This and That

by Savannah

The Race to Shanghai
Congratulations to Andy Roddick on his qualifying for Shanghai. Let's hope all those rumors about him not going even if qualified are put to rest. I have to say Andy played very well today against the guy who has been the hottest player of the indoor season.
Here are the latest standings after this mornings play in Paris. It was morning for us on the East Coast of the United States.

01 (01) Rafael Nadal (ESP) 1325 (15) PAR R3
02 (02) Roger Federer (SUI) 1031 (--) PAR R3
03 (03) Novak Djokovic (SRB) 929 (03)
04 (04) Andy Murray (GBR) 674 (15)* PAR R3
05 (05) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 433 (22) PAR R3
06 (06) Andy Roddick (USA) 394 (22) PAR QF
07 (07) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 369 (08)*
08 (08) Gilles Simon (FRA) 356 (20)

09 (09) David Ferrer (ESP) 339 (15)
10 (10) James Blake (USA) 335 (15) PAR QF

11 (12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 315 (05) PAR QF
12 (11) Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 302 (03)
13 (14) David Nalbandian (ARG) 300 (20) PAR QF
14 (13) Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 284 (12)
15 (15) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 283 (15) PAR R3
16 (16) Gael Monfils (FRA) 279 (--) PAR R3
17 (17) Robin Soderling (SWE) 265 (11)
18 (18) Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 254 (08)
19 (19) Igor Andreev (RUS) 249 (10)
20 (23) Tomas Berdych (CZE) 243 (08) PAR R3
Ironic that both Gilles Simon and
Juan Martin del Potro went out on the same day. Looks like David Nalbandian isn't ready to reliquish his status as top dog in Argentina doesn't it?


It occurred to me while watching the day session matches that France all of a sudden has a lot of guys making a lot of noise on the tour. The Anointed One is not among them. Many of the players making noise now have suffered from injury over the past couple of years and are now healthy. Maybe the Anointed will take the rest of the year to think seriously about what he wants and what it's going to take to get it. No one is handing anyone anything on a silver platter in the ATP. Guys are out there biting and clawing each other in their race to become the best. The Anointed One is going to have to do the same thing.

The Gift That May Keep On Giving
No I'm not talking about that special itch you can only get in Paris. I'm talking about Brave New World, the gift Etienne de Villiers and the ATP board are leaving for the men's tour. I've been blogging against what is now called Brave New World and the WTA Roadmap for a long time now. I'd stopped because it seemed as if I was the only call calling bullshit about the proposed changes. Now that the season is winding down it seems fans are starting to pay attention and ask questions. On just about every tennis fan site questions are being asked about the feasibility of both plans.

Over on Talk About Tennis a long time fan who goes by the name of "Moose" started a thread called
The RADICAL Change Coming to ATP Rankings based on an article from the online paper Globe and Mail with the same headline. Many fans have done analyses of just what the changes will mean especially for that player on the verge of the top 100 who has used the traditional route of playing Challengers to boost his ranking. It appears that those players are going to get screwed and banished to a second tier tour with a point distribution and ranking structure that will make it virtually impossible for them to advance into the upper echelons of the mens tour.
But wait, Justin Gimelstob has taken it on himself to explain it all. You heard me. The same man who said that his brother should take care of
Anna Kournikova and not in a nice way responded to the article.

Tom, I appreciate your desire to gain understanding of the new points system. I see the points you emphasized in your article but this was our thinking in implementing the new system.

1. Our main goal was to simplify the points system so people could understand it better; the old system had too many layers that few but tennis insiders could comprehend. The new system has a clear differentiation between tournament categories, obviously each lower category has half of its higher category.

2. We wanted to put a premium on winning tournaments and reward the winner more significantly. Therefore the finalist went from getting 70% of the winner's points to 60%.

3. After that we went to work to try and find similar values in point distribution. Obviously it wasn't possible to accomplish that exactly but we did the best we could. Thus getting to the finals of a 500 is equivalent to getting to the semis of a 1000 (similar to what we have right now). Same is true with other rounds.

4. There is no doubt that players that win events at any level will be rewarded generously and have a chance to make significant gains in the rankings but that could be offset by high-ranked players being required to use four 500-level events in their ranking and thus needed to maintain a ratio of success/accomplishment to prevent adversely effecting their ranking.

