That's because you originally limited the choices to the top 50, and Monfils isn't in the top 50 at the moment.
It gets easier to pick players likely to rise if you go beyond 50. I would add that I think Tomic (#52) for example will grow up and grow used to the tour a bit this year. He really can't get much worse than he was this year, even if one subtracts his success in Australia.
That's because you originally limited the choices to the top 50, and Monfils isn't in the top 50 at the moment.
It gets easier to pick players likely to rise if you go beyond 50. I would add that I think Tomic (#52) for example will grow up and grow used to the tour a bit this year. He really can't get much worse than he was this year, even if one subtracts his success in Australia.
Okay, then I will throw # 136 Gulbis into the pot. A lot depends on whether he and Bresnik have worked out Ernests' wildly inconsistent forehand problems, and I'm not expecting miracles. Top 50 would be nice, though top 75 is probably a more reasonable expectation after his horrid year, save for those two big upsets in the Slams. I hope Kuznetsov makes progress as well, as I enjoy watching him play. Baker is a good candidate to move up, too.
Another general question for anyone: Wozniacki is almost out of the Top Ten on the women's side, currently ranked 10th, just barely ahead of She Who Must Bounce Or Die with only 25 points separating her from Bartoli. So simple question: Does Caroline stay in the Top Ten next year or continue to fade?
Not-exactly-relevant additional question for bonus points: If you were Rory, what would you give Caroline for Christmas?
Mardy Fish announced today that he wouldn't be playing at the Australian Open this year due to his continuing heart irregularities. never liked him but it's not good to have his career derailed like this. I would add him to the list of players going down but he has very little to defend early in the season anyway.
For those who watch The Amazing Race, this Sunday they are in Majorca, Spain, and there is a task involving tennis on a clay court. I believe this is the second last episode of the season with the finale being on December 9th. It would be cool if Rafa was the greeter at the mat.
Then Wimbledon has come… without diminishing Rosol’s merits, but I highly doubt that in normal conditions Rafael would have lost that match.
I don't want to slight him, but slight him I will.
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If it was up to us we would play always on clay but it’s not something possible. Of the four Slam tournaments, two are on hard court. The Master 1000 are play almost all on hard court. It’s complicated to change the rules.
If I had my way, the whole tour would be on clay.
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Then usually we have 3 Masters on clay, last year just two… having permitted to Tiriac to change surface in Madrid was a failure.
They only changed the color, not the surface, Toni. It's not like it wasn't slippery when it was red either.
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it’s impossible to dope in tennis. If ATP thinks that is right to increase anti- doping controls, do what they think it’s better. It’s true that there was the case of Mariano Puerta, but since then no top tennis player has ever doped, I think that they are all clean. It’s hard to dope.
Not implicating Rafa here, but this thinking is so off base. It would be quite easy to dope in tennis and get away with it.
And the best of all, in regard to the WTF:
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The surface can’t be changed because ATP has so decided. I think that it’s not fair to play always on the same surface simply because tennis is also played on court and grass. Probably because of ATP, Rafael has never won, until now, a Master. Which is the problem? The problem is very simple. When you ask the players where they want to play it, most of them, specialist of fast surfaces, answer hard court. This shouldn’t happen, ATP should take a decision apart from the players.
Most of the top guys are specialists on fast surfaces? News to me. The ATP should take a decision apart from the players? I'll remember that line the next time Rafa tries to align himself with the little guys on tour complaining that the ATP or ITF make decisions without regard for the players.
No reduction in hard court events? If Toni can't figure out the consequences of that, Rafa should. So I wonder why he doesn't? Hubris? Keeping the peace in the family? Short-sightedness can no longer be an excuse at this point. Sounds like Toni is quite willing to run the meal ticket into the ground.
It seems he and Rafa are both happy to complain about the apparent injustice of it all, but they don't actually want to put themselves at a competitive disadvantage in the rankings.
Then again, Toni makes it out to be a mostly a matter of fatigue and not the unforgiving nature of a hard court that's the problem:
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The fault of the injury it’s not, up to Toni, of the schedule in itself but to his tight rhythm that doesn’t allow the players to rest.
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tournaments like the one in Abu Dhabi don’t require a big physical effort, it’s completely different.”
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If we lose in Doha and Australia at the first round, then we can prepare for Davis. If instead we play four matches in Doha and sixer in Australia, at that point doctors will suggest us to rest..
