WTA Statement on Roland Garros Scheduling
- Thread starter NastyWinners
- Start date
NastyWinners
Hall of Fame
To boot, the Friday ticket-holders had originally paid for the mens semi-finals.
DreddyTennis45
Hall of Fame
Nobody cares about WTA players anymore- this is not some spiteful comment this is just a fact. People would much rather see the top 4 men's seeds play rather than some unknown WTA players.
Ann
Hall of Fame
Thank you for posting this but I knew the crap posts you'd receive here in response to it the minute I saw it.
Deon Sanders
Legend
There is zero comparison to be made between the value of the respective semifinals
The gap is so wide it cant be accurately explained in current scientific terms
Forgetting that the mens semifinals was the original ticket of the day
The gap is so wide it cant be accurately explained in current scientific terms
Forgetting that the mens semifinals was the original ticket of the day
hipolymer
Hall of Fame
That may be all and well and good and all but have you considered the fact that you're a sexist?
check urprivilege
Bukowski
Professional
Wow.
Sometimes i get so used to the PC disingenuous PR statements from the players (regarding opinions on WTA/ATP) that i forget there are deep disagreements over fundamental concepts that prop up the tours from a spectator view.
I personally change the channel when WTA matches are being shown, so i really wish arguments on things like this were more front and center for the sport..
Sometimes i get so used to the PC disingenuous PR statements from the players (regarding opinions on WTA/ATP) that i forget there are deep disagreements over fundamental concepts that prop up the tours from a spectator view.
I personally change the channel when WTA matches are being shown, so i really wish arguments on things like this were more front and center for the sport..
CosmosMpower
Hall of Fame
Well he might be or he might not be but he's not wrong.
lidoazndiabloboi
Hall of Fame
ATP - Top 4 seeds in SF
WTA - 1 Top 10, 1 Top 30 and 2 unseeded
Come on now..
WTA - 1 Top 10, 1 Top 30 and 2 unseeded
Come on now..
ChaelAZ
G.O.A.T.
Agree here. They could have staggered play on main courts or something more amicable.
Deon Sanders
Legend
Imagine paying 6 months ago for the second semifinal mens match and they put on Konta vs. Vondrousova instead
We are talking potentially hours of difference in entertainment value not to mention quality
jm1980
Talk Tennis Guru
0 combined Slam finals among the final 4 women
If Serena and Sharapova were in the semis with a couple of randoms on the men's side, the scheduling would be different
Parabolica
Semi-Pro
I would absolutely be livid if I paid top dollar to see a Men's SF and instead had to sit through that women's match.
NastyWinners
Hall of Fame
I honestly don't believe so due to the Friday session ticket-holders being for the mens semi-finals.
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Honestly, Lenglen is a great court, not one player would have a problem with being put out there. I guess the ticket holders get screwed. However, it would actually be more fair to have the men play second at the same time on different courts.
Can you imagine the backlash if Rafa wins in straights and Djoker/Thiem get rained out a set in?
Can you imagine the backlash if Rafa wins in straights and Djoker/Thiem get rained out a set in?
Deon Sanders
Legend
Weather is one thing. This year it pinched the women.
But controlling where players go is entirely within their control
The course of action that pisses off the most customers would be moving the mens matches from their predetermined locations.
Lleytonstation
Talk Tennis Guru
Why in the world they did not do this is beyond me. They are setting themselves up for total disaster if rain comes.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Back in the days when the men's tour was more equal than the women's, common discourse was that strength in depth was a good thing. Now that the women are more equal, it's all about how important it is to have dominant players. This is basically motivated reasoning.
jm1980
Talk Tennis Guru
If you are going to move the women off Chatrier, then why not at least start the first men's semi at 11:00?
There is nearly zero chance the second semi will even start tomorrow with the schedule as it is.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
If they had that, then what they should do tomorrow is play all four semis on Chatrier starting at 11 and finishing whenever. [Note: even with a roof, they could be in this situation if there had been much heavy rain early in the week, because a roof or two can't avoid backlogs except in the final stages when all matches are scheduled on the main court].
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
As the BBC's tennis reporter pointed out, if the women's matches are always moved off the main courts, it's harder for them to build a following.
I do want to add, though, that the US Open has for several years routinely scheduled three women's matches per day on the main court, and only two men's matches. That is also problematic.
I do want to add, though, that the US Open has for several years routinely scheduled three women's matches per day on the main court, and only two men's matches. That is also problematic.
Simon's public statement would have been more compelling had he suggested this schedule as a sensible alternative. Drive home the point that the problem is not that the men have been placed on PC instead of the women, but that no one is on PC during the women's matches. Why does any semifinal have to be played on Court 1?
