If you are as disgusted as many fans are with the farcical situations that have developed in Round Robin play recently, please sign the petition.
It will be forwarded to the ATP prior to a meeting in Miami in 3 weeks time to review the Round Robin format.
This situation with James Blake being parachuted into the QF of Las Vegas in clear defiance of the (admittedly stupid) rules is the last straw. We cannot be changing rules mid-tournament like this. It's time the fans let the ATP know what we actually do think - those of us who were never consulted about RR and have been sceptical from the start, or those who were open-minded and are now appalled by it.
Please sign, and please pass it to as many people / message boards as possible to make other people aware of it.
I agree....I feel for James as it was through no fault of his, but I wish he'd do the right thing and say rules are rules I can't accept this gift just because the tourny wants an American, a previous champ to go through.....if the shoe was on the other foot no one would mind James going through....but this is just letting the number one attraction a free ride to save the tourny.....crazy decision! Just not fair....not tennis at all.
Signed. It is an absolute disgrace and De Villiers should fine himself for bringing the game into disrepute.
Last week's BA situation was bad enough, but changing the rules mid-tournament and saying that Blake "would have won" - what if Del Potro's breathing problems had stopped and he had been fit to carry on? How many times have we seen players who appeared to be finished, rally and go on to win?
This smacks of positive corruption. The ATP ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
Am i right in that had blake been 6-1 5-1 40-0 up, so one point from getting to quarters, and jmdp retired, then blake wouldn't go thru? If so, the rules are bizarre! A player might just retire when about to lose to help out his mate! Craziness! The system leads itself to withdrawals when a player knows they've got no chance themselves, but obviously that affects others. Insane!
And what fan would possibly want to watch a match whereby it is very conceivable that the winner goes out and the loser goes through! Eg if A beats B in 2 sets, B beats C in 2, then C beats A in 3, then A would be going through, and hence celebrating upon losing! Crazy!
many more questions remain about this incident, even though justice in this case (strict justice in terms of adherence to the rules - in fairness Blake *should* have gone through in all honesty) has been done.
*someone* called De Villiers and asked for/lobbied for/demanded/pressured/whatever the existing rules ....which WERE clear, if unpalatable to the tournament....to set the rules aside, intervene and put Blake through in the interests of "fairness" and the good of the tournament.
It's blown up spectacularly in their faces, and rightly so.
But who was responsible for getting De Villiers involved in the first place - and why? Did Blake himself play any role in this?
I disagree Blake should have gone through. He lost to Korolev, so rather bizarre that Blake should then go through ahead of Korolev because of the differing manners of their matches against another opponent. Situations such as the 6-1 5-1 40-0 guy retiring and thus the guy winning the match going out when if he'd won one more point he would have gone through are simply a product of this ridiculous RR situation. It is unworkable in theory AND IN PRACTISE AS HAS ALREADY BEEN PROVEN NUMEROUS TIMES. Save us from this garbage and give us our game back. Winner through, loser out, nobody confused none of this bollocks about blah de blah games won percentage sets blah who gives a **** anyway blah de blah head 2 head retired blah de games won games completed blah whos through blah de ring de villers blah blah blah who cares, oh de villers does he wants blake thru, but blah ****in blah the rules say he ent so lets have a big blahdy fuss. It's simple, if you win you are through, if you are defeated you are out! Let's play that way please!
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
"I doubt it's going to happen next year, the round-robin system," Federer said. "I think it's a bad situation."
Federer added: "It's going to be interesting to see their (the ATP's) reaction now because they're definitely under pressure.
"Everybody knows I was against it (the round-robin system) in the first place.
"It's actually very disappointing to see things like this had to happen first before you realise that the system is not going to work."
Blake: "If some good can come out of it - the revamping or destruction of the round-robin system - then that is something," he said.
"It seriously needs to be looked at. We're going to run into situations every single week."
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience