2018 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Chivito550

Chivito550 wrote: »

The only muppet here is yourself.

really?

between you and the other Federer diehards you'd make up the cast of Sesame Street.

PlaneSpeeking

glasso wrote: »

really?

between you and the other Federer diehards you'd make up the cast of Sesame Street.

Least we know how old he is, multiple tennis records, when Sampras last won etc, the recent history of the game etc etc.

Just call me Miss Piggy.

Floppybits

Ah lads put the handbags away till January when it will all start up again.

Speaking of the twat Kyrgios, did I hear that is speaking with a sports psychologist? What a waste of talent he is.

PlaneSpeeking

Floppybits wrote: »

Ah lads put the handbags away till January when it will all start up again.

Speaking of the twat Kyrgios, did I hear that is speaking with a sports psychologist? What a waste of talent he is.

Agreed there, could have been such a talent - but will be remembered as a complete fool.

Utter waste.

PlaneSpeeking

Floppybits wrote: »

Ah lads put the handbags away till January when it will all start up again.

Speaking of the twat Kyrgios, did I hear that is speaking with a sports psychologist? What a waste of talent he is.

Hopman starts in 38 days mate, not long to go!

Alright - hands shook till then!!!

Floppybits

38 days, goes to show how short the off season is. Very hard for players to recover and rest up from injuries and work on fitness in that time.

yerwanthere123

Floppybits wrote: »

Ah lads put the handbags away till January when it will all start up again.

Speaking of the twat Kyrgios, did I hear that is speaking with a sports psychologist? What a waste of talent he is.

Yes, he is. Very interesting to see him referring to his own mental health. Can only be a good thing really that he's reaching out, let's just hope something good can come of it.

I genuinely think Nick could be doing what Zverev is right now if he'd actually apply himself.

Floppybits

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Yes, he is. Very interesting to see him referring to his own mental health. Can only be a good thing really that he's reaching out, let's just hope something good can come of it.

I genuinely think Nick could be doing what Zverev is right now if he'd actually apply himself.

There is no doubt that Kyrgios could be further along than he is now. Infact if he applied himself properly I think he would have been in a final of a grand slam if not have won one by now.

Johnmb

Floppybits wrote: »

38 days, goes to show how short the off season is. Very hard for players to recover and rest up from injuries and work on fitness in that time.

They don't have to play every tournament. If they managed their time better they could easily rest and recover. Federer has done it well (I don't mean the extreme time management he has done the last couple of years, but before that he was quite picky about his schedule). And the Williams sisters were always very picky about their schedules. It can be done.

jr86

Kyrgios has had a lot of injuries though, which Zverev hasn't had to contend with on the same scale

Its way too early to write off NK, 23 is a very young age. He still has loads of time to win slams.

Floppybits

Johnmb wrote: »

They don't have to play every tournament. If they managed their time better they could easily rest and recover. Federer has done it well (I don't mean the extreme time management he has done the last couple of years, but before that he was quite picky about his schedule). And the Williams sisters were always very picky about their schedules. It can be done.

I don't it is that easy for some of the players to skip tournaments like Federer does. As far as I can make out these are the rules

1. ATP World Tour Masters (except Monte-Carlo) 1000 tournaments for which he is accepted
2. The ATP Finals (if qualified as a direct acceptance or designated as the alternate)
3. 4 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, 1 of which must be held following the US Open.

And of course there is the 4 Grand Slams on top of that as well. When players reach certain milestones there are allowed to miss tournaments, hence why Federer can do what he does?

1.08 Reduction of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Commitment

A. A player’s number of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 commitment tournaments shall be reduced by one (1) tournament for reaching each of the following milestones:

1) 600 matches (as of 1 January of the commitment year);
2) 12 years of service;
3) 31 years of age (as of 1 January of the commitment year).
If all three (3) conditions are met then the player has a complete exemption from the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 player commitment.

