obvious issues involved.

Besides, I wouldn't have had any more - or less - of a problem with the facts of this story if it came from a conservative Muslim website celebrating Mirza's decision, and I don't think you would either.

The key to this entire story is the money graph:

The direct quote from Mirza should have been sourced, because it doesn’t turn up in the public record: Who exactly did the reporter get the quote from? Mirza? Her coach? Pe’er or her coach, relating a conversation with Mirza? Was it at press conference, public appearance, in a private interview? If it came second-hand from someone who didn’t want to be identified, that should be noted, even if the source is unimpeachable.

At the same time, there is no reason to dismiss this report as a fabrication. It’s hard to believe that the money quote from Mirza is made up out of the thin air (By whom? For what purpose?), Mirza’s history is relevant, and the direct quote from Oded Yaakov, Pe’er’s coach, strongly supports the story.

Yaakov can’t have any clear ulterior reason (if anything, he would be wise to stay mum of he really hopes to see Mirza and Pe'er play together again) for saying what he did. There’s also the chance that the reporter milked the quote out of Yaakov and fitted to suit his needs, but we can't assume that, either.

My gut feeling is that the reporter was fed this story by someone familiar with it, who felt entitled to pass on Mirza’s money quote. I’m still working on this and will post any new developments as they occur or, as they say, close the file.