Hello and welcome.



Some points are good where as some are not correct at all.




What's right -


1) Masters Series are too close to each other.

Very right. I think that there should be at least two weeks between them.

2) Apparent shifting of the tournaments due to US college basketball.

Tennis is far more popular globally than basketball and definitely more than NCAA basketball!



Wrong points -

1) Season is too long.

This is something which always makes me laugh - players doing too many tournaments because they pay good appearence money and then complaining that they're tired. It's not like they're forcing you! You only have to play 18 tournaments a year and if you broke your foot by attempting 36, it's not the ATP's fault.

2) The players taking more control over the calendar.

Definitely not!! There is one thing that the ATP is doing right - taking away clay events so as to make the tour fairer. One thing I hate is seeing many South American players staying in the top 100 by making a good run at some third rate clay tournament once or twice a year. The fast surface players hardly get that chance given all the grass/indoor tourneys in Europe have extremely high cut offs.

Now of course... someone can argue that the calendar is mostly made of outdoor hard tourneys, so isn't it biased? Well, no, because it is more of a neutral surface.




Anyway, I signed the petition, maybe just because I want to see De Villiers go. This is one Disney story that cannot possibly have a fairytale ending.

-- Edited by Greenleaf at 07:51, 2008-05-27

Thank you for the welcome and for giving me feedback on the petition !

I am a bit at a loss what to say in regard to the arguments you brought forth.  Cause I am not into statistics and numbers. I started the petition because I felt something was going very wrong. In the petition there is nothing about the season being too long. And nothing about surfaces. Because writing the petition I realised that I as a fan cannot produce a solution for the situation ATP players and tour are in. I am just a fan of tennis, no expert and to be sure no wizard. So I wrote the petition so that ATP (and ET) get to know that fans do not like what is going on and that fans want this situation to change. As ATP always goes on about "fan focus" and "improving tennis to make it more fan-friendly". So I thought let's show them what fans think in this matter. But I have no solution for this. They will still have to fight it out at ATP, finding a solution with all partys involved.

Greenleaf wrote:

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Yep, but if more power is given to the players, there will surely be calls to shorten the season.


Or so I think.

---

If I am getting your point, you are afraid to see less tennis then, is that right ?

I am not afraid of that. We see less tennis if the players cannot show up at the tournaments (or have to retire) because of exhaustion and injuries.

Here is what players themselves have been saying:

 

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/010520...tp-rebuke.htmlATP Tour - Nadal in ATP rebukeEurosport - Thu, 01 May 12:42:00 2008 Rafael Nadal has made a thinly-veiled attack on the ruling body of the men's game, saying that the ATP's crowded calendar is ruining tennis in Europe and endangering the longevity of players' careers.(...)Nadal's comments were backed up by American James Blake, who said the whole calendar needed to be restructured."The Olympics is such a unique experience that we need to make arrangements for but the calendar is too packed and maybe we should take out the Davis Cup in Olympic years," he said."You'll see how many matches [Nadal] plays this claycourt season, how many matches guys like [Roger] Federer, [Andy] Roddick, [Novak] Djokovic and myself play throughout the entire year."It's probably too much to expect a player to have a lengthy career. It makes it very difficult." 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7394171.stmPage last updated at 20:55 GMT, Saturday, 10 May 2008 21:55 UKDjokovic slams punishing schedule

 

Novak Djokovic criticised the packed ATP calendar on Saturday after a second withdrawal of an opponent helped him reach the final of the Rome Masters. Radek Stepanek pulled out from his semi-final with the world number three 24 hours after Nicolas Almagro retired against the Serb in the last eight. Andy Roddick also had to quit early in the other semi-final against Stanislas Wawrinka with a back injury. Djokovic said: "The players are not getting injured for nothing." (...) 

