Rafa really said that ? lol

No, Delpo, Rafa cannot choose not to play on hardcourt because 66% of the mandatory tournaments are on hardcourts and 50% of slams are on hard courts.

Delpo might feel differently in a few more years. Hope I'm wrong.

It is better Rafael quits and take is female fandom with him. I dont see other senior players like Ferrer or Federer going on extended breaks because of injury.

^^^ are you serious? Ferrer went for a long injury break about one and a half years ago! Not to mention Blake, Hewitt, Nalby, Haas, Ferrero and Roddick. Of course there's Gonzo who ended up having to retire after his hip surgery as he no longer could play competitive tennis. Please check your facts first before posting.

nirv02, 2/15/13 10:00 PM,

You know what? Why don't you take your sexist, chauvinistic attitude towards Rafa's "female fandom" and take a hike!

Your facts are wrong and your attitude is abominable! You may want to see Rafa leave the game and be disrespecful about his efforts to come back from another knee injury, but you certainly do not speak for millions of fans who are hoping to see Rafa back to his best and playing brilliant tennis again.

^^^ Exactly. There are millions of fans who are waiting for Rafa's return and return to his best level. Who's nirv02 to tell Rafa's fans what to do??? Who does nirv02 think he is???

Nadal is finished. He's losing to berlocq.......

us open should consider clay surface reinstatement seriously.

vamos.

^^^^

Right! LOL!

that Nadal and Nadal fan. lol

I'm with Conspirator. Juan Martín is younger than Rafa and I'm thinking he's going to feel differently about it in a few years ? especially since we already know he's injury-prone. Plus, he's really improving on grass but he's nowhere near either Rafa or the other great historical Argentinians on clay ? and I've wondered previously and more than once if the latter in particular sticks with him. Maybe more than I thought.

How's that crow tasting, willmw101 ??

there are more than enough clay events.

granted there are way too many hard-court tournaments, but there needs to more GRASS instead of some of the hards, not more clay.

and, selfish two-year-ranking again?


foolish.

It had separated from Del potoro from tour almost as long as two years. Since he performed an operation on the injury of a wrist


A hard court is a mainstream time now. Most present young players like a hard court. It speeds up a little.

mara002, 2/16/13 6:15 AM,

I think you have a point. It's true that Delpo is still very young. His game is ideally suited for hard courts, so naturally he would want to play on them. But as you said, he is injury prone. He has improved quite a bit on grass. I don't think his game is ideally suited for clay. That may have something to do with the fact that he hasn't had great results.

I would really like to see more grass court tournaments. It goes by so fast that it seems like it's over before it has begun. Since I grew up watching tennis played on clay and grass, I do feel the lack of grass tournaments today.

Agree with Ricky but grass is too expensive to maintain, so I guess that's not going to happen soon. Of course they could start by making Queens a 500 and mandatory, and moving Halle and doing the same there.

Agree with Ricky. Grass court tournaments should be increased. Grass tennis is really interesting.

Whatever. I just don't see 30-35% of tournaments switching to grass. There should be no more than 30% hard courts.

I'd like to see the NBA professionals play on asphalt courts for a few years. Never happen.

#ShortSighted

Poor article title. You can't dispute someone's disdain. It is theirs. You can dispute his position but not his disdain.

#Lindt-all

Well, I guess you COULD dispute another's disdain but you'd basically be arguing that they're faking and don't really feel any disdain but that's not what Delpo is saying.

Let's see the NBA played on concrete. Why should the NBA deprive the fans of watching some real fine concrete hoops!!! Yeeee haaaawwww!!! And when I say shoot some hoops, I means shoot'em up!!!

#GOP
#HoneyBooBoo

exactly, the title makes no sense

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there are way too many clay and hard court events... I understand grass is difficult and costly to maintain, but it's an interesting surface... That there are only a few grass court tournaments is a real shame.

In this conversation, are indoor courts being counted as hard court? I thought indoor courts varied as to surface. What happened to carpet? Is it correct to speak of surfaces such as the AO as cement or concrete--I thought it was made of some spongy material. Judging by the infamous bubble at last year?s USO, that surface cannot be cement or concrete.

clay is the only real surface ... everything else is just .. meh ..

hard courts are the easiest to maintain so... the element of cost is going to prevent us from seeing more grass court events..

