AMS Monte Carlo 2007.

Salmon · Tennis legend

AMS Monte Carlo 2007.

Robxon · Lower Club Player

Out of the three changes implemented this year; RR, 3 set finals and Sunday starts, the last one is the only one which I thought was a really good idea. An extra day to sell the tournament and get more people to watch must be good.

So what do they do for the Masters Tournaments? Oh yes, they gave all the top seeds a bye so that they don't play the first round and can't be scheduled for the Sunday.

Is it just me or is this just another example of an idea being implemented without being thought through. Another example of trying to manage the detail without looking at the bigger picture.

Exactly how many more people are going to attend to watch final round qualifying and no big names play?

Salmon · Tennis legend

I am not especially fond of the first round byes idea either. I would like to see all Masters being played with 64 player fields (even IW and KB).

Byes just help the top players. Surely an unseeded player has as much right to the title as Federer or Nadal? So why make life difficult for him?

Salmon · Tennis legend

Jon Eysseric got a wild card into the qualies.

(1)Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs Robin Vik (CZE)
(14)Iljia Bozoljac (SRB) vs Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)
(2)Guillermo Garcia Lopez (ESP) vs George Bastl (SUI)
(9)Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs Gorka Fraile (ESP)
(3)Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) vs (WC)Thomas Drouet (FRA)
(10)Alessio di Mauro (ITA) vs (WC)David Guez (FRA)
(4)Michael Llodra (FRA) vs Federico Luzzi (ITA)
(11)Stefano Galvani (ITA) vs Jean-Christophe Faurel (FRA)
(5)Jan Hernych (CZE) vs Albert Portas (ESP)
(12)Alejandro Falla (ESP) vs Marcel Granollers (ESP)
(6)Sergio Roitman (ARG) vs (WC)Jean-Rene Lisnard (MON)
(8)Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
(7)Oscar Hernandez (ESP) vs Jerome Haehnel (FRA)
(13)Andrei Pavel (ROU) vs (WC)Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)

johnnylad · Tennis legend

at Andy's top 8 seeding!

But you are right. They should fill up the draw not give away 8 byes

VSandhi20 · Futures qualifying

i dont think its that bad to give 8 players a first round bye. if you look at the IW and Miami, the top 16 get byes. However, if they class Miami as the fifth biggest tournament behind the 4 GSs, then it should operate a normal KO tourney. i think i changed my mind on Monte Carle!

if the top 8 want to start well on clay then they should play the first round proper.

scoobsuk · Club Coach

Haas out since yesterday - surprised by this slightly.

Still, Andy gets a free pass into R2. So he's already one better than last year without trying, though he gains no more points if he loses in R2

Drew · Apr 14, 2007

As the top players usually go further and deeper into tournaments this should be seen as a compromise / carrot to the top 8/16.

If they get to a SF or F and then they have to fly through 1, 2 or 3 time zones to another event they might be less likely to drop out of it. Im sure Andy has been chuffed to find himself increasingly in that position especially in MC with an 8th seed.

I dont buy into the argument that it makes it harder for lower ranked players to win events or that the seeding system makes it unfair. It wasnt too long along ago that Djokovic and Murray where battling thorugh R1 matches event after event...the system doesnt seem to stop the emerging world class players reaching the very top.

So I think protecting the top 8 /16 players in the major events isnt a bad thing. It seems to work and I think it is a compromise to the players and to the event hosts. Rightly so the grand slams have no bye rounds and that should never change IMO.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

I think I agree with Drew on this. And as for the effect on emerging players, look at it this way - with byes, they don't have to play the top seeds in the first round, and can hopefully get at least one match under their belts before they come across the top guys.

Imagine a player just trying to make the grade, getting Fed on grass or Rafa on clay in the first round!

Robxon · Lower Club Player

It's not that I object to byes being given. It is the fact that they announced Sunday starts for Masters Tournaments promoting 'family friendly days' but there will not be any top players playing because they have been given byes.

So these 'family friendly days' will have final qualies and second tier players. Surely this is not the way to appeal to the casual fan?

Therefore, it appears another good intention to increase the appeal of the sport is marred by its execution.

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

I think it's a good idea for the back to back Masters where those who do well in the first one are effectively penalised in the second as have had less time to rest, so a bye in the first round in a welcome thing. And then extending that I think the Masters should all be the same so a bye in Monte Carlo (and the others) is fine in my opinion.

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

Robxon wrote:

It's not that I object to byes being given. It is the fact that they announced Sunday starts for Masters Tournaments promoting 'family friendly days' but there will not be any top players playing because they have been given byes.

So these 'family friendly days' will have final qualies and second tier players. Surely this is not the way to appeal to the casual fan?

Therefore, it appears another good intention to increase the appeal of the sport is marred by its execution.

That's a good point, the only trouble is these top players are the ones more likely to be playing in a final somewhere else on that Sunday so can't play.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

The draw is out - Andy has of course a bye in the first round. Second round is v Gicquel or Mayer; the third, if he gets there (which he should) is any from Nalbandian or 3 qualifiers! That is winnable too.

But then the quarter final would be against Rafa - on clay - hmmmm. Oh well, QF will do fine!

If Djoko gets to the quarters he meets Fed. . . and Tim gets JC Ferrero in the first round.

-- Edited by Madeline at 13:28, 2007-04-14

Michael · Pro player

Very good draw IMO, if Andy gets to the QF he should be delighted as that is a solid 125 points and it won't be easy for some of the others to get that amount of points.

Djoko v Ferrer round 3 is very tough for Djoko
Ljubicic v mOnfils round 2 and then Gasguet round 3, ljubo shouldn't get through that
Robredo vs Alamgro round 3, 50-50 for me

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Blake isn't playing, Ljubicic is defending 125 points, as is Robredo. Djoko is defending 20 points; Andy is only defending 5, so has a good chance of advancing here.