ITF president responds that players, including Rafa, voted for September DC in 2009

http://www.mail.com/int/sports/other/698108-itf-nadal-blame-davis-cup-busy-calendar.html


Clearly the wicked ITF did listen to the players. It might have been more prudent for players now to thank the ITF for conceding to players' demands in 2009 when the Federation was against tinkering with the calendar, while asking if DC schedule could be moved again because it hasn't worked out as the players hoped!!!

They need to turn DC into a world cup type event the top 16 every 2 or 4 years should converge on one city and duke it out, maybe in the first two rounds play 3 setters and then in the last two rounds play 5 setters. I think it would revive the event and provide a much bigger viewing audience and profile for the sport.

"Nadal has all the right to feel tired after playing 70 matches this year, but that's not the fault of the Davis Cup, which he has played only three times in the past two years," Ricci Bitti said at Cordoba's bullring."

Djokovic (2011 W/L 64-3) retired injured, Nadal (61-11) complained (Edit: MC on Clay is an optional MS 1000 )
but Federer (@30 yo and 49-12 and Stan) went and played in Australia to get SUI to the World Group, on the exact same schedule.

I wonder if Tenez sees this as another proof of his 'physicality' vs. 'efficiency' argument.

socal1976 wrote:They need to turn DC into a world cup type event the top 16 every 2 or 4 years should converge on one city and duke it out, maybe in the first two rounds play 3 setters and then in the last two rounds play 5 setters. I think it would revive the event and provide a much bigger viewing audience and profile for the sport.

How do you propose accommodating five matches per DC tie? Should it be cut down to three matches per tie?

laverfan wrote:"Nadal has all the right to feel tired after playing 70 matches this year, but that's not the fault of the Davis Cup, which he has played only three times in the past two years," Ricci Bitti said at Cordoba's bullring."

Djokovic (2011 W/L 64-3) retired injured, Nadal (61-11) complained (Edit: MC on Clay is an optional MS 1000 )
but Federer (@30 yo and 49-12 and Stan) went and played in Australia to get SUI to the World Group, on the exact same schedule.

I wonder if Tenez sees this as another proof of his 'physicality' vs. 'efficiency' argument.

Of course I would. The ITF response is actually pretty good:

...But ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said last week that complaints by Nadal over the Davis cup scheduling were "inconsistent", saying players voted for the current dates, against the ITF's wishes, back in 2009.

An ATP spokesperson highlighted recent tour changes such as increased prize money, byes for top eight players and best-of-three set finals.

And a statement from the organisation added: "The players should and do have a major say in how the game is run. We remain committed to working with the players and other governing bodies to continue to address their issues."

And as we saw again in that USO final. A match is enough to kill those physical players. They can consider themselves lucky that only Djoko has caught up with Nadal. Murray's trying hard but is not there yet. The day the 100players get as fit, the season will be made of one tournmament only!

In related news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/14977449.stm

Britain's Andy Murray 'serious' about tennis strike threat

By Jonathan Overend
BBC tennis correspondent Andy Murray World number four Murray says the players' demands are not unreasonable

Andy Murray says top players are "serious" about their call for changes to the tennis calendar - and that some form of strike cannot be ruled out.

Players are upset at overcrowding in the schedule and will meet in Shanghai next month to plot their next move.

Murray told BBC Sport: "It's a possibility. I know from speaking to some players they're not afraid of doing that [striking].

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that but I'm sure the players will consider it."

Asked whether the subject of a strike or boycott will be mentioned during the meeting in China, he continued: "Yes I think so.

"If we come up with a list of things we want changed - and everyone is in agreement but they don't happen - then we need to have some say in what goes on in our sport. At the moment we don't.

"We'll sit down, talk about it with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and International Tennis Federation (ITF), see if they will come to a compromise and, if not, we'll go from there.

"We just want things to change, really small things. Two or three weeks during the year, a few less tournaments each year, which I don't think is unreasonable."

Last year ATP chief executive Adam Helfant, who has since decided to leave the governing body, announced the Paris Masters and the World Tour Finals would be played back-to-back, so two weeks have been saved in the 2012 ATP calendar.

But Murray argued: "Right now it takes so long to change things.

As Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray push themselves to the final stages of pretty much every tournament they enter, with athleticism and sheer brutality rarely seen before, the strain on their bodies is increasing.
Jonathan Overend's blog

"To get another change implemented may take five or six years at the rate things are going and then all of us will be done [retired]. We want it to happen sooner rather than later."

At the US Open, Rafael Nadal reached the final after playing three singles matches in three days. He then had one day off before playing for four hours against Novak Djokovic.

Straight after that match he was on a plane to Spain and, four days later, playing a potential five-set match in the Davis Cup.

But ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said last week that complaints by Nadal over the Davis cup scheduling were "inconsistent", saying players voted for the current dates, against the ITF's wishes, back in 2009.

An ATP spokesperson highlighted recent tour changes such as increased prize money, byes for top eight players and best-of-three set finals.

And a statement from the organisation added: "The players should and do have a major say in how the game is run. We remain committed to working with the players and other governing bodies to continue to address their issues."

