clayqueen
Bionic Poster
The biggest concern for organisers will be the persistent questions from very big fish Rafael Nadal about the viability of two team events — the Davis Cup and ATP Cup — being held within a month of each other.
"It's a long competition. It's a tough way to start the season. I don't know," he said when asked to assess the ATP Cup.
"I think that's a confusion for the spectators, and we need to be clear in our sport."
The meticulous Spaniard, unhappy at having to change venues from Perth to Sydney midway through an event and on the back of eight matches, singles and doubles, in just over a week, was less than committed to returning for the event next year — even though his accountant would've been delighted with the world number one's US$620,000 ($896,260) cheque from the tournament.
Nadal may have also been questioning why Spain's number two, Roberto Bautista Agut, earned more prize money and ranking points than the world number one, despite being matched against players ranked 119, 678, zero, and 158 in his first four matches.
It was surely the easiest $US720,000 ($1 million) Bautista Agut has ever made.
All of this gives the ATP much food for thought and a change of format must be a consideration if the event is to survive and thrive rather than be a regular source of jealousy and consternation for players not given the opportunity to share in its riches.
If that means cutting the number of competing nations as a quality control measure, then that is something the ATP has to seriously consider if it's to head off more serious discontent, and another big change to the Australian summer of tennis in future.
www.abc.net.au
"It's a long competition. It's a tough way to start the season. I don't know," he said when asked to assess the ATP Cup.
"So we need to find a way to fix it and we need to find a way to make a big deal with ITF and ATP to create a big World Team Cup competition, not two World Cups in one month.
"I think that's a confusion for the spectators, and we need to be clear in our sport."
The meticulous Spaniard, unhappy at having to change venues from Perth to Sydney midway through an event and on the back of eight matches, singles and doubles, in just over a week, was less than committed to returning for the event next year — even though his accountant would've been delighted with the world number one's US$620,000 ($896,260) cheque from the tournament.
Nadal may have also been questioning why Spain's number two, Roberto Bautista Agut, earned more prize money and ranking points than the world number one, despite being matched against players ranked 119, 678, zero, and 158 in his first four matches.
It was surely the easiest $US720,000 ($1 million) Bautista Agut has ever made.
All of this gives the ATP much food for thought and a change of format must be a consideration if the event is to survive and thrive rather than be a regular source of jealousy and consternation for players not given the opportunity to share in its riches.
If that means cutting the number of competing nations as a quality control measure, then that is something the ATP has to seriously consider if it's to head off more serious discontent, and another big change to the Australian summer of tennis in future.
Great start for the ATP Cup — but it could do with some tweaking
There has been lots of excitement for the just-completed ATP Cup, but not everybody is happy about the format and prize money for the new teams tournament, writes Tim Callanan.
www.abc.net.au