Winners or Errors
Legend
I don't disagree with the French Open, but seriously, how could the CEO of the WTA say anything but what he said? It's a non-story. The big ticket is the men. The women don't have the market to command PC. Tennis is a sport of sponsors, after all, and they come up with all the money. I'm sure they had a say. Of course the WTA is ticked off, though.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
There's a shortage of quality matches in late rounds... for either tour to be fair, but the men's winners are better at least. Parity isn't quite delivering quality to the WTA like in 2000s. I'm always happy to see an epic match whoever plays, think Halep-Kerber last AO or Sevastova-Mertens this RG, that was the sсhit. At the same time, Tsurenko-Krunic had a similarly epic scoreline but was in fact a terrible errorfest - quality matters.
Gary Duane
G.O.A.T.
BINGO!
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
I mean, their justification would no doubt be that, with rain due most of the day, if they don't start the men's semis as soon as they can, they risk them not finishing, and starting at a women's semi at 11 might mean it not being done by 1. But that rings hollow when they could just, you know, schedule the men's semi for 11, especially as the starting time tomorrow is in fact purely notional, given that there's likely to be no play possible until 2 or 3 or even possibly later.
Federer and Del Potro
Talk Tennis Guru
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
I want to note that what I said above doesn't mean that it's impossible to argue that the women's tour used to not be equal enough and is now too equal. I myself am partial to the view that there's a sweet spot in between where the men's tour has been for most of the last 15 years and where the women's tour has been for most of the part five years or so. All I was pointing out is that much of the discussion isn't really based on argument but just excuses for preferring men's tennis come what may.
To my mind, the women's tour is indeed not in the sweet spot right now, but certainly has hit it at various points, most notably between 1998 and 2003 but also at least close to it between 1990 and 1993 - one could argue that if it weren't for the long shadow cast by the Seles stabbing, women's tennis would have been in the sweet spot for most of the time from 1990 until 2004 or so.
Red Rick
Bionic Poster
Or Delpo retiring. All that hugging of line judges. Ain't got the ****ing time fo that
Federer and Del Potro
Talk Tennis Guru
Who will insult peoples mothers if Delpo retires?
I'd ask who will pretend to be tired/injured/dead but Stan can do that instead.
Ann
Hall of Fame
Ouch.
Poisoned Slice
Bionic Poster
lol
I'm sympathetic to this kind of thing and don't like the sexist dismissal of the women's game (even though I myself don't watch it nearly as much as I do the men), but in this case I don't know what alternative there is. Fed-Nadal is never gonna be on anything except the biggest stadium a tournament has. And the other men's semi is between a past champion/the current world number one and the only guy to make the semifinals here four years running. The women's lineup, in this particular instance, just doesn't compare. If Serena or Sharapova or defending champ Halep or number one Osaka were playing, that would be different. Both women's matches could end up being excellent, of course, but I see the worry that two clear blockbuster men's matches shouldn't be overshadowed by relatively unknown women.
If one of the men's semis was Anderson-Carreño Busta again, then yeah, put that on court 20 or something, but this is one instance where neither men's semi could really, in my opinion, justifiably be moved away from the main court, based on what the alternatives are.
If one of the men's semis was Anderson-Carreño Busta again, then yeah, put that on court 20 or something, but this is one instance where neither men's semi could really, in my opinion, justifiably be moved away from the main court, based on what the alternatives are.
ChaelAZ
G.O.A.T.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
1998-2003 seems the only period when the WTA tour was actually more exciting than the ATP, being the former's golden age in terms of competitiveness while the latter was entering an interregnum phase between Sampras and Federer.
The top of the women's game has just been far too inconsistent, with all of Halep, Muguruza, Kerber etc regularly suffering embarrassing losses with plainly awful tennis. Hoping Osaka proves to be true ATG material, off clay so far.
Gary Duane
G.O.A.T.
In my mind Evert/Navratilova was also a sweet spot. That's when I used to watch a LOT of women's tennis.
For me Lendl/Wilander was the men's low point!
Sephiroth
Hall of Fame
They should have put one WTA match on Chartrier, how they fooked up is starting the first semi at 12.50 (what an odd time to start, just round it up to 13.00 ffs) with NO matches on Chatrier happening before that. Even if the Fedal match started at 1.30 it wouldn't kill anyone.
MajesticMoose
Hall of Fame
Considering the top 4 men seeds made it to their semifinals.... The best the women could do is get the number 8 and 20 something seed with 2 other unseeded players in the semis. Pathetic WTA.
I would assume that's a time issue. They can reasonably plan to fit 3 women's BO3 and 2 men's BO5 in the schedule, but not the other way around without forcing the last match either into the wee hours or the next day.
