the addict wrote:

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Fair enough, they should know !

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 They should know but that doesn't always make it the case.

flamingowings wrote:

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the addict wrote:

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Two of the ranking tables I refer to show him one win away

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 Well the ATP Twitter account says he has qualified. 

ATP Tour @ATP_Tour

 

DANIIL IS LOCKED IN  @DaniilMedwed is the fourth player to qualify for the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals in London 

9:59 pm · 3 Sep 2019

 

 

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 Cool, in which case it is official! Like The Addict, ranking tables I looked at show him a win away. I guess the maths on these things is not always precise. Presumably you need to calculate the maximum possible points of the players below him, somehow making sure you dont  assume each player can make the same final or semifinal and I guess there can probably be small differences in the calculation.

Either way if the ATP say it is so, then it is so!  

Born2WinTennis wrote:

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Coup Droit wrote:

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Great year for Berrettini.

As per other threads, worth mentioning the huge rise in Italian men's tennis at the younger end:

Jim Courrier puts most of this down to the big investment in low-end tournaments (LTA, take note !!!!!!!!!)

"Courier compared it [the new Oracle system] to the system in Italy, which added many lower-level tournaments in recent years.

It allows players to play at low cost at home, and youve seen a big surge in young Italian mens players, Courier said.

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Does anyone know anymore about this? Is it the Italian equivalent of the British Tour, do they just hold a load of future events or do they have a ton of money tournaments like France?

 

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This may help to explain the buoyancy of Italian tennis. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/sports/french-open-italian-men.html

I consider this is not just down to ITFs where there have always been a large number in Italy. The fact of 19 ATP Challenger tournaments speaks for itself; a fantastic number. The free-to-air tv channel, Supertennis, is also a positive, galvanising factor. Underlying all this though is an incredible amount of initiative shown by tennis clubs and individuals within them, who, by and large, organise these tournaments themselves with federation involvement largely as a hands-off facilitator. 

A stark contrast with the situation here where an LTA/Wimbledon hegemony prevails and we are spood fed what little other serious tennis there is by a nanny-like LTA, (hence the hundreds centrally employed). I doubt many clubs here would even be interested in putting on a futures let alone raising the funds and actually organising one. I keep saying this but that's where the LTA must start though and evolve into an enabling influence which encourages the sport to grow organically. We need reasons and purpose to play.

The rules on who and where a tournament can be held are onerous. I ran a junior tournament years ago for new players at my sons tennis club, more as a way to encourage some of the juniors to enter a tournament but I wouldn't be able to do that now as I'm not a umpire. There used to a be a grade 4 junior tournament at Purley sports club that the 2 Markiewicz brothers used to play every summer when they were over visiting their grandparents that is no longer. It was a lovely tournament, really friendly and ideal for new competitors but the organiser retired and there was no one at the club with the time that met the LTA requirements.