 

http://www.tennis.com/features/gener...aspx?id=129480Date Created: 5/11/2008 1:49:03 PM Coming Apart: Splintering tour arrives at battlefieldBy Bill Scott(...) blockbuster medical report in the semifinals, with the two matches together taking less than an hour thanks to another pair of injury retirements. Andy Roddick stopped at 0-3 against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka with a shoulder muscle injury he picked up in the previous round. And an hour later, Radek Stepanek, conquerer the previous day of fan favourite Roger Federer, quit with illness after 20-odd minutes, exiting to a chorus of jeers.

 

"I don't think it has to do with the surface, to be honest," said Roddick. "I've been saying for years I think the schedule needs to be adjusted and there needs to be a little bit of time to recover at the end the year. (...)"This isn't news, that it's a packed schedule. I don't think we're reinventing the wheel by saying there's a lot of injuries." (...)But all the legal sparring and tournament-shifting is of little practical use without players to compete in the tournaments. Three weeks into the clay run, 23 men have failed to finish matches at six events, with five bowing out in the first round of Barcelona alone. Only Munich got through the week retirement-free. 

 

Italian Tennis Federation had something to say on this too:

 

http://www.internazionalibnlditalia.it/1/News.asp?LNG=ENTOURNAMENT PRESS RELEASE"Thank you Rome, rules need to change"

 

The Internazionali BNL d'Italia regret along with the Foro Italico crowd and all tennis fans the series of injuries to both men and women players which have deprived the 2008 edition of some of its most exciting matchups.

 

What happened in Rome has already happened elsewhere and will probably occur again in the future. While the Italian Tennis Federation (FIT) apologizes for this misfortune, it also firmly intends using all possible means at its disposal to ensure that the tennis governing bodies follow the correct procedures granting spectators a satisfactory display of the sport they came to see and promoting the ethics and values of tennis at every level.

 

The Internazionali BNL d'Italia wishes to thank the Foro Italico crowd for the passion, expertise and extreme courtesy with which they followed the tournament. The organization invites all spectators that have purchased a 2008 semifinal ticket to preserve their ticket stub in order to benefit from a number of prommotional offers for the 2009 edition of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

"Der Kopf ist rund, damit das Denken die Richtung wechseln kann." (F. Picabia)

Free translation of this quote: "The head is round so points of view can change (direction)."
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http://www.tennis.com/features/general/features.aspx?id=129480Coming Apart: Splintering tour arrives at battlefieldBy Bill Scott

ROMEDespite a forecasts of a week of sunshine, the Hamburg Masters is beginning under a cloud. The field is riddled with injuries, the tournament itself is on the verge of disappearing as a top-level event, and the ATP itself is under pressure from dissatisfied top players sniping about the calendar. The simmering politics and pending lawsuits may come to a head on the as the players arrive at the Rothenbaum tennis center for the last major warmup before the French Open  rather appropriate, as the clay season in general and Hamburg in particular have emerged as the main source of the scheduling disagreements plaguing the tour. Hamburg organizers filed a lawsuit against the ATP last year to prevent their event being downgraded after this season, and the two parties go into last-gasp mediation this week in Boston. Neither side is looking prepared to make compromises, and if the talks fail, the matter will go to court at Delaware in July after Wimbledon. Beleaguered ATP chief Etienne de Villiers is expected to attend the talks in Boston, but his personal standing has been seriously undermined after he was publicly criticized by several top players in Rome. It will take some spectacular tennis to take the focus off politics over the next few days. Rafael Nadal managed to finish his third-round match in Rome despite a foot problem, but there have been a striking number of retirements during the spring clay season - 23 in six events going into Hamburg. The repercussions of a stressed-out spring were felt massively at the BNL Internazionale d'Italia in Rome, where king of clay Rafael Nadal  - his feet blistered from his title-winning efforts during the previous two weeks - was beaten on the dirt for only the second time in 105 matches dating back to April 2005. On his way out of the door of the Foro Italico after losing to compatriot and former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round, Nadal repeated his displeasure at the compacted 2008 calendar that has seen the clay season shortened by a week and the Olympics squeezed into an already-heavy summer hardcourt swing. One of the most pleasant personalities in the game aimed his fire at de Villiers, whose attempts to restructure the calendar is causing much controversy. "I don't have nothing to speak with this man, no more," he said of the London-based South African, who has been at the helm for less than three years. "You just lose more time trying to fight for nothing, it's very stupid. Last year I lost a lot of time trying to understand why he is doing these things.      "He's impossible to understand." The defending Rome champion had earlier repeatedly voiced complaints about the Miami event being moved back by a week in April so it would not conflict with US television commitments to college basketball, taking a week out of the clay season. Nadal, who last year played four clay tournaments over five weeks ahead of the French Open, this year had to commit to four straight weeks of play in order to take part in the same events.  "It's not the moment for speak about this," he said after his loss. "When I lose, people will think it's an excuse." Even the resilient Federer is not pleased with the shift. "It's a tough year because of the Olympic Games, but I think the problem is more maybe in Miami," said the Swiss. "To move Miami because of television, that's rough on us.  "Especially on a guy like Rafa who wants to play a lot on clay. I agree that it's not right, but it's the way it is this year unfortunately. "Hopefully things will be better next time."  Their comments were followed by a blockbuster medical report in the semifinals, with the two matches together taking less than an hour thanks to another pair of injury retirements. Andy Roddick stopped at 0-3 against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka with a shoulder muscle injury he picked up in the previous round. And an hour later, Radek Stepanek, conquerer the previous day of fan favourite Roger Federer, quit with illness after 20-odd minutes, exiting to a chorus of jeers. "I don't think it has to do with the surface, to be honest," said Roddick. "I've been saying for years I think the schedule needs to be adjusted and there needs to be a little bit of time to recover at the end the year. "This week it's probably coincidental," he said of the five match pullouts at the Foro Italico. "You can go a week without anybody doing it, and this week there was three or four [five]. "This isn't news, that it's a packed schedule. I don't think we're reinventing the wheel by saying there's a lot of injuries.  "What causes it?  I don't know."  The players will have little respite this week, with main-draw action in Hamburg getting underway even before Novak Djokovic completed a three-set win over Wawrinka to hoist the trophy in Rome on Sunday. And should Hamburg win its lawsuit, even bigger shakeups will be required next season. A victory for the tournament, which cites contracts dating past 2009, could mean a re-write of next year's calendar, which already has the event reduced to a "500" series and switched into a late-summer time frame. "The fight David vs Goliath continues. I expect justice from the United States of America," said DTB (German federation) president Georg von Waldenfels recently. The boss is also hoping that full attendance this week will "send a signal" to the opposition camp. "The structural change sought by the ATP will clearly work to the disadvantage of Hamburg. We tried for a long time to find a solution with the ATP, without success," said von Waldenfels. The ATP - which has been reported to have made a loss of around $5 million during 2007 due mainly to legal costs - stands firm and sounds unwilling to budge. "We remain very confident of our position with regards to the Hamburg anti-trust law suit," read the most recent statement on the delicate matter. "That litigation remains ongoing and will be heard in Delaware in July.  We have made clear that a 500 opportunity in 2009 has been reserved for Hamburg should they want it." But all the legal sparring and tournament-shifting is of little practical use without players to compete in the tournaments. Three weeks into the clay run, 23 men have failed to finish matches at six events, with five bowing out in the first round of Barcelona alone. Only Munich got through the week retirement-free. 

VALENCIA1R: G Garcia-Lopez d. S Darcis 6-4 Ret. ......(right wrist)1R: E Schwank d. C Rochus 6-2, 2-0 Ret. ....(neck)1r: R Haase d. Y Schukin 6-4, 4-1 Ret. ....(elbow)QF: T Robredo d. P Starace 6-3, 3-0 Ret. ....(hip)

 

ESTORIL1R: R Machado d. I Karlovic 6-4, 1-0 Ret. ....(left knee)2R: F Cipolla d. G Simon 6-2, 5-3 Ret. ....(back)F: R Federer d. N Davydenko 7-6(5), 1-2 ....Ret. (left leg)

 

