Should the WTF schedule be changed?

[tennisfan244]

I have a strong feeling that with an additional 24 hours of rest, Roger might have been at able to at least walk on court today (probably not win due to his physical condition and the way Novak has been playing). It seems to me that he did not have enough time to go through the necessary treatment to minimize his back pain and enable him to at least step on court (reports from the media are saying that he left around 1.30am).

There have also been reports that Wawrinka is also suffering from a slight quad injury and is physical exhausted from the match. Apparently he also refused the offer to play Djokovic in the finals if Roger was unable to play which is why they had to bring in Murray. Even if Wawrinka had won I am sure we would have had the same outcome with him either withdrawing or retiring in the middle of the match which wouldn't be great for the fans.

Do you think that to prevent this situation from occurring again the WTF schedule should be changed?

As Paris-Bercy ends on a Sunday, I propose that they start the tournament on a Friday. Players are here beforehand for the ATP Gala so I am sure they could start the tournament a little earlier.

My schedule would be:

Friday - Group 1 RR Day 1
Saturday - Group 2 RR Day 1
Sunday - Group 1 RR Day 2
Monday - Group 2 RR Day 2
Tuesday - Group 1 RR Day 3
Wednesday - Group 2 RR Day 3
Thursday - No play (Day of rest for players)
Friday - Semi-Finals
Saturday - No play (Day of rest for players and media build up for Final)
Sunday - Final

I think that this would be fair to all players and would also be better from the fans perspective. This would mean that there would be more tennis matches at the weekend and therefore more chances for fans that work or go to school, to watch the matches.

Thoughts?

 

[Bartelby]

I doubt whether the new schedule would help out with injuries suffered in tough matches, but it is a very sensible schedule.

 

[Mr.Snrub]

Why just the WTF...shouldn't you be more concerned with Masters since they play every day throughout the whole week. This year at the Rogers Cup Federer played at 8pm Saturday and then 3pm Sunday.

The excuse making going around here is off the charts. Two 3 set matches spaced 22 hours apart is now unreasonable, playing outside during the summer is unreasonable, etc...

The players (especially top players like Stan and Fed) have significant resources to help them recover after matches. This didn't happen due to unfair scheduling, Fed played every other day up until the SF.

 

[sdfedfans]

Why just the WTF...shouldn't you be more concerned with Masters since they play every day throughout the whole week.

This year at the Rogers Cup Federer played at 8pm Saturday and then 3pm Sunday.

The excuse making going around here is off the charts. Two 3 set matches spaced 22 hours apart is now unreasonable, playing outside during the summer is unreasonable, etc...

The players (especially top players like Stan and Fed) have significant resources to help them recover after matches. This didn't happen due to unfair scheduling, Fed played every other day up until the SF.

I think the OP has a point as the WTF is the 5th largest tennis tournament in the world and it is shame that a situation such as this has arisen. Roger won a physically exhausting match against Stan, finished meeting the media at 1am and was then expected to come out and play later on in the day. It would be best that both Semi-finalists had a day of rest before the final so that both are in the best physical condition to play and that we also get a high quality final.

Ideally the schedule for the Master 1000s should also be changed but there isn't enough time in the year to change all of them so changing the WTF is better than nothing.

The schedule in the OP seems like a good idea but I'm not sure whether this schedule would have meant that Roger would have played the final. He has the DC final starting on Friday and there are rumors that the injury may be serious enough to prevent him from participating (The swiss davis cup doctor has flown to London in order to treat Federer). I just don't think he would risk it.

 

[dh003i]

Why just the WTF...shouldn't you be more concerned with Masters since they play every day throughout the whole week. This year at the Rogers Cup Federer played at 8pm Saturday and then 3pm Sunday.

The excuse making going around here is off the charts. Two 3 set matches spaced 22 hours apart is now unreasonable, playing outside during the summer is unreasonable, etc...

The players (especially top players like Stan and Fed) have significant resources to help them recover after matches. This didn't happen due to unfair scheduling, Fed played every other day up until the SF.

No one is making excuses. Djokovic was ready to play, Federer couldn't. End of story, Djokovic earned his title, Federer couldn't challenge for it.

However, that doesn't mean improvements couldn't be made that might have made these unfortunate events avoidable. The fans deserved a final between two great players, not an exo between a great player and a guy who just got demolished.

I read that the fans who paid for finals tickets aren't even getting their money back? Outrageous.

 

[veroniquem]

I don't think they should get 24 hours (they don't in masters) but I thought Fed should have played the first semi (since he'd had more time off before the semis.)

 

[tennisaddict]

In spite of the blow out matches, players were tired by the time they got to knock out.

It is also possible that the RR blow out is because the players are tired to begin with.

