TENNIS in DEPTH.

So it’s Day 4 at Roland Garros. The second round is underway. Does this mean that we will finally see some interesting quality tennis? I don’t know about you, but so far, as with all Grand Slams, this is a challenge to my boredom level. And I’m a tennis fanatic!

In the first 3 days we have seen only one quality match, Gasquet v. Murray, and a lengthy 5 setter from Roddick who was playing his first clay court match of the year. It would be a stretch to describe this as a quality match. The top players use this first week to warm up against players nobody has heard of, many outside the top 200, many who have no business being on the same court as Federer, Nadal, Serena or Justine.

This tried and true tradition has to change, the format for Grand Slams is outdated and boring. It’s great to be in Paris, but the first week of tennis is secondary to the other enjoyments the city has to offer.

The ITF should consider a restructure of the Slams, a 32 man or woman grouping with the top two in each group going up while the bottom 2 go down. The prize money would be more equitable, and more importantly the fans would see better competitive tennis at all levels.

As James Hird, the man who has conceived the idea of a Tennis World Cup said: “In the new world order, sports must compete with Hollywood blockbusters, video games, the worldwide web, television and music for a slice of the global consumers’ attention.

“We are conscious for the need for tennis to bring in an entirely new breed of followers — the youngster who doesn’t have the attention span for a five-set match.”

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