I believe the Williams sisters get fined when they miss the tournaments but with their wealth the fine amounts to nothing.

Floppybits

jr86 wrote: »

Kyrgios has had a lot of injuries though, which Zverev hasn't had to contend with on the same scale

Its way too early to write off NK, 23 is a very young age. He still has loads of time to win slams.

I would say the reason for Kyrgios's injuries is due to him not putting in the required work to reduce injuries. The guy has already said he practices when he feels like it, I can only assume that also applies to the other work players put in to keep themselves in peak condition and reduce injuries.

Chivito550

glasso wrote: »

really?

between you and the other Federer diehards you'd make up the cast of Sesame Street.

Myself being a Federer fan is irrelevant here. I pointed out your error re Federer’s age. You called me a muppet for it. But you were the one who was wrong.

I agree with you about Zverev.

Johnmb

Floppybits wrote: »

I don't it is that easy for some of the players to skip tournaments like Federer does. As far as I can make out these are the rules

1. ATP World Tour Masters (except Monte-Carlo) 1000 tournaments for which he is accepted
2. The ATP Finals (if qualified as a direct acceptance or designated as the alternate)
3. 4 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, 1 of which must be held following the US Open.

And of course there is the 4 Grand Slams on top of that as well. When players reach certain milestones there are allowed to miss tournaments, hence why Federer can do what he does?

1.08 Reduction of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Commitment

A. A player’s number of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 commitment tournaments shall be reduced by one (1) tournament for reaching each of the following milestones:

1) 600 matches (as of 1 January of the commitment year);
2) 12 years of service;
3) 31 years of age (as of 1 January of the commitment year).
If all three (3) conditions are met then the player has a complete exemption from the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 player commitment.

I believe the Williams sisters get fined when they miss the tournaments but with their wealth the fine amounts to nothing.

There are 8 Masters 1000 events, 4 Slams, ATP Finals (if you qualify, many who don't have not bothered showing up as an alternative), and up to 6 other events. That's 19 events being counted for ranking. The only thing really affected by skipping those is your ranking, because they are counted whether you show up or not, so not playing gives 0 points. Only the 8 Masters, and 4 Slams, are mandatory, the other events are simply the 6 best results (unless you withdraw after accepting a spot). The ATP finals, if you qualify, are a bonus and do not replace one of the other 6 in the event of not playing (i.e. not playing is no different than not qualifying). There doesn't seem to be any monetary fine on the ATP for not playing.

As for the WTA, 16 tournaments are counted (with their end of year championships and Elite Trophy being a bonus 17th). The Slams and Premier Mandatory are 0 points for a not playing, if you qualify, and at least two of the Premier 5 must count. The rest are any tournaments, as long as you didn't already accept entry. Financial fines came out of the WTA bonus awarded at the end of the year, i.e. The Williams sisters, and any other women skipping events, did not pay over any actual cash, their bonus is docked, with a proportion of it paid over to the tournament they skipped.

All of this is based on them (men and women) withdrawing in plenty of time of course. If they withdraw late, or no-show, then there are fines that they have to pay obviously, but if they don't enter, or withdraw in plenty of time if they are automatically entered, then there are no fines, just potentially less opportunities for ranking points, and a smaller end of year bonus as the case may be. If they want to focus on rest and training, they can, playing a tournament they are not able for would not pick them up many ranking points in anyway, so they're not losing out on much. Lower ranked players (who don't have the automatic commitments to play) usually need the prize money, so they show up regardless even though they could skip it, but the players who are ranked high enough to have automatic commitments don't usually need the prize money for an early round exit. There aren't that many tournaments that the ATP/WTA expect them to play, and even those can be skipped as long as enough notice is given. They don't need more rest from the tours, they need to schedule better (including exhibitions, training, and promotional work for their sponsors and the tours).