I see your points, I hope you can see our logic and intention as well. As I am sure you know making changes in a tradition-based sport is always challenging, but our intent was to help fans relate and follow our sport while rewarding players that win tournaments, the ultimate goal of any player."

Regards, Justin

Don't you feel all better now? I know I don't. Under this system we'll always see the same guys at the top events. No one will be able to break through and make a surprising run deep into a major since they won't have the ranking that will let them.

I'm sure there are people in the ATP hierarchy who think they can act as if the reaction to what Gimselstob said was much ado about nothing. In my opinion anyone who thinks the way to retaliate against a woman he doesn't like is to perpetuate sexual violence against her should not be on the board of any organization and should definitely not be trotted out as a spokesman for it's actions.

Late Breaking News

ARLEN KANTARIAN, CEO PROFESSIONAL TENNIS,

TO DEPART USTA AFTER NINE YEARS OF RECORD GROWTH


Nine year run marked by unparalleled growth of the US Open, launch of the US Open Series, new innovations for the sport, and acquisition of pro tournaments
Kantarian to work with USTA on succession plan…..planning to step down at year-end


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., October 30, 2008 – Arlen Kantarian, CEO of Professional Tennis, announced today that he is moving on from his role after nine years of record growth for the USTA and the US Open. Kantarian has agreed to work closely with USTA on a succession plan, and is planning to step down at year-end.

Kantarian, a former NFL and Radio City executive, joined the USTA in March, 2000, in the newly created position of Chief Executive, Professional Tennis. During that time, Kantarian spearheaded a new generation of unparalleled growth for the USTA, building the US Open into the highest attended annual event in the world, while increasing its revenues over 80%. This year’s US Open was the most successful in its 40 year history, breaking all previous records for revenues and attendance. In addition, Kantarian developed and launched the highly successful Olympus US Open Series, creating a ‘regular season’ of tennis in North America, linked to the US Open. The Series has doubled viewership and has redefined the television and sponsorship model for the sport.

Kantarian has brought several other innovations to the sport, including the introduction of instant replay with player challenges, the prime-time US Open Finals, live entertainment, and the transformation from green to blue courts – now being embraced by schools and parks across the country. Under Kantarian’s leadership, the USTA secured new television deals with CBS, ESPN, and Tennis Channel which will provide an unprecedented 400 hours of live television coverage in the U.S. next summer.
"I have enjoyed one of the finest rides in sports and entertainment for the last 25 years – with the NFL, Radio City, and the USTA,” said Kantarian. “We have now accomplished all that we set out to do at the USTA, and I attribute that to one of the finest staffs in the business. The best time to move on is when the business is at an all-time high, and a solid foundation has been built for the future. I have no doubt the US Open, Olympus US Open Series, and the sport of tennis will continue to prosper and grow. Meanwhile, I am committed to working with the USTA to ensure a successful transition. And then, some time off with family before taking on the next challenge.”

“Arlen’s leadership and vision have led to the tremendous growth of the US Open and the sport over these last nine years,” said Jane Brown Grimes, Chairman and President of the USTA. “His unique talents have made the US Open the highest attended annual sporting event in the world, and the Olympus US Open Series one of the most exciting breakthroughs for the sport. More importantly, Arlen has helped spark a resurgence in the growth and popularity of professional tennis, and has provided the momentum to continue our growth in future years. His contributions will be missed by players, tournaments, business partners, staff, the Board of Directors, and all those who have worked beside him these past nine years.”

Kantarian has also led the expansion of the USTA’s footprint in the sport through successful acquisitions and investments in several ATP and WTA tournaments and Tennis Channel. The USTA is now viewed as a significant player in the professional sport throughout the country. More recently, Kantarian oversaw the launch of the USTA’s new Elite Player Development program, hiring Patrick McEnroe to lead the organization’s development of the next generation of American champions. In 2008, the US Open was attended by a record 720,000 fans, seen by over 80 million television viewers, and broadcast in over 180 countries worldwide.

Kantarian will continue with the USTA through the end of the year, and will work closely with the USTA leadership on a succession plan.

Official Press Release from the USTA at 3:31p Thursday October 30, 2008

Idle Chit Chat 9/27/2008

by Savannah



The epitaphs are already being written for Etienne de Villiers who is leaving his post as of December. Steve Tignor wrote this one

De Villiers did a better job than you might think. His push for round robins was a failure, but his push for instant replay was a success. He brought the season-ending Masters Cup from Shanghai to London in 2009 and was rewarded with a title sponsorship from (still solvent) Barclay's. He also made the Masters Series schedule, a major complaint among players, less burdensome: The finals were cut from best-of-five sets to best-of-three and the pre-Roland Garros clay-court events went from three to two.

