Transitional tour

brittak · Satellite level

Transitional tour

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

brittak wrote:
Also posted on mens side but:-

Am I alone in thinking that following the changes that there is something missing on a quiet Sunday afternoon with very little (GB) tennis to read about or scores to follow? I am feeling a bit bereft.....

Yes. Absolutely. I think a couple of us had said the same thing before. I realise it's hardly top of the list of 'problems' with the new changes, not really quite top priority for the ATP/WTA/ITS bods..... BUT I MISS WEEKEND QUALIS !

Peter too · Tennis legend

It does seem odd that there is least tennis to watch on the days when most people are free to go out and watch.

TomTraubert · Futures level

agree
but for the people that have the money clearing itf tennis from the weekend means that the only tennis to watch or attend is wta/atp if you want tennis that where you got to get it
the numbers involved going to and watching itf on weekend is tiny but it still just another way to excercise a little bit more power and focus to the big tours and tighten the strangled hold in little increment

Peter too · Tennis legend

Restricting access to professional tennis to concentrate the money in fewer hands might work if it was the only sport but there are plenty of alternatives available for both the fans and the players. We have had a few players with the ability to excel at more than one sport, in future I suspect more will opt for the alternative.

Peter too · Tennis legend

I see Olivia Sonnekus-Williams made five more attempts at entering tournaments this week, again without success.

-- Edited by Peter too on Sunday 17th of February 2019 10:33:50 PM

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Peter too wrote:
I see Olivia Sonnekus-Williams made five more attempts at entering tournaments this week, again without success.

-- Edited by Peter too on Sunday 17th of February 2019 10:33:50 PM

I see she'd have just got in to Egypt 15k if she'd went for that rather than Tunisia.

flamingowings · All-time great

EWS has tweeted about a letter signed by nearly 700 players to the ITF: twitter.com/ews24/status/1097929811870318592

the addict · Tennis legend

The full text of the letter is available in the link in that tweet (sorry, can't post the link myself). A very well written letter, setting out a lot of points about the new tour and confirming a lot of what has been posted in this forum.

TomTraubert · Futures level

effectively they asking for the old system
would be interested to know who highest rank player that signed is as could get 700 hypothetical names from none inside current top 150 ar there abouts

my heart is with them but they being niaeve
you have to give value proposition as to why the old system can pay for itself - it clearly doesnt events dont make money players cant suport themsleves
peopler are offering to make a small number of people much much richer and money talks how does this letter seek to make a counteroffer? it dont and so is pointless
these players have no right to a living form tennis or even to play in pro events i wish they did but they dont
if the organisers of tennis can be persuayded and they have been that fewer players equals more retuns on they investments then that is where they will put they capital
low level players are out they are being extincted it horrible but a letter isnt going to make money think twice there may be a year or too of bad feeling but the slams keep coming and wiping everyones memory clean as fed rafa nole serena halep naomi etc keep delivering the product that people actually pay to watch in profitable numbers
so long as juniors keep chugging throu - and they been given very express and dirsct pathway to chug! the aim for juniors is now get to top 100 juniors to earn a chance at the big time - and the new talent rolls around the paying public will keep watching what they given even after the titans of current atp generation finaly retire

the atp/wta/pique other powers that be have so little regard for players 300-end of rankings anyway why would a letter without any alternative inc=vestment structure change any mind?
I wish them well but this idealism dont work - tennis is not a sport anymore not been for ages it a business you got to prove your worth or you out and this letter dont do nothing to prove they worth just complains that it they lives hard under teh new system - to which atp/wta/pique must be saying yes thats the aim of the whole thing

it is horrible and inconshunable that it comes to this but money doesnt care it has no moral dimensian it just makes money appealing to fair play is sadly a complete non sequiter

unless they can get the top players to down tools at big events they got nothing to bargain with

Barefoot · Lower Club Player

TomTraubert wrote:

my heart is with them but they being niaeve
you have to give value proposition as to why the old system can pay for itself - it clearly doesnt events dont make money players cant suport themsleves
peopler are offering to make a small number of people much much richer and money talks how does this letter seek to make a counteroffer? it dont and so is pointless
these players have no right to a living form tennis or even to play in pro events i wish they did but they dont

Your last point here is the most pertinent- I know it sounds hard nosed, but no one has the right to a certain job, essentially they are all being made redundant and are surplus to business requirements. Rightly or wrongly, they are part of a business.

no one is stopping them playing non professional competitive tennis at a very high level if thats their passion.

I do have a lot of sympathy with a couple of the points though as while I think whats happening is to an extent necessary, the doubles players being passed over for a higher singles rank is inexplicable - I do not understand how dubs specialists are meant to develop. Same with limiting qualy draws - if you have the entrants and the space, let them in. If you dont, dont, but no need for a blanket size.

flamingowings · All-time great

From what I have seen on Twitter, 2 of the most vocal players on the women's side (but could be just because my bias is GB) is Emily and Tara - players impacted by the changes but who haven't won much in singles at the higher level (25k+) in some time. Not sure about other players but there are bound to be some in the same boat as they are.

christ · Futures level

Barefoot wrote:
... no one has the right to a certain job, essentially they are all being made redundant and are surplus to business requirements. Rightly or wrongly, they are part of a business.

True. But so, in effect, are the management - only the management don't actually produce anything. It is going to be quite amusing if the upshot of this whole scenario is that no new professional tennis players make it into the WTA. But of course the current ITF/ WTA management will have moved on by then, with their fortunes made, and it will be someone else's problem.

As a general rule, money-grabbing is not a sensible approach for a long term business. It enriches the current management, sure, but in a business it leads to bankruptcy. It is incumbent upon the employees to point out when the management are being idiots - it may not do any good, as the management may well only be interested in enriching themselves in the short term, but if they are at all interested in the long term aspects of the business they should be listening to the experts.

700 professional women tennis players is quite a high proportion of the workforce.

the addict · Tennis legend

flamingowings wrote:
From what I have seen on Twitter, 2 of the most vocal players on the women's side (but could be just because my bias is GB) is Emily and Tara - players impacted by the changes but who haven't won much in singles at the higher level (25k+) in some time. Not sure about other players but there are bound to be some in the same boat as they are.

Just to add to this for anyone who hasn't read the letter. Ana Vrljic (who plays a lot over in the few tournaments over here) is quoted at being the writer.

Edit: - something strange happened, and a whole load of garbage appeared !

-- Edited by the addict on Wednesday 20th of February 2019 11:45:40 AM

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Yeah, there's a big thread on tennisforum with Vrljic's big Facebook post. From the people who made these changes POV, I think EWS and Vrljic would be exactly the type of player they had in mind when enforcing these rules.