26% clay of slams, 1000, 500 series is certainly NOT too much clay. Give me a break. On what basis????

However, 68% hc most certainly is.

#RafaIsRight

Agree with Ricky, a grass court masters series is needed. I do think that Del Potro has got a point though, obviously there are some mandatory hard court events, but theres optional ones, Nadal doesn't have to play them all!

Rafa didn't play them all!! He skips Paris Masters when he's allowed to skip one Masters. He plays Doha because its a warm up event for AO; he plays Tokyo or Beijing because he has to play one 500 event after the USO and there're only hard court 500 events available after the USO. It's a stupid rule IMO, why not allow the players to choose whichever 500 events they want to play instead of forcing them to play at least one after the USO. Of course Rafa can choose to skip that one and get a zero pointer, I hope he does that.

Out of interest, may I know what's the penalty for not meeting the requirements for the Masters events? If Rafa chooses to play only two HC Masters and skip four others next year ( where he should be allowed to skip only two come next year), what's the penalty he'll face?

rbennett is delusional. Rafa is not talking about optional events. He is talking about the mandatory events.

luckystar
link
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Rankings-FAQ.asp x

Extract:

Q. What if a player is injured and can't play in a Grand Slam or ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament?
A. If eligible to play in one of the Grand Slam or ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, a player must count the points from these tournaments, even if it is 'a zero pointer' because he missed the event. Just as in Formula One and numerous other sports, if a competitor misses a race or an event, he loses his chance to earn points. Players with direct acceptance who do not play an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament will be suspended from a subsequent ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, which will be the next highest points earned ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event within the next 12 months. If an injured player is on site within the first three days of a tournament to conduct promotional activities over a two-day period, a suspension will not be enforced but a 0-pointer will be counted on a player's ranking.

Top
Q. What are the requirements and rules for player participation for an ATP World Tour 500 tournament?
A. Top 30 players (based on 2012 year-end Emirates ATP Rankings) must play a minimum of four 500 level tournaments during the calendar year, including at least one event following the US Open (Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event will count towards the minimum of four and all penalties apply):
-- A 0-pointer for each event less than four played.
-- A 0-pointer for withdrawing from any 500 tournament after the acceptance list is out.
-- A 0-pointer for not playing at least one event after the US Open.
-- A 0-pointer can be appealed by a player to the same tribunal formed to hear 1000 suspension appeals.
-- No suspensions or fines (including no withdrawal and late withdrawal fines).

So for example, lets say Rafa wins all three clay Masters, plays Canada and Cincy but skips IW/Miami and Shanghai/Paris, so how do they calculate his ranking points? Also, which Masters he'll be penalized next year, ie not allowed to play in? How do they determine 'next highest point event'??

Ok, let's say Rafa plays and wins IW so he gets 1000 pts. In addition, he also wins the three clay Masters. He plays one more hard court Masters and skips the rest, ie four of them. How would he be penalized? Oh, assuming he's allowed to skip two Masters in a year.

Luckystar- I didn't say he did I'm saying if he doesnt like the amouny of mandatory events, play less or no optional ones. We've discussed Nadals calendar before, and if he wants to be taken seriously, he needs to cut out the exho and reduce the optional tournaments, not ideal but it would help!
Holdserve - Try saying something nice, if you can't manage that, then shhh. Cheers.

Exho?? Exhos are fun matches, not serious hitting like in competitions, so I don't think they're bad! Why do people think that he should cut down on exhos? In fact he should cut down on actual tour events on hard courts and plays more exhos, more income less stress on the body!

rbennet, Rafa is playing only the ones he has to. The optional tournaments are optional in the sense he can choose which 500 he wants to play after US Open. As all of them are hard court after USO the option is among tournaments and not surfaces as all of them are hard court.
If like chris18, you think you can manage Rafa's schedule, please identify a grass or clay court 500 he can play this year after USO ( he has to play one 500 after USO).

Agree with luckystar about exhos being fun events, more income, less stress.
I saw an exho yesterday at SAP Open: Steffi-Roddick vs Davenport-Gimelstob. They were not exerting themselves at all. Rafa should focus on exhos more to build his assets and preserve his body.

Slams and mandatory ATP 1000 events are unfairly hard court DOMINATED.

