It's true, you eat what you kill and it's hard to stay on top...

[VGP]

Juan Martin del Potro drops 224 spots in the rankings this week.

I've heard it said that "you eat what you kill" and "it's hard to get to the top, but even harder to stay there" from several pros, mostly veterans that have lived with this reality.

I think this is what I like about the sport. I really feel for anyone that tries to make this their career. It's the tenuous existence that ATP and WTA level pros live that makes it extremely compelling.

Apart from off-court endorsements and marketability, it's hard for these men and women to stay visible and financially secure.

I admire the Federers and Nadals, Sampras and Agassis, Everts and Navratilovas, McEnroes, Lendls, and Borgs that dominate the sport in their times who's legacies are secure.

I also feel for the Rafters, Wilanders, and Safins that reach the pinnacle and struggle to stay there.

I honor the nearly-theres like the Changs, Krajiceks, Ivanisevics, Dementievas, T. Martins, and Corretjas. Great players forever cursed by pundits to hover below the greats in popular opinion and memory.

I lament the J. Johanssons, A. Stevenssons, Lucic's that flash and flame out.

I praise the journeymen and journeywomen out there that slog it out in the qualies and challenger events who also battle to exhaustion in the early rounds of slams that stay hungry. I hope they get their days in the sun.

I whisper the names of the numerous top juniors that never make it in the seniors.

I wish Juan Martin del Potro the best of luck as he tries to re-establish himself in 2011.

 

[forzamilan90]

hope this man can launch a comeback next season and get back to top 5

 

[jdubbs]

He will be back. He's a top 10 player and he hasn't forgotten how to play tennis, that's for sure.

Probably the best thing to do would be to play a couple of futures tourney's to get used to winning again. Get his confidence back, and then hit the tour full time.

 

[Talker]

Del Potro should have been good to go by August or so. I haven't heard much and it's hard to find anything on his reasons for not playing.

 

[doom]

His protected ranking would be much higher so he wont have any trouble getting into tournaments

 

[truth be told]

Let's hope this one-dimensional ballbasher will never return on top.

 

[Talker]

Let's hope this one-dimensional ballbasher will never return on top.

Don't forget he beat Nadal the last three times he played him and beat Fed the last 2 times they played.
Not many players can say they beat Fedal the last 5 times they played if it has ever happened.

 

[truth be told]

Don't forget he beat Nadal the last three times he played him and beat Fed the last 2 times they played.
Not many players can say they beat Fedal the last 5 times they played if it has ever happened.

I wouldn't be surprised if eventually it will find out he wasn't clear while beat em. HGH after all is yet not traceable under ITF anti-doping official rules. Well, all in all, encounters vs Rafito may still be counted as the contest of modern pharmaceutics.

 

[Talker]

I wouldn't be surprised if eventually it will find out he wasn't clear while beat em. HGH after all is yet not traceable under ITF anti-doping official rules. Well, all in all, encounters vs Rafito may still be counted as the contest of modern pharmaceutics.

Imagine if he can add to his one dimension.
He never reached his peak yet and was improving by the month.

 

[truth be told]

Imagine if he can add to his one dimension.
He never reached his peak yet and was improving by the month.

I really do not want imagine that. I mean, I do not want have a Nadal of hardcourts on tour.

I want tennis remain a sport not a challenge of pharmaceutists.

 

[jman]

Not having Del Potro challenging the top guys has made tennis boring this year. he is the contender after Federer and Nadal.

 

[Don't Let It Bounce]

Juan Martin del Potro drops 224 spots in the rankings this week.

I've heard it said that "you eat what you kill" and "it's hard to get to the top, but even harder to stay there" from several pros, mostly veterans that have lived with this reality.

I think this is what I like about the sport. I really feel for anyone that tries to make this their career. It's the tenuous existence that ATP and WTA level pros live that makes it extremely compelling.

Apart from off-court endorsements and marketability, it's hard for these men and women to stay visible and financially secure.

I admire the Federers and Nadals, Sampras and Agassis, Everts and Navratilovas, McEnroes, Lendls, and Borgs that dominate the sport in their times who's legacies are secure.

I also feel for the Rafters, Wilanders, and Safins that reach the pinnacle and struggle to stay there.

I honor the nearly-theres like the Changs, Krajiceks, Ivanisevics, Dementievas, T. Martins, and Corretjas. Great players forever cursed by pundits to hover below the greats in popular opinion and memory.

I lament the J. Johanssons, A. Stevenssons, Lucic's that flash and flame out.

I praise the journeymen and journeywomen out there that slog it out in the qualies and challenger events who also battle to exhaustion in the early rounds of slams that stay hungry. I hope they get their days in the sun.

I whisper the names of the numerous top juniors that never make it in the seniors.

I wish Juan Martin del Potro the best of luck as he tries to re-establish himself in 2011.

Nice post; positivity makes TT more pleasant.

 

[Tennis_Monk]

This is a double edged sword. I hope Top players dont have to face Juan Martin in early rounds and vice versa.

 

[kishnabe]

I wouldn't be surprised if eventually it will find out he wasn't clear while beat em. HGH after all is yet not traceable under ITF anti-doping official rules. Well, all in all, encounters vs Rafito may still be counted as the contest of modern pharmaceutics.

If you are serios, and if you are...then come on. Do you know the affects of HGH...they are so easily traceble in physical features. Del Potro would have been caught if he used it in a long term ratio!

 

[Sentinel]

Pardon me for being slow, but i still haven't figured out what the tread title means ???
"you eat what you kill" ???

 

[VGP]

Pardon me for being slow, but i still haven't figured out what the tread title means ???
"you eat what you kill" ???

Just saying in tennis (and many other sports) you earn what you win. No guarantees. No signing bonuses, no multi-year multi-million dollar contracts.

You don't play or you don't win, you don't get paid.

....although the article mentions JMDP is eligible for the "protected ranking" rule to gain entry to ATP tour events that his present ranking would normally exclude him from. Even though he was injured most of 2009, he can apply since he played recently before his ranking plummeted.

Still, it's no guarantee he'll win. Hopefully he'll quickly gain enough points to rise back up to the top.

Q. What is a protected ranking and who is eligible?

A. A player may petition the CEO for an Entry Protection when he is physically injured and does not compete in any tennis event for a minimum period of six months. The written petition must be received within six months of his last tournament.
The Entry Protection shall be a position in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, as determined by the player's average South African Airways ATP Rankings position during the first three months of his injury. The Entry Protection shall be for entry into the main draw or qualifying competition or for special exempt consideration. The Entry Protection shall not be used for seeding purposes, Lucky Loser consideration or for entry into the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

The Entry Protection shall be in effect for either the first nine tournaments that the player competes in using the Entry Protection (excluding wild cards and entries as a Direct Acceptance with his current position in the South African Airways ATP Rankings) or for the period up to nine months beginning with the first tennis event that the player competes in, whichever occurs first.

It's a double-edged sword. He'll be able to get into the events that offer more points, but he'll also face stiffer opposition from the get-go.

 

[Legend of Borg]

I can't help but wonder if there's something else bothering him besides the nagging wrist injury.

There were some articles in Argentinian tabloids of him suffering from depression and anxiety. I hope this is just the tabloids' effort to sell more papers and not the truth.

 

[dlk]

That' what cool about tennis, 'you eaarrn it.' Don't win and no money (well okay, most aren't gonna starve). But they don't ride on contracts for potential performance like team sports


By the way, am I on topic?