Tournament & Tour Announcements

[Suliso]

I'm hearing that WTA finals this year will be in Fort Worth, TX.

[ponchi101]

Well, it is good that they will keep it in Mexico...
Seriously? Guadalajara made one hell of an effort, they put on a fine tournament, the players loved it, and this is how the WTA promotes the sport? Then they wonder why there are no Latin or South American female players of any relevance on tour.
And no, Cami is not of relevance. Working hard, but she is #70.

[Suliso]

Maybe Guadalajara had no money... I think long term if China is out and it looks like it is they'd like to return to US permanently. Of course NYC would be better, but that would have to be arranged long in advance.

[ponchi101]

Being down here, we had some ESPN interviews with the organizers of Guadalajara. They had the money; they just did not have a permanent stadium and the only thing they wanted was a long-term commitment before putting down the money for such a structure. And, the people that did it last year were also adamant of keeping it in Guadalajara which, mind you, is not a little town in the middle of nowhere. They also wanted to make sure that it would not be moved to the more "glamorous" but also way more inconvenient Mexico City.
Plus, the players would not want to play in the D.F. The altitude there is severe (a bit below Bogota at 2,300 Mts OSL)

[Suliso]

I'd be very surprised if it stays in Texas long term.

[meganfernandez]

Well, it is good that they will keep it in Mexico...
Seriously? Guadalajara made one hell of an effort, they put on a fine tournament, the players loved it, and this is how the WTA promotes the sport? Then they wonder why there are no Latin or South American female players of any relevance on tour.
And no, Cami is not of relevance. Working hard, but she is #70.

Fort Worth? Oh lord. I had to go there to play USTA nationals once and even I was disappointed. Can't imagine them sending the best players in the world there. Sorry, Fort Worthers. Too bad about Guadalajara, if this is true. The crowds there were fantastic.

[ponchi101]

@ Suliso. Especially in Ft. Worth. My understanding is that the tennis city in Texas is Houston, and they could not keep the ATP WTF there for more than a couple of years.

[Suliso]

Exactly. The only logical place in US this late in the season is NYC.

[ponchi101]

Uh, how about West Coast? LA, San Francisco. How about indoors Chicago, a great town, or indoors Boston?
It would be dumb because Miami already has a big MS1000, but I played plenty of tennis outdoors in November in Miami.

[Suliso]

All those would be better than Fort Worth too... But still I think in NYC would be the easiest to fill the stadium.

[New England Nitemare]

Boston!!! I'm totally down for that since I live here. But the tour finals did have a successful run in NYC from 1979-2000. Outdoors I think LA would be a good city for the finals.

[ponchi101]

Lalo Varela, a mexican sportscaster with ESPN, just said that the event will be held IN DALLAS, at the Dickies arena. But, the plot is more complicated. The organizers will be the same group that did in Guadalajara, meaning they are mexican.
So, they kept the event, just not the city.

[Suliso]

Lalo Varela, a mexican sportscaster with ESPN, just said that the event will be held IN DALLAS, at the Dickies arena. But, the plot is more complicated. The organizers will be the same group that did in Guadalajara, meaning they are mexican.
So, they kept the event, just not the city.

That's weird. I wonder why...

[ponchi101]

I was joking last year that one of the main sponsors in Mexico is a giant bread/bakery products company, pretty much covering all of the Americas. They put a lot of the money.
The problem is that their name is BIMBO. It is completely meaningless in Spanish, and the symbol is a baking bear, but who knows if the inevitable English jokes were considered.

[meganfernandez]

I was joking last year that one of the main sponsors in Mexico is a giant bread/bakery products company, pretty much covering all of the Americas. They put a lot of the money.
The problem is that their name is BIMBO. It is completely meaningless in Spanish, and the symbol is a baking bear, but who knows if the inevitable English jokes were considered.

Maybe they can embrace it. I think a lot of Americans know Bimbo snack cakes, which are basically Little Debbie's here. Bimbo is such a dated term here, like from Loni Anderson's time. I think it's funny. But the WTA and Hologix probably won't.

Anyway, a Bimbo would be a guy, right?