TENNIS in DEPTH.

Have you ever wondered why players who have no chance of winning an event go to all the expense of travelling with their entourages to compete? For most palyers the Grand Slams are an expensive lesson in futility. Unless they make it through the first 2 rounds in the first week they will probably lose money. They would have more potential for making money if they entered a Challenger Tour event. Being a participant in a Major tournament doesn’t buy the groceries! But participation is mandated by the ATP and the WTA. 

Take the case of a player ranked outside of the top 200 trying to gain recognition, points and to earn a living. Does he or she have a chance to win the French Open? Of course not. The best they might do is to qualify for the main draw where they will most likely be drawn against a top 20 player in the first round. And the match between this qualifier and the seeded player will take 2-3 hours to complete, and will be boring, non-competitive, and will drive potential fans away from the game. If the qualifier happens to be an American player we will be forced to watch the whole dismal affair on ESPN to the accompianment of mundane commentary by a group of experts trying to find something of interest to add to the match. The deafening noise you will hear is people switching channels.

I feel sorry for good players such as Alize Cornet, who has sunk down to #85, Ana Ivanovic, who has fallen to #60, Giles Simon, who finds himself clinging to a top 50 spot, and others who have had a temporary lapse in form. Because of the unfavourable draw they have to defeat a high ranked player to gain points, and begin their climb back up the rankings. It usually doesn’t happen.

As a fan I do not want to watch Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer playing against a Bulgarian of Chinese qualifier for 3 hours! If I cough up $100 for a ticket to Roland Garros I want to see my favourite players pushed to their limits in a match I will remember. I”m not interested in watching an out of shape Serena cruise through the first week against a bunch of alsorans as she plays herself into shape.

The structure of the Grand Slam events must change! One of the main reasons that revenues are up is because of the increase in the price of tickets!

Here’s my solution to the problem.

Divide the players into groups of 32 based on their current rankings. The winner of the top group will be the Champion, but to get there he or she must play 6 matches against 6 tough adversaries, no easy pickings.

The two bottom players, numbers 31 and 32 will go down to the group below, while the two top players from this group will go up.

So if you are Alize Cornet, for example, struggling to climb back up, she will only have to play players within her group ranked between 64 and 96. She will have a better chance of winning, and her matches will be far more interesting for the fans. As the winner of her group she will earn a sufficient portion of the total prize money to keep her in the sport. She will also have to have played 6 tough matches!

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