Chivito550

Johnmb wrote: »

There are 8 Masters 1000 events, 4 Slams, ATP Finals (if you qualify, many who don't have not bothered showing up as an alternative), and up to 6 other events. That's 19 events being counted for ranking. The only thing really affected by skipping those is your ranking, because they are counted whether you show up or not, so not playing gives 0 points. Only the 8 Masters, and 4 Slams, are mandatory, the other events are simply the 6 best results (unless you withdraw after accepting a spot). The ATP finals, if you qualify, are a bonus and do not replace one of the other 6 in the event of not playing (i.e. not playing is no different than not qualifying). There doesn't seem to be any monetary fine on the ATP for not playing.

As for the WTA, 16 tournaments are counted (with their end of year championships and Elite Trophy being a bonus 17th). The Slams and Premier Mandatory are 0 points for a not playing, if you qualify, and at least two of the Premier 5 must count. The rest are any tournaments, as long as you didn't already accept entry. Financial fines came out of the WTA bonus awarded at the end of the year, i.e. The Williams sisters, and any other women skipping events, did not pay over any actual cash, their bonus is docked, with a proportion of it paid over to the tournament they skipped.

All of this is based on them (men and women) withdrawing in plenty of time of course. If they withdraw late, or no-show, then there are fines that they have to pay obviously, but if they don't enter, or withdraw in plenty of time if they are automatically entered, then there are no fines, just potentially less opportunities for ranking points, and a smaller end of year bonus as the case may be. If they want to focus on rest and training, they can, playing a tournament they are not able for would not pick them up many ranking points in anyway, so they're not losing out on much. Lower ranked players (who don't have the automatic commitments to play) usually need the prize money, so they show up regardless even though they could skip it, but the players who are ranked high enough to have automatic commitments don't usually need the prize money for an early round exit. There aren't that many tournaments that the ATP/WTA expect them to play, and even those can be skipped as long as enough notice is given. They don't need more rest from the tours, they need to schedule better (including exhibitions, training, and promotional work for their sponsors and the tours).

I don’t think the 4 slams are even mandatory.

Johnmb

Chivito550 wrote: »

I don’t think the 4 slams are even mandatory.

They are mandatory in that they can't be replaced in your ranking list if you qualified but didn't play. Out of the 16/17 tournaments for the women, and 18/19 for the men that count towards your ranking, you'd have four 0 points if you skipped all four of them. That is how the other mandatory tournaments work as well, there are no fines, and you're not banned for skipping them, you just end up with less ranking tournaments to work with.

Floppybits

Why are some players complaining about the schedule? I know certain parts of it are squashed together but if they are not being made to play then they can skip the tournaments.

Johnmb

Floppybits wrote: »

Why are some players complaining about the schedule? I know certain parts of it are squashed together but if they are not being made to play then they can skip the tournaments.

They want to play them, and their exhibitions. then they want an excuse when things start going badly, so they blame the schedule. Their schedules are their responsibility, not the ATP/WTA/ITF's. Some manage it better than others. Those who don't manage it well blame the tournament schedules for their own lack of ability to prioritise.

If someone really felt that they needed about three months off to work on something, they can easily do it. It'll mean they miss out on some big tournaments which they don't want to do, but nobody else is forcing them to play, it's their decision (unless they've signed contracts with sponsors or something, but that was their decision too).

yerwanthere123

Ballot for Wimbledon 2019 open now. Get applying!

yerwanthere123

The Australian Open has, apparently, granted approval to use a "super tiebreak" to 10 points at 6-6 in final sets, and could apparently be introduced for next month's tournament. If it happens it'll mean all four slams have a different method of completing matches.

US Open - Tiebreak to 7 at 6-6
Australian Open - Tiebreak to 10 at 6-6
Wimbledon - Tiebreak to 7 at 12-12
French Open - No tiebreak.

jr86

Yeah its official https://www.rte.ie/sport/tennis/2018/1221/1018567-australian-open-approve-tie-break-for-final-set/

yerwanthere123

New thread here.