For these things he was destroyed: In 2006, Federer and Nadal spoke publicly about their anger over his demotion of Monte Carlo and Hamburg; Nikolay Davydenko called him "Walt Disney"; this year all of the top 20 players demanded that the ATP consider other candidates for his job before rehiring him; and the Hamburg organizers brought a lawsuit that could have bankrupted the tour.

Looking back, it's clear that De Villiers was unlucky that his term coincided with the peak of Federer's reign. From 2005 to 2007, the Swiss' domination on court made him a kind of unelected president of the sport. If you wanted to do something new, you wanted him on board. The problem was that Federer is a stubborn, outspoken traditionalist. He was against round robins, instant replay and the unilateral demotion of Monte Carlo; he even mused wistfully about the days of grueling three-out-of-five setters in Masters finals.

De Villiers came in with big ideas and ended up nibbling at the edges -- he couldn't even demote Hamburg without risking the entire organization. The ATP board may now want to go with someone who isn't an outsider; U.S. Open tournament director Arlen Kantarian's name has been mentioned, but the job may be a step down for him.

Brings a tear to your eyes doesn't it? I wasn't aware that getting rid of one pre Roland Garros clay event was on the players list of concerns. No one except American players were complaining about the Masters Events being five sets. Hamburg sued because the fix was in and they were playing by a set of rules that were no longer relevant. Tignor should mention that the schedule now favors hard court events such as the US Open series that takes place before the US Open, and the new Asian hard court swing. It should be mentioned that the back to back American spring hardcourt events as well as the back to back Masters events in Canada and Ohio at the height of summer remain untouched.
Just sayin'.

As for Arlen Kantarian taking over De Villiers position Tignor is being disingenuous. Kantarian is not only the TD for the US Open. As this article from Tennis-x a year ago announces Kantarian is also CEO of USTA Professional Tennis.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y, October 4, 2007--The United States Tennis Association today announced that Arlen Kantarian has been named Chief Executive Officer, Professional Tennis. In this role, Kantarian will continue to lead the USTA's Professional Tennis operations, and serve as the lead executive overseeing the USTA's involvement in the professional sport, including the US Open, US Open Series, USTA Pro Tour events, U.S. Davis Cup, Fed Cup, and Olympic teams, and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

In addition, Kantarian will oversee the development of a new USTA elite player development program, focused on identifying and developing the next generation of American champions. Kantarian will assume responsibility for this new program effective December 1, and has initiated a worldwide search for the head of the elite player development program.

"I couldn't be more pleased to acknowledge Arlen Kantarian's many contributions to the USTA" said Jane Brown Grimes, Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA. "Arlen's unique talents have made the US Open the highest attended annual sporting event in the world and the US Open Series one of the most successful breakthroughs for the sport. With the USTA's commitment to developing strong American competitors and Arlen's proven track record of success, we are pleased that he will now oversee the elite player development program, and a pipeline to future American champions."

I've always felt the goal of "Brave New World" was to do organizationally what the USTA hasn't been able to do on the tennis courts - dominate tennis once again. Putting Kantarian in charge of the ATP would be tantamount to having the fox guard the chicken coop. We've already seen the shenanigans the USTA pulls to make sure they get the results they want at this years US Open. Give them control of the ATP and who knows what will happen?

It's also deceiving to say Roger Federer led the charge against De Villiers. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that it was Rafael Nadal who was joined by Roger Federer who led the push back from the European players. Nikolay Davydenko was also in the vanguard. We all know what happened to Nikolay and that his attention was directed elsewhere. This was how Federer and Nadal entered Monte Carlo back in 2007 stunning the press.

I doubt if Kantarian will get the support of the European's. I'm sure he has the support of the Americans. It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out no?

Ana and Fernando sitting in a tree...

Thanks to "Lola" tennisheads have these pictures taken Saturday morning in a Beijing hotel lobby.


Girlfriend looks whipped.


End Notes
I managed to stay up and see the Tsonga vs Monfils match. Well maybe match is the wrong word. They were both on the same court at the same time. I think Monfils must be used to waking at a later hour since Tsonga, who was wide awake, blew him off the court winning in straight sets 0 and 3. In 52 minutes. There are WTA matches that last longer.
Tsonga will face Novak Djokovic in the Final. Think Jo was on a mission?

