TW Staff
Administrator
The top ATP players have spoken and the verdict is, the Round Robin format introduced at the start of the 2007 season is not being well received.
World number one, Roger Federer, is a traditional guy, and that's the way he likes his tennis. As far as the Round Robin format is concerned, he stated today that he's been against it from the beginning.
Discussing the confusion in which James Blake found himself eliminated from the Las Vegas Tennis Channel Open - after his opponent retired injured and Blake was not able to complete the match to advance from group play - Federer said, "Well, I was against it from the start. I knew that that was going to happen, you know, that somebody pulling out and something."
Federer also discussed the potential can of worms that could be opened if a player withdrew to help a buddy advance from group play, "I think it's never going to happen, but maybe one player helps another player to get maybe the top guy out, who then eventually could win the whole tournament."
Andy Roddick also expressed similar concerns in his opening press conference at the Pacific Life Open.
"It just leaves too much to the players," said Roddick. "There's too much left, you know, to the players, whether it's a friend dodging a game to let another one through or whatever it is - I just think there's too many holes in it."
James Blake, who was at the heart of the confusion at the Tennis Channel Open said, "My personal opinion, there shouldn't be anymore. Leave it for the Master's Cup and that's it."
The Round Robin format was one of a series of "tour enhancements" planned for the 2007 season by the ATP. Announced at the 2006 US Open, the Round Robin format was touted as allowing greater access for fans to catch the top players in action. With all players placed in a group of three, each player would be guaranteed two matches in the initial Round Robin stage. The problem arising with Blake was that after losing his first match to Evgeny Korolev, he needed to win his second match for a chance to progress from group play. However, when his opponent retired injured, Blake was unable to complete his match. As part of the ATP rules for Round Robin play, only completed matches count. Blake was left unable to advance on a games one/lost tiebreaker as he only had one completed match.
Korolev was then awarded advancement to the elimination stage due to the ruling and his success during group play. The decision was then later reversed when Blake's camp questioned the ruling and Blake was awarded advancement. However, the ATP correctly stuck by their ruling, later reversing their decision and awarding Korolev advancement.
Needless to say, the whole event created ample confusion and several of the top players have since come out and expressed their concerns with the new format.
The next event on the ATP calendar to feature the Round Robin format will be the Estoril Open, in Estoril, Portugal on April 30th. It has yet to be announced whether this event will go ahead with the Round Robin format or if, due to player concerns, the ATP will cut short its Round Robin trial.
As far as Blake is concerned, "Hopefully the best thing that might come of it is that Round Robins might be going by the wayside," said Blake. "Which would be, in my opinion, a good thing. So maybe it all worked out in the end."
Chris, TW
World number one, Roger Federer, is a traditional guy, and that's the way he likes his tennis. As far as the Round Robin format is concerned, he stated today that he's been against it from the beginning.
Discussing the confusion in which James Blake found himself eliminated from the Las Vegas Tennis Channel Open - after his opponent retired injured and Blake was not able to complete the match to advance from group play - Federer said, "Well, I was against it from the start. I knew that that was going to happen, you know, that somebody pulling out and something."
Federer also discussed the potential can of worms that could be opened if a player withdrew to help a buddy advance from group play, "I think it's never going to happen, but maybe one player helps another player to get maybe the top guy out, who then eventually could win the whole tournament."
Andy Roddick also expressed similar concerns in his opening press conference at the Pacific Life Open.
"It just leaves too much to the players," said Roddick. "There's too much left, you know, to the players, whether it's a friend dodging a game to let another one through or whatever it is - I just think there's too many holes in it."
James Blake, who was at the heart of the confusion at the Tennis Channel Open said, "My personal opinion, there shouldn't be anymore. Leave it for the Master's Cup and that's it."
The Round Robin format was one of a series of "tour enhancements" planned for the 2007 season by the ATP. Announced at the 2006 US Open, the Round Robin format was touted as allowing greater access for fans to catch the top players in action. With all players placed in a group of three, each player would be guaranteed two matches in the initial Round Robin stage. The problem arising with Blake was that after losing his first match to Evgeny Korolev, he needed to win his second match for a chance to progress from group play. However, when his opponent retired injured, Blake was unable to complete his match. As part of the ATP rules for Round Robin play, only completed matches count. Blake was left unable to advance on a games one/lost tiebreaker as he only had one completed match.
Korolev was then awarded advancement to the elimination stage due to the ruling and his success during group play. The decision was then later reversed when Blake's camp questioned the ruling and Blake was awarded advancement. However, the ATP correctly stuck by their ruling, later reversing their decision and awarding Korolev advancement.
Needless to say, the whole event created ample confusion and several of the top players have since come out and expressed their concerns with the new format.
The next event on the ATP calendar to feature the Round Robin format will be the Estoril Open, in Estoril, Portugal on April 30th. It has yet to be announced whether this event will go ahead with the Round Robin format or if, due to player concerns, the ATP will cut short its Round Robin trial.
As far as Blake is concerned, "Hopefully the best thing that might come of it is that Round Robins might be going by the wayside," said Blake. "Which would be, in my opinion, a good thing. So maybe it all worked out in the end."
Chris, TW
Last edited:
