Transition tour

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

RE: Transition tour

JayKayFulham · Social player

Does anyone have any news on Billy Harriss plans? I dont think Ive seen any activity since November.

JayKayFulham · Social player

Apostrophe in surname didnt come through in that last post - I havent added a third s to Billys surname on purpose

indiana · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
wolf wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:
Well, to be fair, I guess it's a little early to say how well it's working overall.
I can tell you now if it saves you time, it's sh1t.

While I think it is clear most of us here are kind of thinking like wolf, let's hope CD's ongoing efforts to consider it might not be as bad as so many suspect come true, and I guess it is still early days.

But some of the predictable and inevitable unpredictable consequences seem to be showing themselves ...

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I'm not so sure I do really think it's not 'as bad as all that'....... :(

Personally, there's nothing about the new system that I like.

But I do think that four weeks is a little early to tell for certain

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

JayKayFulham wrote:
Does anyone have any news on Billy Harriss plans? I dont think Ive seen any activity since November.

Sorry. No inside knowledge here on Billy's plans for the year. But like you, I do keep my eye on the entry lists.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

Coup Droit wrote:
I'm not so sure I do really think it's not 'as bad as all that'....... :(

Personally, there's nothing about the new system that I like.

But I do think that four weeks is a little early to tell for certain

Yep I'll wait a while before passing judgement but I'm really not feeling it at the moment. Too confusing for a start to follow, let alone whatever problems the players are having

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Bob in Spain wrote:
JayKayFulham wrote:
Does anyone have any news on Billy Harriss plans? I dont think Ive seen any activity since November.
Sorry. No inside knowledge here on Billy's plans for the year. But like you, I do keep my eye on the entry lists.

As a follow up, I have just seen Billy's name on the Alternates list for Barnstaple. That's the alternate's alternates and not the ITF alternates. (Clear as mud). Coming in at 12 on that list and with the withdrawal deadline having already passed, I somehow doubt that Billy will be getting in, but at least his presence on the list suggests he is around and planning to kick off his season.

JonH · All-time great

Well worth a read

www.facebook.com/davemileytennis/posts/1229040220596418

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
Well worth a read

www.facebook.com/davemileytennis/posts/1229040220596418

Excellent article.

flamingowings · All-time great

From Jay's instagram: twitter.com/lobwinners/status/1090569768535556096

flamingowings · All-time great

There is also going to be an ongoing blog post here about the changes: https://mytennisadventures.home.blog/2019/01/30/what-is-the-itf-transition-tour-part-2/

indiana · Tennis legend

Good stuff, thanks.

Hope it won't go own as a series of articles on how to really muck up the lower / development echelons of your own sport.

Strongbow · All-time great

indiana wrote:
Good stuff, thanks.

Hope it won't go own as a series of articles on how to really muck up the lower / development echelons of your own sport.

It was designed to reduce the number of professional players by 50%. Never going to make everybody happy - big difference between change and progress.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

I am open minded, things needed changing, there is little point in pretending to be a professional tour tennis player ie having a rank but not being able to earn a living. There is nothing wrong about being passionate about your sport but for many under the previous system it was just a very expensive all consuming hobby that left them almost destitute. Unfortunately singles tennis is only popular enough to sustain 150 or so players as full time professionals who will break even. With a gate of 3000 a non league football match in the second tier below the football league will generate £42k on a Saturday afternoon. Over 21 home matches in a season (taking 25k a match plus sponsorship) will allow a wage bill of 200k to contract a squad of players to enjoy a decent semi professional wage.

To have a full time squad you are looking to have to treble that income and generally that is what non league teams in the first tier have to do, with very few fans attending challenger events over a week, no television rights, limited sponsorship that is economically where the Challengee tour sits. It just does not have the fiscal resources or support to expand. Fix that and then we can talk about having more professional players.

I dont think one could claim that any player on the transition tour is making a living and generally know those that make a good living are very close to top 200 usually inside it by the age of 20. I cant think of a British player who has made the top 100 that this system would have penalised, it may however force some players to think harder about where they are and realistically where they can get to a bit earlier.