The entry sheet is out there somewhere (and it is on pdf) however ATP consider this info classified and under no circumstances must anyone be allowed access to it unless they are a player.

I think you need access to ATP PlayerZone.

Yeah, sometimes they do post the whole list but other times they only put up the first 15 Alternates on MTF. It's annoying because I was mulling over possibly going to MC qualies, but it depends on who's going to be playing, and I can't exactly leave all the arrangements until the last second. It is a bit silly in those terms, and this applies to Challenger entry lists too, because how on earth do they expect to draw in the spectators if nobody can see who's playing to know if they even want to go?!?! It's not really the best promotion or media, is it?

Yeeeeeees. I'm still not convinced it's the best promotion for tournaments though. Say you're thinking about going to a tournament out-of-country. You've got to organise flights, book the hotel, secure all the details... but how do you even know if you want to go if you don't know who will be playing?! If I'm going to outlay the kind of money it costs me to go to a tournament, I want to be assured that I'm going to get value for that money, I want to know that I'm going to be seeing some good tennis and getting what I want in the first place. Granted, I always accept the risk of players pulling out and injuries etc affecting the final event, but at least you can up your plans with where you want to be - say if there are three Challengers in the same week and you don't know who's going to be where, you don't want to waste your money (especially if you've got very limited funds like I have) in being somewhere you don't want to be.

It's the same thing for qualies at MC. Granted, yes I can see who's going to be in the main draw but what if I've decided I want to go along and support the lower-ranked players, support the lower tiers of the Tour? Say, specifically the lower-ranked Brits for example. How would I know if any of the lower-ranked Brit guys are even playing there if they're not telling people who's on the Alternates list? And the chances of me risking my very scant funds on a draw I can't see are, I can tell you right now, zero.

It's ridiculous. What are they afraid of, people might decide they won't come if they can see that their favourite player isn't going to be there?! Well, that's a non-argument because they post the DA and most people will be there for the DA, and if you place things in balance if you revealed the qualies draw people would be more willing to come, like me because I won't risk going on a draw I can't see, and it would generate more income and raise the profile of the tournament and the lower tiers of the Tour. It beggars belief that this is a purposeful decision on the part of the ATP and not even neglectful management. It's bad PR, it's bad marketing, and it's bad promotional media. How in the heck do they expect to generate more interest in the Tour if they won't open up the lower tiers? And they ALREADY have problems with empty stadiums in Masters 1000 events in the first and second rounds, let alone the Challenger Tour! Getting information out of Challengers is like squeezing blood out of a stone, how can they expect to generate interest like this and drum up spectators?!?!?! If they released these entry lists and promoted them, they could attract more spectators, and generate more revenue at these smaller events, which would then go into the system and help the lower ranked players in terms of facilities and equipment and prize money... goodness knows how difficult it is to scrape by week on week, just to try and find the funds to get the next flight and a shoddy hotel room and then try to win enough rounds so you have enough funds for the coming week's tournament... It's already bad enough that the ATP have recently made things even more difficult for the boys what with the ranking points being all sucked up by the top guys with the ranking points change... I know people who won tournaments in 2008 and then came back and defended their titles, so literally could not have done any better in those events, and then recieved less points for their 2009 title than their 2008 title and so STILL lost out. *shakes fist*

Senseless.

The lack of information and media output for Tour qualies, Challengers, and Futures is just absurd.

That would be useful except I was just using the lower ranked Brits as an example. But I'm sure that will come in handy in future.

Where on earth did you get that from? I've been scouring the net for that.

On the basis of that, probably not worth my while going. Tbh it was a bit of a punt anyways, as I ought to spend the next month wrapping up my BA before I graduate and finishing a huge dissertation which I have to write between now and April 27th. If only I knew who the wildcards were for qualies... I expect they haven't been decided yet. Where/when would they announce such information?

As I suspected! The WC's that is.

-- Edited by LadyTigress on Friday 26th of March 2010 12:07:18 PM