One has to admit this much: If you’re going to act like a diva, you might as well do so in a city like Paris. The members of the WTA Tour at least have a sense of drama, if not proper decorum.

In the first week of the 2009 French Open, many of the headlines in the women’s tournament have emerged not from the shotmaking prowess of the WTA’s best players, or from soaring career accomplishments that deserve extended mention. No, the biggest media magnet in Paris has been the behavior of a few women who evidently have some growing up to do at a still-tender age.

Victoria Azarenka’s merely the latest young lady to run into a controversy that has little to do with backhands or wide-angle serves.

Azarenka, the ninth seed at Roland Garros, fought her way into the fourth round with a gutsy but emotionally volatile 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 win over 22nd-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro. Azarenka will face eighth-rated Ana Ivanovic in a highly-anticipated encounter on Monday.

Why has Azarenka drawn fire for her on-court behavior? Fellow pros Marion Bartoli and Michelle Larcher de Brito had already raised eyebrows for their own words and deeds earlier in the week, which made it theoretically more difficult for another WTA performer to gain press for something other than tennis.

Bartoli made jaws drop after her second-round exit from the tournament. Following her loss to Italy’s Tathiana Garbin, Bartoli responded to a question in her press conference by saying that Garbin’s entourage would shout from the coaches’ box after the Frenchwoman committed an unforced error. “It’s not sports(man)like. They’re Italians,” Bartoli said. Given the uproar that consumed Italy and France after the contentious 2006 World Cup Final, perhaps it’s understandable that bad blood might still exist between the two nations. Nevertheless, Bartoli’s remark represented a low point in personal diplomacy.

De Brito, a 16-year old Portuguese phenom now training at Nick Bollitieri’s IMG tennis academy in Bradenton, Florida, managed to outdo Bartoli in this game of “girls behaving badly.” Maria Sharapova’s shrieks between shots might be off-putting, but de Brito’s primal screams have–in the estimation of most tennis observers–acquired far more volume and resonance than anything uttered by her more famous Russian counterpart. This problem reached such high-pitched proportions that it disrupted de Brito’s third-round match against France’s Aravane Rezai on Friday afternoon. Rezai–complaining not just about the loudness, but also the length, of de Brito’s ear-shattering emissions–raised her objection to chair umpire Mohammad El Jenatti. De Brito entered the fray by tellling El Jenatti, “Do you ask Sharapova to keep quiet?”

The soap-operatic theater continued after Rezai won the match. At net for the postmatch “handshake,” de Brito barely touched Rezai’s hand and avoided any eye contact. Naturally, the French crowd–which can be tough on players for far more innocent displays of emotion–let loose with catcalls and whistles as de Brito left the court. It hasn’t been a good week for women in their late teens and early 20s, thrown into the pressure-cooker of a global sporting event with large pots of both prize money and prestige on the line.

Now, Victoria Azarenka has become the latest member of the WTA Tour to lose hold of her emotions in the heat of battle.

Azarenka had enough difficulties with Suarez Navarro, who reached the quarterfinals of last year’s French Open; the 19-year-old from Belarus needed 2 hours and 35 minutes to complete a two-day match suspended Friday night because of darkness. Down a set and 4-1, Azarenka found herself squarely on the ropes, but managed to pull out the second set and return to the court on Saturday afternoon with a fresh mindset. The night of sleep helped her tennis, but it didn’t improve the Belorussian’s on-court demeanor.

On Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, Azarenka displayed the impetuous nature of a teenager still learning how to comport herself before the eyes of a studious French crowd. While Suarez Navarro silently went about her business, Azarenka–who emits noticeable grunts between shots (close to Sharapova at times, but nothing remotely resembling the deafening de Brito)–reacted to good and bad moments with untoward displays of pronounced feeling. Angrily swiping her racket after errors and bemoaning bad calls, Azarenka earned little admiration on Court 1 at Roland Garros when she’d exult after hitting a terrific shot. After one of her mini-celebrations on Friday, the crowd booed Azarenka, causing the tender but talented pro to weep during a changeover. After finishing off Suarez Navarro in the third set on Saturday, Azarenka hit a ball out of the stadium–as players are known to do when they win–but the French crowd pounced on her yet again, as a reminder that her conduct over the past two and a half hours of match play didn’t meet their standards.

It’s important to remember that putting young, sheltered, often-spoiled tennis players into a global spotlight will not bring out the best in human behavior. One can only hope that for Victoria Azarenka, Marion Bartoli, and Michelle Larcher de Brito, the passage of time will allow these plucky but prickly competitors to show the better angels of their nature… on and off the tennis court. Then, prestigious events like the French Open can be appreciated for the quality of competition, and not for any antics that only serve as a distraction from the real show in town.

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