MONTE CARLO1R: O Rochus  d. T Haas 6-1, 3-0 Ret. ....(shoulder)1R: I Karlovic d. S Grosjean 4-6, 6-4, 4-....1 Ret. (left groin)2R: N Almagro d. J Monaco 6-2, 3-0 ret. ....(right hand)2R: I Andreev d. M Youzhny 6-3 Ret. ....(neck)SF: R Federer d. N Djokovic 6-3, 3-2 ....Ret. (illness)

 

BARCELONA1R: M Lopez d. I Minar 3-1 Ret. ....(right ankle)1R: D Gremelmayr d. R Ramirez Hidalgo ....7-6(7), 2-1 Ret. (right leg)1R: N Almagro d. V Troicki 6-2 Ret. ........(back)1R: F Lopez d. J Acasuso 5-2 Ret. ....(stomach)1R: E Gulbis d. J Tipsarevic 6-4, 4-2 Ret. ....(right ankle)2R: J Chela d. M Lopez 5-1 Ret. ....(abdominal)

 

MUNICH     None

 

ROME1R: A Murray d. J del Potro 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 ....Ret. (back)3R: N Almagro d. F Gonzalez WO ....(right leg)QF: N Djokovic d. N Almagro 6-1, 1-0 ....Ret. (right wrist)SF: N Djokovic d. R Stepanek 6-0 1-0 ....(heat exhaustion)SF: S Wawrinka d. A Roddick 3-0 Ret. ....(back)

 

 

But I notice you list Almagro's injury. Is this supposed to be some sort of evidence of schedule problems? I notice he has played six non mandatory events this year. No one forced him to play these events, why didn't he just have a week off, for example, maybe he could have not played Barcelona, which was the week before he retired injured in Rome.

How is this anyone's fault other than his own????

http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=3753830

 

Exclusive: Rogers Removed From ATP Board; Player Unrest Grows
By Richard Evans Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Reliable sources in the game are confirming that Perry Rogers has been removed from the ATP Board of Directors. Rogers, who managed Andre Agassi throughout his career and remains Agassi's best friend, has served, for the past two years, as one of three player representatives on the six man Board which is chaired by ATP CEO Etienne de Villiers.

 

The player council, comprised of 10 current players, one former player and a coach, voted Rogers off the board. A vote of at least seven of the 10 members of the player council (66 percent) was required to remove Rogers. President Ivan Ljubicic, vice president James Blake, Thomas Johansson, Olivier Rochus, Paul Goldstein, Davide Sanguinetti, Bob Bryan, Kevin Ullyett, Paradorn Srichaphan, Martin Garcia serve on the player council with David Adams as the alumni member and Ricardo Piatti as the coach member of the player council.

 

There is no indication yet of who Rogers replacement will be. According to the ATP constitution "the vacancy should be filled as promptly as reasonably possible."

 

"We can confirm that there has been a change to the composition of the ATP Board by action of the Player Council and look forward to working with the new Player Board Representative," an ATP spokesman told Tennis Week this morning. "We thank Perry Rogers for his dedicated service on the ATP Board."

 

Tennis Week has contacted Rogers' office for comment and will post his comments as soon as they are available. Rogers is president of Agassi Enterprises and serves as agent for three of the most popular athletes in the world: Agassi, his wife Steffi Graf and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal.

 

Rogers along with former ATP pro Jacco Eltingh and Iggy Jovanovic was one of the three player representatives on the board with Monte Carlo tournament director Zelijko Franulovic, Indian Wells' chief Charlie Pasarell and Graham Pearce serving as the tournament representatives on the board. Ironically, Rogers gained his spot on the board after his predecessor was voted off.

 

As Rogers was known as a strong de Villiers supporter, this shock move is seen as yet another attempt by several top players to get rid of a man in whom they have lost trust. There is speculation another board member could lose his seat though sources close to the proceedings cannot confirm that at this time. However removing a second member of the board would require a positive vote from eight members of the player council (if the move is made within 180 days) and removing a third member would require a unanimous vote, according to sources close to the situation.