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Zheng Jie in Beijing to make the final where she will face Jelena Jankovic.
Andy Roddick defeated Bjorn Phau in three sets and will face Dudi Sela in the men's final. Sela defeated Rainer Schuettler.

In Seoul Samantha Stosur will face Maria Kirilenko in the Final after blowing past Jill Craybas. Maria defeated Kaia Kanepi in her semi final match.
Maria Sharapova announced on her web site that she is finished playing for the year.

The Empire Strikes Back

By Savannah

I'm sure no one expected the ATP to take the Hermitage 3+1 stance condemning the move towards Brave New World which would reduce the importance of Road to Roland Garros events like Monte Carlo and Hamburg while maintaining the back to back hardcourt events held in both March and August in the United States and Canada lying down. Joel Drucker from espn.com has posted an article calling the European players position, well, here's the opening paragraph:

Confusing athletic skill with intellect is dangerous. On the one hand, professional tennis players are nearly unanimous in their belief that the season is too long. Then again, who wouldn't like a shorter work schedule? On the other hand, when something close at hand is threatened, knee-jerk responses come to these fast-handed men and women quite easily.

Then there's this statement about and quote from Serena Williams.

Equally oblivious is Serena Williams, saying how upset she is that events on her home continent are shriveling.

"To grow the sport more in the United States, the tour should focus on tournaments in the United States," Williams recently told Reuters. "I think they're changing the schedule to cater to Europe and I don't like it. I don't like it at all."

Drucker does not put this in context. Amelia Island, a favorite of the women's tour, is in jeopardy as are other WTA events in the United States. Within that context Serena's statement makes sense but I don't think that's the goal here.

For the entire article go HERE

Then James Blake and Andy Roddick weighed in. Roddick is known to have signed the petition the European players presented to the ATP which is presumably lining someone's bird cage since the ATP never acknowledged receiving it. That was the reason the Europeans went public with their complaints but that won't get in the way of the campaign to make the Europeans, especially Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, look like whiny rich boys to the American public. When Blake can make a statement like this you wonder just what he was doing for two years in Harvard.

"Some players, myself included, don't have the same education and background as some of these tour managers or player representatives or the board members that have the job to do that," Blake said. "We have to trust them because we've elected them. We have to voice our opinions, there's nothing wrong with that, but we also have to understand that some people might have better ideas and better business savvy."

It was Roddick who trotted out the company line though.

"What no one is talking about is the finances of it," Roddick said. "This is not a knock on (Monte Carlo). The tournament is amazing, they run it great, the players love it. It's the most beautiful stadium we have.

"But if you get 70,000 people a week in Monte Carlo and then if you have a place like Cincinnati, it may be a little further out and a lot of Europeans don't like going there, but if the attendance is 180,000 and you're looking at it as a business model and who brings in the most revenue, when it's time to make cuts, that person is going to get cut."

The entire article is HERE

I've stated my opinions before on this topic but maybe I need to expand them a bit. I'm an American born and bred. I love the US Open Series and watch it faithfully. But I am a tennis fan too. I don't feel it's good to decide one surface is better than another just because your academies and coaches have no idea how to train their students on it. Each surface presents a challenge to a player. The skill set to excel on clay is not the same as the skill set required to excel on a hardcourt or grass, or rebound ace for that matter. And that is what makes the sport interesting. It's not always the same people winning all the time for the same reason.

I don't think the answer to your shortcomings is to pick up all your marbles and go home or changing the rules in mid stream so that your skill set, limited as it may be, will become the only one that counts. It's up to you to work hard and do your best to improve yourself on that surface.

The American ATP stars come into Rome as after thoughts. They have not played one clay court match this spring. No one expects them to do well or go deep in the tournament. There are already threads on fan sites asking how badly Gael Monfils, who has been struggling, will beat James Blake in their first round match. One of the more informed fans 3MLM posted Andy Roddick's stats on clay showing that he has a pretty decent record on the red stuff. You can find the post on talkabouttennis.com

Yet despite all that no one expects to see him in the semis.

There is hope. The younger generation, Sam Querrey among them are playing in Europe. They're not going deep but they're trying. The results of their work will probably bear fruit in two years - 2009, just when, if Brave New World is adopted in its present form, clay will have been relegated to a quaint surface "those other people" play on.

