Should exhibition matches be taken seriously?

There was a time when I used to completely ignore the results of exhibitions matches. I’m talking about the era of players like Anna Kournikova who had the ability to attract hordes to her matches. Her opponents would invariably throw her some fluff balls so that she would not look like a complete moron. Pretty much the way she is now treated during Arthur Ashe Children’s Day or certain WTT matches. She seems irrelevant to the outcome, but she still looks good being irrelevant so everyone seems to play along.

Go here for the rest of this entry and here for my blog.