2 of 4 slams are hc (used to be ZERO hc slams), 6 of 8 mandatory 1000 series are hc and 8 of 11 500 series.

THAT and all the resultant injuries they cause is the issue here.

(Rafa, Tsonga, Isner, Monfils, Cilic, Brian Baker, James Blake, Tommy Haas, Mathieu, Lleyton Hewitt, Andrea Petkovic to name a few who've all suffered serious knee issues).

Not exhos.

rbennett, I know you are one of the nice Fed fans so I don't want you to think I was not being nice. Actually I was just stating a fact. I had once posted proof that all Fed fans are delusional.
I am giving the proof again for your benefit so you won't accuse me of not being nice
Hypothesis: All Fed fans are delusional
Fed fans believe in the proposition: Fed is the greatest
Fact: Fed is not the greatest as he is beaten more often than not by Rafa.
In order to continue believing in the above proposition, Fed fans are forced to deny facts and reality and retreat into world of delusions.
Therefore all Fed fans are delusional.....QED

Holdserve - I don't think Fed is the greatest. I think he is one of the greatest but so is Nadal and Sampras and Rod Laver and Borg, and Mcenroe and probably Djokovic if he carries on like he is. In fact the only thing I'm sure about is that Nadal is the greatest Clay court player ever!
Calling a set of fans of any one player 'delusional' is just silly, and you know this.
I had a look at how Nadal can cut down his hard court time and there is little he can do. I looked at his 2011 schedule as it was his last full year, and noted he was in 23 tournaments instead of the minimum of 19. The only areas he could cut down on hard court time would be Abu Dhiabi, and possibly Qatar, although I couldn't figure out whether he has to play that or not after looking at the rules, maybe you can help me with that one?
In terms of the wider debate I would personally actually like to see more grass, and a bigger variety of speeds in terms of hard court playing surfaces.
Luckystar - He doesn't need to worry about more income, I'm sure he's fine in that regard;). Exhos are not as taxing as normal matches of course, but you still have to travel there, which is tiring and takes time, and the risk of getting injured still exists, and some players don't take exho's seriously at all, but Nadal seems to be more intense in them then most players, so they probably aren't much less gruelling for him.
The thing is Nadal has been complaining about the schedule for a long time, whether he is right or not I don't know, but unfortunately nobody will listen to him unless he makes changes to his calendar. If he is complaining about the schedule, whilst playing numerous Davis cup ties (which his team could probably win without him), playing more tournaments then he has to, and then playing exhos on top. The ATP could legitimately turn around and say 'well it can't be that bad if on top of what we say you have to play, you're also playing all that'. You might not like this, and Nadal might not, but if he carries on as he is nobody will take him seriously, unfortunate, but true.

^^^ Please check the ATP website individual players' page and see how many tournaments Rafa played in 2010 and 2011. I can tell you, it's 17 tournaments each year. He didn't overplay these past three years,

What's wrong with travelling for exhos when he also has to do all the travelling if he plays his tournaments? There're so many people who's jobs require them to travel day in day out, Rafa won't be the only one. And when did he play numerous DC?? He only played when the country needs him. Again please check the number of matches he played these past two/three years; he had reduced the number of tournaments and hence the number of matches he played.

This is about excessive hardcourts,

Not about Rafa. Not about exhos.

#RafaIsRight

I did check! I counted 23, but to be fair it was wikipedia...
And I was just suggesting how he could cut his calendar down is a.
Im on my phone and about to play tennis (yay) so will reply properly later :).

Matt Cronin ?@TennisReporters
Nadal: 'Let's see how knee responds in Acapulco, we'll discuss 3 tourneys [I played] then we'll see if ready 2 play Indian Wells or not'

