It is amazing how effective the changes that have been in tennis in the last 10-15 years (more seeds, poly strings, homogenization of conditions AND unique top-spin baseline style) have produced the effect that the powers that be wanted: two top players always in the final of the big tournaments.
I mean, it is not hard to understand that those changes would be really effective to that purpose, but its success has been really outstanding.
Just for example lets look at the M-1000 finals on clay.
In the 70s, 80s and 90s there were a huge number of clay court "especialists" that usually won many of the clay court tournaments but did not do so great outside of clay.
Even the M-1000 "equivalents" on clay were quite "open", there were a good 8-10 different players that could get to the final. In fact any player among a group of 15 or more, could get to the final without it being considered "a huge surprise".
Lets look for example at the clay M-1000 winners and runner-up in the 90s:
1990:
MC: Chesnokov def. Muster
Rome: Muster def. Chesnokov
Hamb: Aguilera def. Becker
1991:
MC: Bruguera def. Becker
Rome: Sanchez def. Mancini
Hamb: Novacek def. Gustafsson
1992:
MC: Muster def. Krickstein
Rome: Courier def. Costa (Carlos)
Hamb: Edberg def. Stich
1993:
MC: Bruguera def. Pioline
Rome: Courier def. Ivanisevic
Hamb: Stich def. Chesnokov
1994:
MC: Medvedev def. Bruguera
Rome: Sampras def. Becker
Hamb: Medvedev def. Kafelnikov
1995:
MC: Muster def. Becker
Rome: Muster def. Bruguera
Hamb: Medvedev def. Ivanisevic
1996:
MC: Muster def. Costa (Albert)
Rome: Muster def. Krajicek
Hamb: Carretero def. Corretja
1997:
MC: Rios def. Corretja
Rome: Corretja def. Rios
Hamb: Medvedev def. Mantilla
1998:
MC: Moya def. Pioline
Rome: Rios def. Costa (Albert)
Hamb: Costa (Albert) def. Corretja
1999:
MC: Kuerten def. Rios
Rome: Kuerten def. Rafter
Hamb: Rios def. Zabaleta
2000:
MC: Pioline def. Hrbaty
Rome: Norman def. Kuerten
Hamb: Kuerten def. Safin
2001:
MC: Kuerten def. Arazi
Rome: Ferrero def. Kuerten
Hamb: Portas def. Ferrero
2002:
MC: Ferrero def. Moya
Rome: Agassi def. Haas
Hamb: Federer def. Safin
2003:
MC: Ferrero def. Coria
Rome: Mantilla def. Federer
Hamb: Coria def. Calleri
2004:
MC: Coria def. Schuttler
Rome: Moya def. Nalbandian
Hamb: Federer def. Coria
Contrast it to the current (last six, seven years) clay era. During four or five years it was almost always Nadal-Federer finals (in fact there have been 8 M-1000 clay finals Federer-Nadal, and there were no 3 M-1000 clay Federer-Nadal finals every year because both them got exhausted and more than once skipped one of the M-1000 clay tournaments or played badly/injured). And now almost all clay M-1000 finals are Nadal-Djokovic (seven with tomorrow final).
It is amazing the contrast.
It is almost sure that the casual fans prefer this situation (and because of that and them being the majority of tennis fans, the powers that be made whatever was needed to achieve it), but somehow I really miss past eras where in every M-1000 clay tournament there was a group of 10-15 players such that any two of them could very well play the final.
In those past eras, there really was the unpredictability factor, and many early round matches were competitive and interesting.
Now it seems the only match interesting is the final, Djokovic-Nadal, and the rest of the tournament prior to that looks like just a mere formality.
I mean, it is not hard to understand that those changes would be really effective to that purpose, but its success has been really outstanding.
Just for example lets look at the M-1000 finals on clay.
In the 70s, 80s and 90s there were a huge number of clay court "especialists" that usually won many of the clay court tournaments but did not do so great outside of clay.
Even the M-1000 "equivalents" on clay were quite "open", there were a good 8-10 different players that could get to the final. In fact any player among a group of 15 or more, could get to the final without it being considered "a huge surprise".
Lets look for example at the clay M-1000 winners and runner-up in the 90s:
1990:
MC: Chesnokov def. Muster
Rome: Muster def. Chesnokov
Hamb: Aguilera def. Becker
1991:
MC: Bruguera def. Becker
Rome: Sanchez def. Mancini
Hamb: Novacek def. Gustafsson
1992:
MC: Muster def. Krickstein
Rome: Courier def. Costa (Carlos)
Hamb: Edberg def. Stich
1993:
MC: Bruguera def. Pioline
Rome: Courier def. Ivanisevic
Hamb: Stich def. Chesnokov
1994:
MC: Medvedev def. Bruguera
Rome: Sampras def. Becker
Hamb: Medvedev def. Kafelnikov
1995:
MC: Muster def. Becker
Rome: Muster def. Bruguera
Hamb: Medvedev def. Ivanisevic
1996:
MC: Muster def. Costa (Albert)
Rome: Muster def. Krajicek
Hamb: Carretero def. Corretja
1997:
MC: Rios def. Corretja
Rome: Corretja def. Rios
Hamb: Medvedev def. Mantilla
1998:
MC: Moya def. Pioline
Rome: Rios def. Costa (Albert)
Hamb: Costa (Albert) def. Corretja
1999:
MC: Kuerten def. Rios
Rome: Kuerten def. Rafter
Hamb: Rios def. Zabaleta
2000:
MC: Pioline def. Hrbaty
Rome: Norman def. Kuerten
Hamb: Kuerten def. Safin
2001:
MC: Kuerten def. Arazi
Rome: Ferrero def. Kuerten
Hamb: Portas def. Ferrero
2002:
MC: Ferrero def. Moya
Rome: Agassi def. Haas
Hamb: Federer def. Safin
2003:
MC: Ferrero def. Coria
Rome: Mantilla def. Federer
Hamb: Coria def. Calleri
2004:
MC: Coria def. Schuttler
Rome: Moya def. Nalbandian
Hamb: Federer def. Coria
Contrast it to the current (last six, seven years) clay era. During four or five years it was almost always Nadal-Federer finals (in fact there have been 8 M-1000 clay finals Federer-Nadal, and there were no 3 M-1000 clay Federer-Nadal finals every year because both them got exhausted and more than once skipped one of the M-1000 clay tournaments or played badly/injured). And now almost all clay M-1000 finals are Nadal-Djokovic (seven with tomorrow final).
It is amazing the contrast.
It is almost sure that the casual fans prefer this situation (and because of that and them being the majority of tennis fans, the powers that be made whatever was needed to achieve it), but somehow I really miss past eras where in every M-1000 clay tournament there was a group of 10-15 players such that any two of them could very well play the final.
In those past eras, there really was the unpredictability factor, and many early round matches were competitive and interesting.
Now it seems the only match interesting is the final, Djokovic-Nadal, and the rest of the tournament prior to that looks like just a mere formality.
