Week 7 - WTA1000 - Doha, Qatar Hard

the addict · Tennis legend

RE: Week 7 - WTA1000 - Doha, Qatar Hard

christ · Futures level

As I read the news on the BBC, I could hear the collective sigh of exasperation from the tennis forum!

the addict · Tennis legend

An extract from Stu Fraser's article published in the Times a couple of hours ago. I think we are all on the same wavelength !

"Emma Raducanu has taken a 13th wild card in her 18th tournament since the start of last year after receiving an invitation to the Dubai Duty Free Championships, one of the strongest events on the WTA Tour.

Ranked No60 in the world and on the worst losing run of her professional career after four consecutive defeats, Raducanu had the option of contesting the qualifying draw against lower-ranked opposition this weekend. This would have given her an easier start and the opportunity to string some wins together rather than potentially facing the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek first up.

Raducanu, however, is sticking with the approach she has followed ever since she returned from surgery in January last year, having received a main-draw invite from the tournament organisers. This means she is at the mercy of the draw gods on Saturday morning in an event that will host nine of the worlds top-ten players and 36 of the top 40."

indiana · Tennis legend

Emma won't be facing Sabalenka or Swiatek or any other top 8 seed first up because like Doha it is a 56 player draw with the top 8 seeds receiving byes to R2.

But otherwise, yes

Jimmy09 · Intermediate Club Player

Jesus just go through qualifying

9vicman · Satellite level

It's going to come to a head soon enough. Wild cards without success are unsustainable. But let's not forget Emma's results over the last 12 months have seen her reach 61 in the world.

But 13 in 18 events is kinda crazy.

GAMEOVER · Satellite level

9vicman wrote:
It's going to come to a head soon enough. Wild cards without success are unsustainable. But let's not forget Emma's results over the last 12 months have seen her reach 61 in the world.

But 13 in 18 events is kinda crazy.

How many is a former Grand Slam champion able to receive?

the addict · Tennis legend

GAMEOVER wrote:
9vicman wrote:
It's going to come to a head soon enough. Wild cards without success are unsustainable. But let's not forget Emma's results over the last 12 months have seen her reach 61 in the world.

But 13 in 18 events is kinda crazy.
How many is a former Grand Slam champion able to receive?

I thought it was only six (excluding slams) in one tournament year, unless she was inside the top 50 at the entry deadline. But she is over that so I must have misunderstood.

korriban · Challenger level

I just read that the maximum for a regular tour player is 4 WCs per season. However I also read that there is an exception with former Grand Slam champions and that they have unlimited WCs, on paper Anyway (after all its the choice of individual tournaments). I accept it must be very hard to turn down main draw WCs into major tourneys, where just 1 or 2 wins gets you big money and lots of ranking points. But surely there comes a point where its not only counter-productive in terms of getting very few wins under your belt and having a negative impact on morale and self-belief, Id imagine it also creates a lot of bitterness and resentment among other players if it happens too regularly. 13 WCs in 18 tournaments is a joke, frankly. We dont want to get into Anna Kournikova territory - and if she keeps accepting these undeserved freebies it will start getting close to that

Lambda · ATP qualifying

the addict wrote:
GAMEOVER wrote:
9vicman wrote:
It's going to come to a head soon enough. Wild cards without success are unsustainable. But let's not forget Emma's results over the last 12 months have seen her reach 61 in the world.

But 13 in 18 events is kinda crazy.
How many is a former Grand Slam champion able to receive?
I thought it was only six (excluding slams) in one tournament year, unless she was inside the top 50 at the entry deadline. But she is over that so I must have misunderstood.

The condition on ranking relates only to WTA125 exemption wild cards, which are only for players ranked 21 to 50 at the entry deadline. It's clarifying they're exempt from the number of those wild cards they can take, but not the ranking condition for being able to take them. With the way the rule is written it's easy to misunderstand it and read it as applying to everything in the paragraph.

So just to clarify, the number of WTA Tour level wild cards a player can take is 6 in a Tour year (the week before the WTA Finals to the same week the following year), but no more than 3 can be main draw wild cards unless they are in one of the exempt groups, as Emma is. Emma, as a Grand Slam singles champion, can take unlimited Tour level main draw wild cards, unlimited Exemption wild cards (previously called Top 20 WCs), and, if ranked 21 to 50 at the entry deadline unlimited WTA125 Exemption wild cards.

indiana · Tennis legend

Thank you, Lambda.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Amisimova won the Doha final, a month ago Emma beat Anisimova in the Australian Open, such are the vagaries of tennis.

9vicman · Satellite level

I love the fact that we have another surprise winner in another major event. Although Anisimova is only a surprise as she has struggled with injury and mental health struggles, not because she isn't supremely talented. Really pleased for her.

indiana · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
Lambda wrote:
Talking of mandatories reminds me that Katie will have to count a 0 point counter for the next 12 months with missing this tournament.
Will she?
She missed both the Doha and Dubai WTA 1000s last year and hasn't been carrying a mandatory 0. And both the live LTR and OER rankings are currently not reducing her total ranking points this week.
I certainly don't know the rules re minimum WTA 1000 appearances / counters and which ( if any ) are mandatory counters. Just that missing one ( or more ) doesn't necessarily mean a mandatory 0.

Err, in the latest rankings she does in spite of my wonderful logic. Down 10 ranking points to 1921 points.

the addict · Tennis legend

9vicman wrote:
I love the fact that we have another surprise winner in another major event. Although Anisimova is only a surprise as she has struggled with injury and mental health struggles, not because she isn't supremely talented. Really pleased for her.

A good week for Anisimova although Badosa was the only top ten player in her six wins.

Big come down in Dubai (not really surprising) as she goes out in the first round.