Perhaps they can scrap one of Shanghai or Bercy.

 

[Crichton]

How about making this event the kickoff tournament for the tennis season? College b-ball, NFL, etc all have big events to open their seasons. Why shouldn't tennis? The top players never all play in the openers, and this way the top 8 would open the season, all "well rested" and fresh to begin the season. Just an idea.

 

[Nostradamus]

Most important thing is that this event should be Delayed for 2-3 weeks and not make it right after Paris. and that would give the top guys to heal and rest little bit for Better entertaining matches.

 

[wangs78]

The three set format lends itself to just one day of rest. That I am cool with. But they should allow for at least a full 24 hours, which means the final should be scheduled later in the day on Sunday and the two SF should be played earlier in the day on Saturday or even simultaneously. I know, I know, simultaneous is impossible because they want to televise both matches and make more money but in that case they really should just schedule the final to start late in the day, 24 or more hours after the 2nd semifinal.

 

[Bryan Swartz]

I think given that it's the first time it has happened, there's no real cause to make a big change based on this one event.

 

[Chico]

No. The schedule is fine.

 

[Fed881981]

Yes, there should be a full day of rest.

 

[Chico]

Yes, there should be a full day of rest.

Why? No other Bo3 tournament including all the masters do not have full day of rest between matches.

Why do we need to alter schedules so 34/35 year old players would have higher chance of winning them.

 

[Topspin_80]

I have a strong feeling that with an additional 24 hours of rest, Roger might have been at able to at least walk on court today (probably not win due to his physical condition and the way Novak has been playing). It seems to me that he did not have enough time to go through the necessary treatment to minimize his back pain and enable him to at least step on court (reports from the media are saying that he left around 1.30am).

There have also been reports that Wawrinka is also suffering from a slight quad injury and is physical exhausted from the match. Apparently he also refused the offer to play Djokovic in the finals if Roger was unable to play which is why they had to bring in Murray. Even if Wawrinka had won I am sure we would have had the same outcome with him either withdrawing or retiring in the middle of the match which wouldn't be great for the fans.

Do you think that to prevent this situation from occurring again the WTF schedule should be changed?

As Paris-Bercy ends on a Sunday, I propose that they start the tournament on a Friday. Players are here beforehand for the ATP Gala so I am sure they could start the tournament a little earlier.

My schedule would be:

Friday - Group 1 RR Day 1
Saturday - Group 2 RR Day 1
Sunday - Group 1 RR Day 2
Monday - Group 2 RR Day 2
Tuesday - Group 1 RR Day 3
Wednesday - Group 2 RR Day 3
Thursday - No play (Day of rest for players)
Friday - Semi-Finals
Saturday - No play (Day of rest for players and media build up for Final)
Sunday - Final

I think that this would be fair to all players and would also be better from the fans perspective. This would mean that there would be more tennis matches at the weekend and therefore more chances for fans that work or go to school, to watch the matches.

Thoughts?

They are playing the best of 3, why should they change it? just to accommodate the old ballerina??

 

[John6239]

The problem with shortening the tennis season is they have to schedule the wtf so close to paris and Basel and Shanghai. It really does suck to have to play so much tennis in such a short period of time.

 

[Murrayfan31]

No. If you can't play a best of 3 set a day before the finals, you should retire.

 

[Goosehead]

problem is doubles matches. 2 of those each day sandwiched inbetween the 2 singles matches, the 2nd sf was after the evening doubles so it was going to be late finishing.

 

[TMF]

No. The schedule is fine.

No it's not.

It's ashamed that a player doesn't get enough rest to fully recover for the final. Especially for an older player like Federer needs more time.

 

[Gary Duane]

Why? No other Bo3 tournament including all the masters do not have full day of rest between matches.

Why do we need to alter schedules so 34/35 year old players would have higher chance of winning them.

Let's see what you have to say about that in 6 years.

 

[Bryan Swartz]

It's ashamed that a player doesn't get enough rest to fully recover for the final. Especially for an older player like Federer needs more time.

Huh? Should they make all Masters tournaments two weeks then and crowd other events off the schedule? Similar sequence is in vogue most other tournaments throughout the year. Recovery/durability is just as much a part of the game as shotmaking etc.

 

[Chico]

Let's see what you have to say about that in 6 years.

I will say the same. The schedule should not be changed to fit 34/35 yo players.

Novak will win quite enough by then and I will not be greedy.

 

[sbengte]

Why just the WTF...shouldn't you be more concerned with Masters since they play every day throughout the whole week. This year at the Rogers Cup Federer played at 8pm Saturday and then 3pm Sunday.

