Tennis Random, Random (On Court)

[meganfernandez]

For shame Zoom, wise move Shapo

Funny, I was wondering if what Shapo says - tour bubbles taking a mental toll on many players - had something to do with Thiem's struggles, which we have been discussing somewhere...

[JazzNU]

I couldn't make out that audio of Dzumhur, but doesn't look good, that's for sure.

[ti-amie]

I couldn't make out that audio of Dzumhur, but doesn't look good, that's for sure.

Getting up in the face of the chair ump is never a good idea.

[Deuce]

If history is anything to go by, death threats on a tennis court are nothing to worry about.
After all, Shino is still alive and well more than a decade later...

[ti-amie]

Tournament Director critical of Roger Federer lifetime contract: ‘I hope it will never happen again’
ATP TourRafael NadalRoger FedererTennis News
March 16, 2021
By
Tennisbuzz Team

Tournament director of the Mexican Open, Raul Zurutuza has criticised the existence of life-time contracts between players and tournaments and singled out Roger Federer as a bad example.

Federer agreed a lifetime contract with the Dubai Tennis Championships which has now seen him play there 14 times and win eight times since 2003.

The contract was again renewed in 2019 for Federer to return in 2020 to defend his title, but both injury and the coronovirus pandemic prevented him from doing so, and he has decided to skip this year’s event to improve his fitness.

Federer’s commitment to the Dubai Championships has meant he has never been able to play at the Mexican Open, both of which are ATP 500 events, as it takes place in the same week.

Now Mexican Open tournament director, Zurutuza has spoken out about the contract and said he hopes it will never happen again.

“That story of Roger who never came to Mexico because of the Dubai issue, I hope it will never be repeated with another player,” Zurutuza told reporters.

“It is important that each player can be in as many tournaments.”

Rafael Nadal will not be competing at this years event to defend his title either due to a back injury, but other top ten players Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman will be there.

Zurutuza says although the Spaniard will be missed, he is happy with the line-up.

“He (Nadal) is a fixed asset of the tournament, the desire to have him is always there but we have great names and the public will be able to enjoy it, the tournament is going well and on Saturday we will deliver very good results.”

https://tennisbuzz.net/tournament-direc ... pen-again/

[Suliso]

It would have made no sense for Roger to go to Mexico, contract or no contract.

[ti-amie]

I understand and agreenthat he would probably always opt to stay in Europe/The Middle East but shouldn't the Central and South American tournaments be allowed to compete? I think the news here is the lifetime contract between a player and a tournament.

[Suliso]

Is he the only player on either tour to have such a contract (in Halle too)?

[dmforever]

Sorry for my ignorance, but does that just mean that Federer is paid to play that tournament every year?

Kevin

[JazzNU]

There would have been a very good reason for him to play in Mexico and the reason they have a increasingly good field. It's in relative close proximity to Miami. Other years, it's in close proximity to Indian Wells and Miami. The reduced travel seems to be a good schedule for many players. Maybe without the contract, Federer would've tried it and decided it was better than playing in the Middle East before IW each year.

I definitely didn't understand how this lifetime contract thing was allowed. Didn't know about the this one, but about Halle. It always seemed way too cozy a setup that would lead to obvious favoritism in scheduling and treatment if nothing else.


@Kevin, yes, he is. He gets hefty appearance fees at almost every tournament he plays that is a 500 event to my knowledge. Other players do as well, but I believe Roger consistently commands the highest. A couple of years ago there was a (hilarious to most of us) story about Zverev trying to get the same amount of appearance fees as the top 4 and tournaments basically laughing at the request.

[the Moz]

Appearance fees should be scrapped. End of.

[ponchi101]

Appearance fees should be scrapped. End of.

Morally and ethically, sure. Practically, not a good idea. It was done in the 1970's and early 80's, with the infamous Vilas trial as a prime example and it did not work. Without guaranteed appearance fees tournaments such as Dubai, Doha or even some big ones such as Indian Wells would have not been able to bring in any of the big names and get a footing on the tour. Also, having a big name in your draw meant more money (the Roger effect) for the tournament, so the players were right in asking: why should we be kept off the profit? The last part was simple: it is just a few players that get guarantees. Serena, Roger, Rafa, Novak, a few others. And one has to admit that they are the ones that made the sport grow.
Guarantees should be open and public knowledge (although not the amount) but getting rid of them will only lead to under the table payments, with another Vilas trial simply down the road.

[JazzNU]

This is interesting about Denis. Maybe his approach to 2021 isn't as much about his mental health as that other article made it seem.


https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news ... e-trending

[Deuce]

This is interesting about Denis. Maybe his approach to 2021 isn't as much about his mental health as that other article made it seem.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news ... e-trending

So... what Denis is saying, in effect, is that the top players, who have all made literally millions upon millions of dollars in tournament winnings and endorsements (this essentially means players in the top 30 for any length of time - which includes Denis) - these players DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY, and desperately require more. And that this is their main motivation to play.

I don't think I've seen a larger load of BS spewed in tennis over the several decades I've been following this sport.
Absolutely unbelievable selfishness.

Perhaps Denis should go and spend a week in Yemen, or in Ethiopia, or any other part of the world where children are dying because they have no food.
There is more than enough money in the world to adequately feed, house, and clothe every person on the planet - it's just that the money is extremely poorly distributed.

.

[ti-amie]

I haven't found out who said what that started this conversation but we talked about it a bit yesterday (Thursday).








Carole Bouchard Purple heartYellow heart @carole_bouchard

PS: Also don’t use the Big 4 as alibi for this recurring format obsession. Really. Those four guys are the ultimate tennis warriors: they wanna take those GS fights with the young guns until the end. That’s part of the greatness testing process, and they know it.