Who Is That Man Behind the Curtain?

by Savannah

I found this article by Matt Cronin posted on menstennisforums.com
There was not a lot of commentary about it - most fans were too busy with the Hermitage 3+1, but I think this is a very interesting look at just what is going on with the ATP right now and why. The link to the entire article is Here but I'll post some excerpts and then comment.

For some odd reason, there's a misconception out there it's the players who have the most say on major tour issues. They don't and haven't had a significant impact in quite some time...

But let's be really serious here about who hired de Villiers in the first place: the tournament directors, who received, in my not some humble opinion, a rubber stamp for the players. You didn't think that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Ivan Ljubicic had time to conduct extensive job interviews, did you?

That doesn't mean that de Villiers is completely beholden to the TDs, but when he takes a look at the other six members of the ATP Board of Directors, he knows who is cutting his paychecks and where the power lies. Currently, it lies with the TDs and the major sports agencies.

de Villiers has one vote, as do tournament reps Charlie Pasarell (the Indian Wells owner who is certainly one of the most powerful men in the sport), Auckland Tennis CEO Graham Pearce and Monte Carlo TD Zeljko Franulovic (back to him later). The players selected super agent Perry Rogers (Andre Agassi's agent), Jacco Eltingh and Iggy Jovanovic. I'll give the players two strong votes in former doubles standout Eltingh and Iggy, who used to be a communications official. But that's it. Rogers understand the players concerns, but he's a business guy first and is likely looking at profit as the primary motive. Plus, he's American and sees more potential in keeping four strong Masters Series in North America (Indian Wells, Miami, Cincy and Canada), than he does in saving Hamburg's or Monte Carlo's TMS status (although maybe Steffi Graf is trying to convince him otherwise.)

I'm not sure how the vote broke down when the board voted on de Villiers recommendation for the 2009 calendar – which was to downgraded Monte Carlo and Hamburg, add Shanghai and move Madrid to the spring – but my guess is that Franulovic balked in a big way and stormed out, de Villiers and the two other tournament directors said fine, and so did Rogers. That's' enough votes, folks, regardless of what Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and ATP Player Council president Ivan Ljubicic asked their player reps to do.

Look, if the players want to make the ATP a "player organization," then they have to get the tiebreaking vote on board of directors. I don't believe that they've ever had that on a consistent basis from their CEO, so they are sitting clay pigeons when it comes to major issues like the calendar, unless they force their CEO to the wall, which they have done this week.

Now, when they have embarrassed De Villers publicly with players like Ljubicic saying "ET doesn't understand tennis," they bring out a big stick by essentially saying that we are not buying into your calendar and you can take your mandated tournaments and shove them into your racket bag.

That's the power that they do have … which is not show up where they don't want to play.
Just imagine how happy Shanghai is going to be if most of the top competitors don't go. Guess who's going to get an earful and a request for a major refund - de Villiers.

According to the Daily Telegraph's excellent Mark Hodgkinson, de Villiers told Federer, Ljubicic et al that's he's willing to be flexible and maybe, just maybe, they will reconsider letting Monte Carlo keeps its status. But Hamburg still appears to be in real trouble.

My conclusions? The player reps on the board have absolutely no power whatsoever. The Americans, and the man from Auckland plus ET form the majority block. The one European tour director is reduced to allegedly "storming out" leaving his fellow board members to do, and vote, as they please. The man who should be the swing vote, Perry Rogers, votes with the Passarell block which should come as no surprise to any adult in the business world. He runs a sports agency not a not for profit group.

There were overflowing crowds at Monte Carlo all week. A full house is guaranteed for Rome. But the Americans are only concerned with making sure their Masters Events become the only game in town. Indian Wells, Cincinnatti, Canada and Miami are going to stay unless something drastic happens. It will take more than a united front by the European players and TD's to change this. The Board will argue profit while not mentioning that the American and Canadian stadiums are bigger than many of those in Europe. Tennis.com is already hyping Wimbledon while the players are on the Road to Roland Garros, a Grand Slam Americans have been denigrating ever since Pete Sampras decided clay was beneath him.

Yes the people behind Hamburg and Monte Carlo have filed suits against the ATP in the American state of Delaware but it's too soon to tell how that particular deck will be stacked.

So while the fans were celebrating the coming together of the top men in the world, neither of whom is American, The Powers That Be were smiling in their club chairs and puffing on their Cohibas. I for one don't see this ending well.