#GoodPlan

rbennett, you must be adding exhos. For instance Abu Dhabi is an exho. For your information, there are 18 mandatory events +WTF for the top 8. So top players' record will always show at least 19 tournaments, even though they may not have played some and got a zero pointer. And may have participated in some 500 or 250 events more as an exho i.e. they would not have tried hard and lost in the early rounds.
Rafa usually plays only 4 slams + 3 clay Masters + Barcelona +WTF+IW+Miami+Canada+Cincy +Doha+Queens/Halle, the last 4 more as warm -ups. He may make appearances at other tournaments to conform to the mandatory rule but he just goes through the motions. Then whenever he can, he plays Davis Cup matches.
ATP although formed for the players now thinks only of money and has become shortsighted.
I think this happened when Forstmann took over IMG and through IMG started controlling ATP. He literally placed his bets on Fed and ever since then ATP has been treating Fed as the sun round which their world revolves, rigging draws, schedules, court allocations etc to give him maximum exposure. They have stopped thinking of players and are solely concerned with what Fed wants.
Rafa is actually voicing the concerns of players but the media likes to make out he is voicing his own concerns. Last year at AO, when Rafa called Fed out for his inaction, the entire media claimed that Rafa was just pushing his personal agenda. When ATP chief admitted there were players' concerns, the media did not bother to research this by interviewing players and key persons. Instead they preferred to bury their heads as it would not suit Federer.
But every now and then some players makes statements in interviews from which it is clear the concerns about injuries are not just Rafa's concerns.
ATP should reduce number of mandatory tournaments for top 30 to 4 slams+any 4 Masters + any two 500s +any two 250 events. The lower ranked players can continue to play the number of tournaments they currently do as they do not go deep in every tournament (and if they do, they would rise in rankings).
Fed is deliberately misleading the public by claiming that reducing number of mandatory tournaments would harm the lower ranked players. On the contrary it would benefit them as they would get more chances to win.

Incidentally, even now the number of mandatory events is different for top 30 and other players.

rbennett, why not check the ATP website for more accurate data?? Why accuse Rafa of overplaying when he didn't?

FYB, in 2010 Rafa played: Doha, AO, IW,Miami, MC, Madrid, Rome, FO, Queens, Wimbledon, Canada, Cincy, USO, Bangkok, Tokyo, Shanghai, WTF, total 17 tournaments. In 2011 played Doha, AO, iW, Miami, MC, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, FO, Queens, Wimbledon, Canada, Cincy, USO, Tokyo, Shanghai, WTF, total 17 tournaments, plus five DC matches.

How much can he cut down? He can only skip one Masters without penalty, and may skip one 500 hard court event after the USO and get a zero pointer.. He'll play Doha because its the warm up event for AO, I don't see how he can cut down the tournaments played without getting any penalty.

holdserve brought up a good point : if they reduce the mandatory events for the top 30 guys, that means the lower ranked guys have more chances of winning the other events and thus have chances of moving up the rankings. If the mandatory Masters events are cut down from eight to six or even four, that means, the top guys won't be playing all eight of them and so the lower ranked players will have their chances of going further in the Masters. Also Rafa was suggesting having the 250 events played all year round so that the lower ranked players can choose to play them when they need to.

The ATP and the tournament directors are more interested in making the most profits out of the many tournaments they have and the top guys are the top draw for the tournaments, hence ATP won't want to reduce the number of mandatory events, preferring to squeeze every oz of juices out of each top guys until they're being squeezed dry!!

To clarify, the top 30 are known as commitment players and the events are mandatory for them. For the other players, they have to play slam or Masters if they are eligible.
Federer deliberately misled the public by claiming that reducing number of mandatory events would adversely impact the lower ranked players. The delusional Fed fans think therefore that reducing mandatory events means cutting down on the number of tournaments in which lower ranked players play.
As lucky pointed out, the promoters of the events want the top 30 to mandatorily attend their events in order to increase ticket sales.
But as I pointed out elsewhere if we make 4 out of 9 Masters , the top players will distribute themselves to increase their chances so the promoters will have at least 1 and most probably 2 top players at every Masters event.
But Fed doesn't want to reduce number of mandatory Masters as 6 out of 9 being on hard courts means he has an advantage over Rafa. If number of Masters were reduced to 4, Rafa would play 3 clay and IW. Rafa would have broken year end no. 1 rankings record by now.
ATP will think about players only when Fed loses his clout. I am not sure he will do that even after he retires as he is hugely rich and could buy control over ATP just as Forstmann did by buying IMG which controlled ATP Board.

Also for the benefit of Fed fans who base themselves on delusions, not facts, there are more than fifty 250 and 500 events on the ATP calendar in addition to 4 slams and 9 Masters. There are also Challengers and Futures. So lower ranked players, for whom Fed falsely claims his heart bleeds, will still have plenty of tournaments to play in even if top players were required to play less mandatory Masters, say 4 out of 9 against current 8.

in respect of this remark
..But as I pointed out elsewhere if we make 4 out of 9 Masters , the top players will distribute themselves to increase their chances so the promoters will have at least 1 and most probably 2 top players at every Masters event. ..
I am referring to top 4 players.
There would be likely 15 of top 30 in every Masters assuming they want to maximize ranking points.

