US Open - Redemption

First topic message reminder :

It has to be said that poor weather and poor organising equates to a poor Slam that not only frustrates the players, but the fans too. If they are aiming to finish on time it will be one of the worst one sided Slams ever.

It isn't just Nadal, Murray, Roddick that are affected. Federer and Djokovic will be too. Even though they have played one match more, they are facing the same problems the other 3 mentioned are.

Though they can redeem themselves the US organisers.

1. Look at all available courts and also the time. May well be that the players may need to start early in the morning and may even play into the wee hours of the morning.

2. Extend the Slam timetable by 4 days and give all players sufficient time to recover in between matches.

3. Refund ticket money to all the fans and even increase the prize pot so that the players are rewarded for all this poor organising.

freakish as in constant 3 days of rain and counting...

2003 US Open final was won by Roddick (3 matches in his last 3 days) over Ferrero (four matches in his last four days). This is not a brand new issue, and it HAS happened before this year.

That said, I think that as long as it is the focus to appease television and corporate sponsors, then that diminishes the "respectability" of this Major.

We already have situation with the final set TB, that a player can work hard for two weeks, and lose this Major final, with a single double fault at the wrong/crucial time.

Navratilova lost final set TB's in 1981 Final (Austin), 1985 Final (Mandlikova) and won in 1986 Semifinal (Graf). I think when it become a "shoot out," after two weeks of gruelling play, that the overall effect is diminished.

It would seem after three years of having the tournament run into a 3rd week, that at the very least court covers would have already become the practice, but it hasn't.

I do remember one time when helicopters were used, hovering over the court(s) to dry them quickly, though don't remember if it was the US Open - it was a hard court event, that's all I do remember for certain.

I would love to think that from this tournament, comes the impetus to change some things about the US Open.

We have had the number of sets in Men's Doubles reduced in certain Major events; we've had the super TB come into play in the Mixed events (only 1 seeded team was ousted in str8 sets this year).

I think that whilst the Majors can and should keep certain individual characteristics, that there should be a standard "baseline" to keep the "achievement" of winning a Major title the same. These are the four "pillars" of the sport, and if they are not "even," then it's a crooked situation, not a well balanced, even one.

The French Open took the wise move a couple of years ago, starting the tournament on the Sunday, rather than the Monday, so that the first day would be "fully subscribed," including children, who are the future players, umpires, trainers, masseurs and followers of the game.

Perhaps this can be augmented so that each Major starts on the Saturday, giving two full weekend days, to start the tournament, and thereby allowing the loss of two full days' play, without affecting the minimum of a full clear day between successive matches. Yes, it is POSSIBLE that weather could wreak havoc still and cause disruption with a long period of time where play isn't possible, however a few of these could drastically reduce the logistics of this happening, whilst preserving the integrity of the "achievement," of winning a Major title.

Begin on Saturday
Court Covers
Minimum day off between end of 1/4's and start of consecutive days 1/2 and final

As an additional thought, I am not sure which estimates for a roof over Ashe stadium are closest to the reality - but I cannot help but think of the dichotomy of this, whilst we have thousands (tens of, hundreds of ??) of people dying in the Horn of Africa, for want of a cup of clean water and something to eat.

As much as I adore my tennis, it does give pause for thought when you think of what say, the Top 10 players his year will earn (and this for all professional sports, it's not just tennis; not is it just about what's happening in the Horn of Africa, but worldwide).

It's Thursday, if play continues today and all matches ae finished, that are scheduled, I'd like to see the USTA/US Open simply state that the 1/4s will all Friday, 1/2's Sunday, and final on Monday. Give a day's break after the catch up, and before the last two matches.

Aparrently there is no rain at the moment. Why are they not on court???? Take advantage. An hour won't hurt surely?

Tenez,

There is no such a thing as a guarantee win.
Djoko's loss at the French Open should have
taught you something.

Faust wrote:Tenez,

There is no such a thing as a guarantee win.
Djoko's loss at the French Open should have
taught you something.

Ehh? I had guaranteed Federer's win that day!

US Open redemption? Easy peasy! Just put Nadal and Federer in the final. No worries about rain delays, fitting in matches or players unable to play well because they are tired. Pay off the other players or give them a few ranking points whatever.. This way the majority will be happy!

I concide there may be some justification for "putting" Nadal and Djokovic in the final so I suppose to make it really fair it should be put to the vote but that would be too complex and take too much time...

Tenez wrote:

Faust wrote:Tenez,

There is no such a thing as a guarantee win.
Djoko's loss at the French Open should have
taught you something.

Ehh? I had guaranteed Federer's win that day!

Good for you!
Keep the streak going!

The sun is out in Queens!

I prefer the scheduling at SW19 where they play the later men's and women's matches on the same days so you tend to avoid issues of players being one round ahead/behind due to weather issues as the tournament gets to the business end. The scheduling committee at USO seem to be devoid of any commonsense.

lydian wrote:I prefer the scheduling at SW19 where they play the later men's and women's matches on the same days so you tend to avoid issues of players being one round ahead/behind due to weather issues as the tournament gets to the business end. The scheduling committee at USO seem to be devoid of any commonsense.

That's what we all think - they can't help the weather this year, but the schedule leaves no room for error, and not having court covers is just pitiful.