Too much huff and not enough puff I say!

The players are all bark and no bite. They need somebody with guts to speak out for them all. ...eerrrm, Nalby?

laverfan wrote:

socal1976 wrote:They need to turn DC into a world cup type event the top 16 every 2 or 4 years should converge on one city and duke it out, maybe in the first two rounds play 3 setters and then in the last two rounds play 5 setters. I think it would revive the event and provide a much bigger viewing audience and profile for the sport.

How do you propose accommodating five matches per DC tie? Should it be cut down to three matches per tie?

Laverfan, like the world cup every 2 or 4 years the top sixteen would play each round in a week. Maybe make rounds one and two best of three set events, and the semi and final best of 5. Right now they play Davis cup 5 matches over the course of single weekend, they could easily get it done even in 3 weeks if they shortened the first two rounds. I think it would add a carnival type atmosphere plus you could play qualification to see who gets into the top 16 and have the champion hold the crown for 4 years or maybe every two years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/14985897.stm

Michael Stich's take on players' complaints. Wow, as predicted, the bullets have been successfully loaded by Rafa into Murray to fire!

I must say I don't understand why Murray felt he needed to play the dead rubber on Sunday - surely this was an ideal opportunity to give another player more exposure to international competition, without too much pressure, and for Murray to have seized the chance to rest and cheer from the sidelines!

Just modified post because of 'new message posted while you were writing your response' - probably a silly time to try and discuss anything relevant to the thread Yummy, I don't understand why you went for socal in the first place - you might disagree with his suggestions about revising the DC but one should be able to come onto a forum like this and discuss topical issues without having to fend off strange attacks. The above are completely unnecessary in imvho

Right, thread unlocked.
There are only so many warnings I can give. I don't like handing out bans, but if the abuse continues that will be my next course of action as my warnings keep being ignored.
Play nice! (and keep the thread on topic, this does not need to be talked about further)
YI

Thanks for the link TP,

I agree with Stich and Lloyd.

It's a little scandalous for Murray to suggest that the players may go on strike.

People go on strike because working conditions or pay is grossly unfair.

These guys are multimillionaires, they have no reason to complain along those lines.

I think Andy probably got ahead of himself with all this talk of a strike.

Timeplease, sorry I chose to dump all over your thread, and a damn good one at that.

Back to the original thread, I oppose any attempts to shorten the tennis season, as I am a tennis junkie. The guys need to do a better job of scheduling. The players are only required to enter 18 tournaments a year most of them enter 21. And it is unfair to the lower ranked players who have to duke it out for prize money and are barely stringing together a living. It seems like the top guys are the ones making the noise and they are the wons who call the shots anyway. If the tour is gruesome just enter 18 tournaments a year instead of 20 or 21, I like having tennis on for most all of the year. There are a lot of breaks in the schedule. Other than some minor changes and tinkering I wouldn't change much.

Unfortunately for the "lower ranked players" they don't always

qualify for the major tournaments so they are not being subjected

to the same back to back tourneys as the top players socal.

And also the *top* players are required to play 250 500 and

the GS tournaments - whereas a lower ranked player might

only be asked to qualify.



Can we pleeeze agree to differ on this

I think Nadal and Murray have got ahead of themselves a bit here. I sense frustration at what they perceive as inertia from the ITF on some issues, and this has led to an overly dramatic response. Perhaps they're hoping the added press will give them some leverage. A few adjustments to the calendar would improve things, but I think the main gripe is that the players feel they are being dictated to.

How is 2009 relevant to 2011? Silly ITF..

Hopefully the world's top 2 million tennis players will all go on strike simultaneously, leaving me to claim all the trophies next year (I have an ATP ranking of 2000001).

emancipator wrote:Thanks for the link TP,

I agree with Stich and Lloyd.

It's a little scandalous for Murray to suggest that the players may go on strike.

People go on strike because working conditions or pay is grossly unfair.

These guys are multimillionaires, they have no reason to complain along those lines.

I think Andy probably got ahead of himself with all this talk of a strike.

I think Andy has been slightly wound up by his hero! It seems quite bizarre that he should have actively chosen to play the dead rubber on Sunday and then complain about his schedule this week!

socal1976 wrote:Timeplease, sorry I chose to dump all over your thread, and a damn good one at that.

No probs socal - but it's really sweet of you to apologise. (sent you pm)

Yummy, no problem, sorry I blew I fuse on you. A very good post, you make some fair points. Maybe they should cut back on a couple of the mandatories for the top guys but definetly not cut back the schedule. Instead of 18 mandatories maybe they make it 16. They didn't always have this many mandatory events, I think the number 18 was agreed upon in 1990 if I remember correctly. But I definetly don't want to cut down on any tournaments.

The solutions are obvious;

restrict string and racquet technology to redress the balance between attack and defence. Rallies will be shortened and players not debilitated. Wonderful attacking players like Djokovic will get due reward for their attacking play.

I'm sure that Nadal, Djokovic and Murray will support that. Oh yes.