Wouldn't a clay match fatigue a player just as much if not more than a hard court match? Did Rafa's injury perhaps get worse over the clay season? I also saw headlines today that Rafa might not play Madrid (which may have been founded on this same interview). It's possible, but I sort of doubt that Rafa's and Toni's grudge with Tiriac is so great that they'd forgo the biggest Spanish event.
Meh, as someone who likes Nadal I think it's obviously a rational thing to think about preservation but by the same token what Toni said has a lot of merit whether it's true or not, which I'm inclined to think is really how they feel and approach things, and I think we should respect that...
Is it smart, most definitely not, we can all agree Nadal needs to start using some rest now as we've all suspected his playing style and schedule would catch up to him...but at the end of the day if something happens again at least we can know it was their doing
We'll see how things turn out, hopefully Nadal can come back stronger than ever
Nalbandian has also announced his withdrawal from the Australian Open. He wants to focus on the Davis Cup, where he has played some of his best tennis recently. Too bad. He played great matches in Melbourne both of the past two years. He'll be missed.
Another general question for anyone: Wozniacki is almost out of the Top Ten on the women's side, currently ranked 10th, just barely ahead of She Who Must Bounce Or Die with only 25 points separating her from Bartoli. So simple question: Does Caroline stay in the Top Ten next year or continue to fade?
Not-exactly-relevant additional question for bonus points: If you were Rory, what would you give Caroline for Christmas?
1) Yes, simply because she has so few GS points to defend next year after abominable results at the FO, Wimby and USO. It's possible that she might fall further down the rankings, but for the sake of Wozzilroy (celebrity entertainment aside they are such a cute couple ) I hope she has a comeback year
2) I'm guessing something with diamonds... non-conflict ones
1) Yes, simply because she has so few GS points to defend next year after abominable results at the FO, Wimby and USO. It's possible that she might fall further down the rankings, but for the sake of Wozzilroy (celebrity entertainment aside they are such a cute couple ) I hope she has a comeback year
2) I'm guessing something with diamonds... non-conflict ones
I agree on both counts. She should bounce back next year, at least a little bit. As for the present...I had been thinking emeralds, actually--green=Ireland, and all that. But diamonds, the tried and true standby, are probably more likely.
It would seem that Roger is cutting down on his schedule between now and 2016 because he wants to play in the Olympics in Rio. So no Miami this year, for starters. Sounds like a good idea and a reasonable, manageable goal--the start of maybe downsizing the career a bit.
I don't think it's because he wants to play in Rio that he's scaling back. Injuries have never kept him off tour, and even as he ages it's hard to see the wear and tear make him miss time. If by some miracle he didn't meet the qualifying standards for Rio - and I highly doubt he couldn't be a top 60 player in three and a half years if he stays with it - he would certainly get a wild card as Hewitt did this year. He has actually said for a while (since well before the London Olympics) that he'd like to play through Rio; it's just appearing in the news now because of the South American exhibitions.
Anyway, I'm glad he's scaling back. Frankly, aside from Cincinnati, he showed some pretty mediocre form by his own standards the second half of the season. Hopefully skipping the pre-AO stuff, Miami, and Rome (which he almost missed this year) will keep him fresh later in the year, where he should be doing better anyway.
I also suspect that having reached #1 again and broken Sampras' record, he has less motivation to play a full schedule.
Jesse Levine is switching back to representing Canada. He is playing as an American up till the Aussie Open and is hoping to be considered Canadian after that. They think he might be available for the DC tie vs. Spain.
Jesse Levine is switching back to representing Canada. He is playing as an American up till the Aussie Open and is hoping to be considered Canadian after that. They think he might be available for the DC tie vs. Spain.
Just about to post this
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JESSE LEVINE TO PLAY FOR CANADA
Montreal, December 19, 2012 – Jesse Levine, currently ranked No. 104 on the ATP World Tour, who has been defending the colours of the USA, has now decided to represent his birth country and play for Canada on the professional circuit.
"We are pleased that Jesse has decided to play for Canada," said Tennis Canada President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Downey. "We believe he can strengthen our Davis Cup team and add depth to our roster when he is eligible to play."
Born in Ottawa, Jesse Levine spent the first 13 years of his life in the nation’s capital before moving to Florida with his family. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 69 in October of 2012. He has won 25 matches on the ATP World Tour including seven matches in Grand Slam events.
Interesting choice I guess. Follows Bogomolov in leaving the US for a less competitive Davis Cup team. I wonder what effects it would have for him outside of the Davis Cup though. There are so many more American than Canadian tournaments. Maybe he wasn't getting any wild cards or financial support from the USTA anyway.
