The Framing of Professional Female Tennis Players

Media outlets have given male athletes an abundance of coverage and favorably framed them compared to females who are scarcely featured in the media. This study will look at how the media frames female tennis players at major tournaments and how it contrasts with the framing of male tennis players. The framing of professional female tennis players will be interpreted in two contexts; how the media frames professional female tennis players in an objectifying manner and how the media frames professional female tennis players compared to male tennis players. The research questions were; what are the frames used when discussing female tennis players, what frames are used when a female player shows emotions such as anger and frustration, and how are female tennis players framed differently than males regarding appearance and emotional outbursts? The data for this paper was taken from major sport media websites such as ESPN, CBS, and Fox Sports. When selecting data for this paper, the headlines and relevant article content were the centers of analysis. The timeline included media coverage of the four major tennis tournaments, specifically the 2018 and 2020 US Open, the 2022 Australian Open, the 2022 French Open, and the 2022 Wimbledon. The findings in this study could help advocate for change because they show the contrast in how the media frames female tennis players compared to males. Male athletes automatically get media attention, while females have to fight for inclusion, and the media frames them in a less-than-stellar manner.