Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[ashkor87]

There is a report in a British news agency that the ATP and WTA are considering withdrawing ranking points from Wimbledon..the decision is being left to the players' reps, led by Federer and Nadal in the ATP..
I would certainly support such a move. If a tournament, any tournament, bars players for no reason other than nationality, it should not be allowed to call itself an Open tournament. Indeed, I would go so far as to urge the tours to schedule other tournaments that week, make Wimbledon just an exho..what do folks here think?

I’ll be amazed if anyone boycotts Wimbledon, ranking points or not. There’s too much money on the line (and history on the line for some of them). The other UK tournaments will suffer though. I still feel from what I’ve read that the ban has come from the Government rather than the tournament. Even though I’m against the ban myself, reading through online forums it does seem a lot of people agree with it and see it as another necessary sanction

Yes but history with an asterisk

[ti-amie]

For some reason the paywall didn't work on on phone but on my laptop it does.

[ti-amie]

Marta Kostyuk left the court with the trainer for a MTO and never returned. The physio came back to tell the chair that she retired. Her partner, Ruse, shook hands with Pavs and Kudermetova.

The reason for her retirement/abandonment of the match after she and Ruse dropped the first set 1-6 has not been given. Some fans are arguing that the reason she did this was because playing the Russian team upset her and that she couldn't focus.

Ever since Anisimova got away with walking off court and abandoning her match there seems to be an epidemic of this behavior.

[ponchi101]

...

Ever since Anisimova got away with walking off court and abandoning her match there seems to be an epidemic of this behavior.

And it is becoming noticeable.

[JazzNU]

I’ll be amazed if anyone boycotts Wimbledon, ranking points or not. There’s too much money on the line (and history on the line for some of them). The other UK tournaments will suffer though. I still feel from what I’ve read that the ban has come from the Government rather than the tournament. Even though I’m against the ban myself, reading through online forums it does seem a lot of people agree with it and see it as another necessary sanction

Where are you looking? UK Forums? That seems to be the place where the support for this is the strongest. I haven't seen massive support for Wimbledon's ban, most agree with BJK. Some of the tennis writers have put up polls and the ones with a largely UK audience are the ones that come back with support for this, others do not.

As for the money. It'll be interesting to see what happens. If Wimbledon turns into an exhibition tournament and not a real grand slam, will the money hold where it is? Will all the sponsors remain? Doesn't mean it wouldn't still be an attractive amount that many players would want, but it's not hard to imagine them not drawing the same field if it does become less of a prestige tournament and more of an exhibition.

And if this is really coming from the Government, this feels like a very dumb way to go about it imo.

[JazzNU]

Marta Kostyuk left the court with the trainer for a MTO and never returned. The physio came back to tell the chair that she retired. Her partner, Ruse, shook hands with Pavs and Kudermetova.

The reason for her retirement/abandonment of the match after she and Ruse dropped the first set 1-6 has not been given. Some fans are arguing that the reason she did this was because playing the Russian team upset her and that she couldn't focus.

So, she was unaware of her opponent before the match commenced /s

I'm sympathetic, but for me, she's one of the ones taking things too far and should take a break like Elina if it's becoming too much to handle at once.

[JazzNU]

Ever since Anisimova got away with walking off court and abandoning her match there seems to be an epidemic of this behavior.

Anisimova is a different case to me entirely, one that fans and media can take credit for creating honestly.

[ti-amie]

[Deuce]

Marta Kostyuk left the court with the trainer for a MTO and never returned. The physio came back to tell the chair that she retired. Her partner, Ruse, shook hands with Pavs and Kudermetova.

The reason for her retirement/abandonment of the match after she and Ruse dropped the first set 1-6 has not been given. Some fans are arguing that the reason she did this was because playing the Russian team upset her and that she couldn't focus.

Ever since Anisimova got away with walking off court and abandoning her match there seems to be an epidemic of this behavior.

Yes - and it's more a WTA thing than it is an ATP thing at this point.
But when the best example of 'you play until the final point, regardless' retires - that being Mr. Nadal, who once again today showed that the word 'quit' is not part of his vocabulary, even when he's at about 50% on the court - once he retires, I think the in-match retirement problem will creep its way more and more into the ATP.

It's at the point now where the players are so incredibly spoiled that they will quit unless absolutely everything is perfect. Players of the past must find this to be absolutely sickening. And it's definitely moving in the wrong direction.

[ponchi101]

I did a bit of a search on-line, looking for data on retirements during matches. I was only able to find this article, and you have to notice these data are from 2013.
I will see if I can find something else.
Trends and Perspective on WTA Retirements and Withdrawals

[Deuce]

I think I posted this a month or so ago (but I'm not sure if I posted it)...
In any case - this is from just one tournament this year (Miami).

30 or 40 years ago, this would be about the total for an entire season...

[JazzNU]

[ponchi101]

Another great achievement.
I say Connors record is safe. 274 wins for Novak means 5 seasons of 50+ wins. Rafa will not get there either, Roger will fall just short.

[mmmm8]

Another great achievement.
I say Connors record is safe. 274 wins for Novak means 5 seasons of 50+ wins. Rafa will not get there either, Roger will fall just short.

You don't think Federer will win 24 more matches? I think he will just to get the record.

[ponchi101]

I think that unfortunately, Roger will play Basel this fall as a farewell. He is 41. We have to admit that, and I wonder if he will.