Week 30 - ITF ($25K) - Porto, Portugal Clay

the addict · Tennis legend

Week 30 - ITF ($25K) - Porto, Portugal Clay

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I agree with you re the UK, Indy.

I just wonder if it's going to be so bad or really so different elsewhere.

I do wonder if it's going to be the same thing with different names.

Everyone is going to need WTA/ATP points. And, apart from wildcards in main draws who then go on to win a match, everyone is going to have to pass through the transition tour.
So the ITF events should still be quite dynamic important events.
In fact, I would have thought that the ITF events are going to become far more important - at the moment, the large Quali draws means people can tempt their arm without playing ITFs (although hardly any GB players do). Now the focus will be on the ITFs.
So presumably also, the LTA will have to stage more ITFs to even get their favourites going. Unless they think the wildcard slots will be enough (unlikely). Or unless they think it's more cost effective just to pay to send the chosen few to go and do the grunt work at foreign events so they don't have to sully their hands with staging any (more likely, unfortunately).

indiana · Tennis legend

the addict wrote:
#stillnotguaranteed25GBrankedplayersbyyearend

OER suggests just 24, so there are a few more that will drop out unless they pick up some points.

Yes, 24 is what I make it.

In order of potentially dropping out of the rankings - Laura D, Emma H, Olivia, Suzy, Mandy, Mirabelle, Alice and Tiffany.

Fairly clearly Mandy 'just' needs to get fit, and Alice and Tiffany are continuing to really give it a go, and hopefully Mirabelle can begin to pick things up again after her absence.

-- Edited by indiana on Friday 27th of July 2018 12:45:25 AM

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

But, don't you just then invest in more Junior events at select levels, times and locations? They're cheaper to run, and less competitive, but they do offer a premium under the new system.
Any reduction in the number of ranked players per country, in any given country, can be written off, by the domestic association, as part of the general fact that there are going to be significantly fewer WTA ranked players overall in this new system.
If the bar to maintain a ranking is raised 'x' - and it is being - it's only natural (though to be lamented) that we will have 'x' fewer ranked pros as a result.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

AliBlahBlah wrote:
But, don't you just then invest in more Junior events at select levels, times and locations? They're cheaper to run, and less competitive, but they do offer a premium under the new system.
Any reduction in the number of ranked players per country, in any given country, can be written off, by the domestic association, as part of the general fact that there are going to be significantly fewer WTA ranked players overall in this new system.
If the bar to maintain a ranking is raised 'x' - and it is being - it's only natural (though to be lamented) that we will have 'x' fewer ranked pros as a result.

But the junior events only give you automatic entry to the ITFs, don't they? So getting more kids into the top 100 won't help the LTA unless those kids can then play 15ks.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Coup Droit wrote:
AliBlahBlah wrote:
But, don't you just then invest in more Junior events at select levels, times and locations? They're cheaper to run, and less competitive, but they do offer a premium under the new system.
Any reduction in the number of ranked players per country, in any given country, can be written off, by the domestic association, as part of the general fact that there are going to be significantly fewer WTA ranked players overall in this new system.
If the bar to maintain a ranking is raised 'x' - and it is being - it's only natural (though to be lamented) that we will have 'x' fewer ranked pros as a result.
But the junior events only give you automatic entry to the ITFs, don't they? So getting more kids into the top 100 won't help the LTA unless those kids can then play 15ks.

Is it just $15K ITF's that the junior credit counts towards?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I believe so.

They're there for the 15ks, but not in the 25ks, or any above.

(I think!)

7) What will be the composition of the singles main draw and qualifying draw at ITF Transition Tour tournaments (Men and Women)?
Main Draw
Direct Acceptances (minimum 17), accepted in the following order:
o ATP/WTA ranking
o ITF World Ranking
o Top 500 National Ranking
o Unranked
o Up to 5 reserved places for Top 100 Juniors
o 4 Wild Cards
o 6 qualifiers

8) What will be the composition of the singles main draw and qualifying draw at ITF Pro Circuit $25,000 tournaments (Men and Women)?
Main Draw
Direct Acceptances (minimum 17), accepted in the following order:
o ATP/WTA ranking
o ITF World Ranking
o Top 500 National Ranking
o Unranked
o Up to 5 reserved places for the players with the best ITF World Rankings who enter
o 4 Wild Cards
o 6 qualifiers

.....

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Thank you.
The process might become: game the $15K's for a while, 'slumming it', to hoover up points as a ringer, get a high ITF ranking, and angle for those 5 reserved places for the high ITF rankings at $25K.

Those ITF lists are weird. Direct Acceptances (DA) in an order that includes WC & qualifiers, which are both not DA, by definition.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Every year or two they seem to tighten the ranking system to reduce the number of ranked women to 1000 and then see the players work out how to push the number back over 1200. This new system may exclude some players who would never have reached WTA tournament level but would use the ITF circuit to see the world and then be able to write "professional tennis player" on their CV when applying for a job as a school teacher of sports coach.

the addict · Tennis legend

You misread it ABB. The reserved places for ITF's WC's and Qualifiers are separate from the 17 DA places

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Peter too wrote:
Every year or two they seem to tighten the ranking system to reduce the number of ranked women to 1000 and then see the players work out how to push the number back over 1200. This new system may exclude some players who would never have reached WTA tournament level but would use the ITF circuit to see the world and then be able to write "professional tennis player" on their CV when applying for a job as a school teacher of sports coach.

Good point, the cachet of having been a professional sportsperson.

To back up the point about the cyclical numbers of ranked players, here is my attempt to track the number of ranked players over time.

Data kindly provided by Jeff Sackmann of Tennis Abstract

You can see the big slope in 2007, when the WTA ranking systems were last changed substantially.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

the addict wrote:
You misread it ABB. The reserved places for ITF's WC's and Qualifiers are separate from the 17 DA places

Ah, OK. I was reading it from CD's excerpt. They look like a continuation of the bullet points there.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

AliBlahBlah wrote:
the addict wrote:
You misread it ABB. The reserved places for ITF's WC's and Qualifiers are separate from the 17 DA places
Ah, OK. I was reading it from CD's excerpt. They look like a continuation of the bullet points there.

Mine was directly copied and pasted from the ITF site - that's how they phrase it - I agree it's very confusing - hardly gives confidence.....

Peter too · Tennis legend

QF: GREY, Sarah Beth (GBR) 500 v SAEZ LARRA, Olga (ESP) 3 263 CH=231 22/5/17

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

And, Ms. Grey is back out for the doubles, playing with Erika Vogelsang; the Dutchwoman needs to buck up her ideas if she's to be a suitable stand-in for Olivia, 4-6 *1-1