Conspirator, 2/18/13 3:28 PM,

So this means that Rafa has not definitely decided to play at I/W and Miami? I thought that was a done deal. This is the first I heard of this. It appears after Acapalco, he and his team will see how the knee is.

I guess Rafa wants to be cautious about playing these two hard court tournaments.

Roger Federer latest is among the most unexpected, especially for a man raised in a country known for its benign neutrality: backroom power broker.


But after leading the ATP Tour Player Council as president the last three years, Federer has become a savvy student of the laws of political governance.


Much of Roger Federer's behind-the-scenes work this year has focused on persuading the four majors to share a larger piece of the revenue pie with players.
He has also lobbied that a larger percentage of prize money go to earlier rounds to rectify a growing income distribution gap.


That work has increasingly fallen on his shoulders, as Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, once Player Council members, left their leadership positions.



Take his pre-tournament schedule last month at the Masters event.

Under added security because of death threats, Roger Federer arrived on a Friday and discussed strategy with ATP player and board representatives till about 1 a.m.

He practiced the next morning, spent about 7 hours in meetings with various representatives of the Grand Slams and still attended the player party Saturday night.

On Sunday evening, he hosted three hours of meetings in his hotel room with the Player Council, ATP executive staff, and U.S. Open executives -- all before he struck a match ball.


"Roger has so many demands on his schedule and the fact that he is investing so much time into the player council and these negotiations shows his character and how much he cares for the future of the sport,"
doubles specialist and council member Eric Butorac of the USA wrote in a recent email. "I believe it is very unprecedented to have a top player so involved."


It's not just Roger Federer's time than matters. It's his clout.


Reserved by nature, Federer has come a long way in understanding the needs and concerns of everyone from players ranked well outside the top 50 to doubles specialists.

Roger Federer did not slip into the role of leader without some angst.


It is, like his precise shotmaking and fluid movements, a delicate balancing act. Demands can stretch on and on. The mind can become weary. Focus can waver.


Despite threats of a boycott and other hard-line tactics -- for tennis -- Roger Federer and his fellow players and ATP executives have shepherded successes.


The French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open each contributed a larger percentage of prize money to earlier rounds this season.

The Australian Open will do the same in January, and in a pre-emptive strike already announced the biggest year-over-year prize money increase in its history.


More important, Roger Federer said, is the "productive" dialogue taking place.


"I'm happy that we've gotten to the table with the Slams and been able to explain our case," he said.

At 31, Roger Federer is brushing up against the usual threshold when age undermines skill, which means every minute and every decision he makes counts.


In that regard, time management might just be the Swiss' biggest asset. He seems to have found a formula that works.

ttp://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=212659

"Players don't miss Nadal." says Davydenko.


Question: Is Nadal?s injury the result of a long, tennis season every year? Is it a case of too much of tennis?


Answer: No, no, no. Everybody gets injured. Everybody has time off after injury. It depends what kind of injury you have. It?s not a players? problem. It is a problem from the physio(s). You should have private physios check (on) you and do the best to help you hold the level you play at on the Tour. No matter how many tournaments you play, how many matches you play.


Question: Do you think the men?s Tour is going to miss Nadal?


Answer: Me? No! I don?t think so much about that (Nadal?s). For sure he will come back for the clay court season. And then he will try to win everything he can. Nadal is Nadal. The fans may miss him but not the players (smiles).

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/tennis/219962-fit-again-davydenko-eyes- injury-free-run.html





"Djokovic is lucky, give me two years without injury and...": Nadal

http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=227618


Nadal after Vina: ''I must learn to accept this condition and live with the pain''

http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=229161

There are enough much hard court and clay. Grass is increased maybe.

And surface of carpet? Why did that disappear?

Probably, it is help for the great player of serve.

hard court tournaments two times clay. selfish arrogant ATP

tennisnba need math course

surface of carpet no longer popular. went out in 70s. no more shag. all hardwood and ceramic tile now. where you been?

random unintelligible phrase here burp