The Death of Round Robin Play

The Death of Round Robin Play

“...The ATP could not organise an orgy in a brothel with a garbage bag full of $100 bills.”

An angry fan on www.mentennisforums.com

Round Robin play ended as an option in the ATP on a quiet Thursday evening in March. It came about because Juan Martin del Potro, a young Argentine who is on a lot of people’s radar felt ill and retired down 3-1 in the second set of his match. What difference did it make you may ask? Players retire all the time. The reasons are always the subject of hot debate among tennisheads but that is part of the game.

But this retirement was different. Again a casual fan may ask why? It has to do with the Round Robin format Mr. Disney was experimenting with this year. See James Blake lost his first round match to a Russian man Evgeny Korolev 6-2, 6-4. That score is important. Del Potro then beat Korolev 6-3, 6-2. Within their group the rank was as follows:

Del Potro – Won 1 match Winning percentage 70.6%
Korolev – Won 1 match Winning percentage 48.6%
Blake – Won 0 match Winning percentage 33.3%

Keep in mind Blake was the top seed in this event. Today Blake won the first set 6-1 and was up 3-1 when del Potro retired due to what sounds like a serious medical condition. So Blake is through right? Wrong. Blake was out because the retirement was not counted as a win. There was a little something to do with how many games Blake won against or surrendered to Del Potro (I seem to remember the number 5 being in there somewhere)But the match didn’t complete and he was out.

The message boards would have been lit up for days about the idiocy of round robin play but the rules are the rules and Korolev was on his way to the normal round of play. Nice situation for him.

Except that the ATP had a conference and decided to throw the rule book out. Blake was declared in and Korolev, who played by the rules, was on his way to his next tournament.
I wonder if some Supreme Court justice weighed in on the matter just to make it more like Florida in November 2000.

When this format was first proposed Lindsay Davenport said that you would see matches being thrown. Of course this conjured up images of players huddled in dark locker room corners conspiring against other players they might not like so that a mutual friend could get through. Who thought the cabal would be a bunch of suits in a conference room?

I don’t like Round Robin. I like it as a gimmick at the TMC so that fans get to see their faves more than once. I don’t like it as part of regular competition. This miscarriage of justice reeks to high heaven. The ATP is not a beloved organization to begin with. Many non American players feel that it favors the players from the United States at the expense of other players. Andy Roddick’s US Open win is still suspect in many quarters because of the gyrations tournament officials went through that appeared to ensure that Andy had enough rest at the expense of European players. This decision will not only revive that kind of talk but will increase anti American sentiment among non American players. If the situation had been reversed I doubt Mr. Disney would have made this ruling.

What should have been done? Nothing. Blake was out. Let him stay out. Two majors are coming up, the Pacific Life Open and Miami. Plenty of time for James' fans to see their favorite. By doing this the ATP has ensured that any player who doesn’t like a call, the outcome of a match, or the color of his opponents outfit can pitch a bitch and be heard. Throw a racquet? So what? Curse the chair ump? Hey, it’s an American thing. Insult, spit at or moon your opponent? So what? Rules are fluid and can be adjusted to suit whatever ails you. Just be born in the lower 48 and manage to be the number one seed. Your wish is our command.

Thank you Mr. Disney.