This. The masters and WTF where SF and finals are played back to back are always unfair to the winner of the second semi which is played late on the previous day and the final is played in the day session with less than 18-19 hours turnaround time. The effects are probably more pronounced for an older player who needs more recovery time.

I don't know the solution to this, but maybe the semis should atleast be played back to back and not have the second semi late in the night so the winner has a decent chance of recovery to be fully prepared for the final.
Either that or have the final in the night session too so the second semi winner gets a full day to recover.

Luck or other considerations should have no role to play (i.e whether a player gets to play the first or the second semi) in how the final is played out.

 

[sbengte]

Why do we need to alter schedules so 34/35 year old players would have higher chance of winning them.

The problem perhaps is that of 'rigging' the schedule due to TV channels and ticket sales so the 34/35 year old player always ends up paying the price for his popularity and gets scheduled the late evening semi effectively wiping out his chances of being fit for the final ?

Federer gets assigned the second semi most of the time irrespective of his seeding/ranking because he sells tickets. It is time the next gen superstars take over the mantle from him and give the guy a break.

 

[TMF]

Huh? Should they make all Masters tournaments two weeks then and crowd other events off the schedule? Similar sequence is in vogue most other tournaments throughout the year. Recovery/durability is just as much a part of the game as shotmaking etc.

Roger was scheduled to play 6 hours after Nole's semifinal. Federer/Wawrinka match ended near midnight since it last near 3 hours.

This is bad since there's so little time to prepare for the final while Nole who's 6 years younger had 6 extra hours to recover.

Had both the semifinals was scheduled at the same time then that would be fine but unfortunately O2 has only one court.

 

[zep]

BO3 don't need breal days. What they can do is to make the knockout matches BO5 and have rest days. That would also make this tournament unique from the masters 1000.

 

[Chico]

The problem perhaps is that of 'rigging' the schedule due to TV channels and ticket sales so the 34/35 year old player always ends up paying the price for his popularity and gets scheduled the late evening semi effectively wiping out his chances of being fit for the final ?

Federer gets assigned the second semi most of the time irrespective of his seeding/ranking because he sells tickets. It is time the next gen superstars take over the mantle from him and give the guy a break.

LOl at crying at this. Unfair scheduling cost Novak several slams so far, and Fedal fanboys are crying over one WTF SF now. So much hypocrisy here it is unbelievable indeed.

 

[sbengte]

LOl at crying at this. Unfair scheduling cost Novak several slams so far, and Fedal fanboys are crying over one WTF SF now. So much hypocrisy here it is unbelievable indeed.

1. No one is crying
2. Novak definitely has had his share of bad draws and bad scheduling, no disputing that, but....
3....We are specifically talking of masters and WTF in this thread.
4. You can have 'unbelievable' as your sig so you need not type it out in each post.

Thank you.

 

[Chico]

1. No one is crying
2. Novak definitely has had his share of bad draws and bad scheduling, no disputing that, but....
3....We are specifically talking of masters and WTF in this thread.
4. You can have 'unbelievable' as your sig so you need not type it out in each post.

Thank you.

No thanks. I like my signature better.
You can't talk about this and limit it only to "WTF and Masters" and skip and ignore all cases when Novak was treated unfair and lost slams due to ridiculous unfair scheduling

 

[sbengte]

No thanks. I like my signature better.
You can't talks about this and limit is only to "WTF and Masters" and skip and ignore all cases when Novak was treated unfair and lost slams due to ridiculous unfair scheduling

I don't see yours or anyone's sig for that matter. Not sure what happened to them.
Sure, please start a thread and we'll talk about that (Djoker drawing Fed in the semi for 4-5 years straight, getting the second semi at USO etc) because this particular thread was meant for something else.

 

[Chico]

I don't see yours or anyone's sig for that matter. Not sure what happened to them.
Sure, please start a thread and we'll talk about that (Djoker drawing Fed in the semi for 4-5 years straight, getting the second semi at USO etc) because this particular thread was meant for something else.

1. Not my problem what you see and what you don't see.
2. This thread is about scheduling. That is what I am talking about.

 

[Deleted member 733170]

Maybe they should have played the second semi final straight after the first, would seem fairer in any event.

But let's face it, Federer's non show is as much to do with his 'injury' as the tension and lack of sleep due to hostilities with Wawrinka.

 

[sez]

I think the problem is that if Novak retired, and Federer won nobody would be talking about having a scheduling change. Any kind of longer break lends itself more towards the player with worse stamina.

That said this tournament does have a tougher schedule as players are playing (generally) competitive games right from the get go and when playing against the top 8, the level of concentration and stamina is much more than any major 1st-4th round match usually. I still think with so little tennis being played that having breaks can kill the hype but I think an adequate rest of at least a day should be the norm which Federer did not get.