 

Locker room unrest first surfaced during the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in March when all top twenty singles players signed a letter to the Board demanding that de Villiers not have his contract renewed until other candidates had been interviewed for the job. This was widely seen as a vote of no confidence in the former Disney executive who was brought in to create changes and quickly demonstrated a willingness to carry out his mandate.

 

De Villiers settled the doubles revolt, in which most of the leading doubles players began a law suit against their own association, by persuading them that no ad scoring and a tie break in lieu of a third set would create more television time for their form of the game. For the most part, the players agree that the change has been a success.

 

But the refusal to listen to good advice from people who had been in the game a great deal longer than himself soon began to reveal the South Africans limitations. A tendency to rant and rave when people offered differing opinions also did not help.

 

But the calendar remained an insoluble problem as far as placating top players were concerned and the decision to downgrade Monte Carlo and Hamburg from Masters Series status last year as well as switching Hamburg to a slot after Wimbledon so that Madrid could be moved into May, elicited a remarkably vocal response from Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko all three of whom criticized their leader at a press conference at Monte Carlo thirteen months ago.

 

Partially as a result of that kind of support, Monte Carlo was able to retain its status, albeit without full player commitment, but Hamburg was treated so thoughtlessly that the German Federation took the ATP to court. Attempts are being made in Boston this week to avoid what is largely viewed as pending disaster for the tour as both sides are participating in mediation. The ATP remains adamant in its position and will not alter its stance that Hamburg will be stripped of its Masters Series status starting next year.

 

"We remain very confident of our position with regards to the Hamburg anti-trust law suit," the ATP told Tennis Week today. "That litigation remains ongoing and will be heard in Delaware in July. We have made clear that a 500 opportunity in 2009 has been reserved for Hamburg should they want it."

 

The ramifications of the court case are immense.

 

"If the ATP lose, the tour will implode," was how one experienced official described it to me. "And if they dont, Hamburg is still not going to go away. They have money to fight this and are unlikely to accept a first unfavorable ruling."

 

All this has created the kind of atmosphere whereby players feel they are not being listened to and that their careers are being damaged. Time and again in recent weeks, Nadal has complained of the compressed European claycourt season and now has blistered feet to show for it. Quite apart from that, there have been 23 defaults in five tournaments since the tour arrived in Europe, creating a new crisis for the sport.

 

Given the current atmosphere, it was inevitable that there would be scapegoats and Rogers, who has been brilliant at handling Agassis frequently tempestuous career, has become the first.

 

"But this is only the beginning," one well informed insider told me from Hamburg today. "The top players are not going to go away. They want what they have always wanted representation on the Board that reflects their views. It is an old story and has been going on for years. There have been too many people sitting in conference rooms not listening to what the people who have to go out and play the matches on different surfaces with no proper preparation are telling them."

 

Throughout the history of the Association of Tennis Professionals, which was formed in a tent at Forest Hills in 1972, there have been moments when the locker room contained players with more than average intelligence, leadership skills and determination to forge their own destiny.

 

Obviously the original group were exceptional. Cliff Drysdale, the first President of the ATP, and his successors Arthur Ashe and John Newcombe, as well as such players as Charlie Pasarell (who instigated the whole idea with Newcombe over a late night drink in Rome), Mark Cox, Ismail El Shafei, Owen Davidson, Jim McManus and others showed maturity beyond their years in organizing and sustaining the Wimbledon boycott of 1973 which changed the way the game was run forever. In the intervening years, Butch Buchholz, Ray Moore, Harold Solomon and Vijay Amritraj proved themselves almost as adept in a board room as on a tennis court.

 

Now there is a new generation, led by Federer, Nadal and Ivan Ljubicic who are capable of uniting the locker room and sending them out to do battle for a cause.

 

Jokes about inmates running the asylum can be made about many sports at various times (and maybe some sports at all times) but, in tennis at the moment, it doesnt hold water. For better or worse, Player Power is raising its head again and the game will change as a result.