2024 ATP General News

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oil dollars. A pity tennis is also becoming contaminated, but whatever!

Just an interesting quick take on this one since I didn’t see it

Bit of history that I think @Fiero425 will remember and appreciate: Connors was on a roll against Borg in the mid-seventies until Bjorn win an exo against him, the Pepsi Challenge or some such lucrative friendly, and it changed the dynamic of their rivalry. I believe that Borg lost only once more against Jimbo, at the USO final in 78, but otherwise held the whiphand.

And all because he won a meaningless match in an exo…

Yes it is Oil Money sad to say, I wont be watching the women play at the end of the year finals, which will be held in Saudi, what they do to women is just disgraceful full stop, treated like 'second class citizens" period.

 

[El Dude]

Sure, it is oil money - but US (and UK) tournaments could be considered military industrial complex money, imperialism money, etc etc.

 

[Fiero425]

Alcaraz takes the first set in a tiebreak.

These guys are really good. This match--and tournament--feels like a big title, in terms of the fierceness of competition. I guess the Saudis are trying to emulate the Grand Slam Cup from the 90s, which didn't offer ATP points but was akin to a Masters but with bigger money.

I didn't hear about this event until recently! As I've said in the past, most players are so FOS complaining about the length of the season, but then they get involved w/ these $$ grabs where they seem to work as hard as any event on the calendar! Alcaraz & Sinner better hope this doesn't take away from their efforts the rest of the season w/ Paris Masters & the YEC! Djokovic has had all kinds of rest so this was a great practice match, that SF w/ Sinner!

 

[Fiero425]

Oil dollars. A pity tennis is also becoming contaminated, but whatever!

Just an interesting quick take on this one since I didn’t see it

Bit of history that I think @Fiero425 will remember and appreciate: Connors was on a roll against Borg in the mid-seventies until Bjorn win an exo against him, the Pepsi Challenge or some such lucrative friendly, and it changed the dynamic of their rivalry. I believe that Borg lost only once more against Jimbo, at the USO final in 78, but otherwise held the whiphand.

And all because he won a meaningless match in an exo…

You got it! I well remember the Pepsi Grand Slam in FLA! You're correct, Conners only won 1 more match from Borg after this in '77 & that was tainted since Borg had an injured thumb! He could barely hold onto his racket, smacking it into the ground on some serves at that USO Final in '78! The court was new at Flushing Meadows & played like a pane of glass giving Borg no chance to come back from a deficit as he normally would against his closest rival at the time!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The head of tennis in Saudi is a woman though she was not present in the final ceremony presentations
Unbelievable

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The head of tennis in Saudi is a woman though she was not present in the final ceremony presentations
Unbelievable but I am not shocked she was left out

 

[Moxie]

Sure, it is oil money - but US (and UK) tournaments could be considered military industrial complex money, imperialism money, etc etc.

It isn't just that it's "oil money," IMO. They assassinated dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. There are no rights for LGTBQ+ people, and there are severe penalties for breaking with Islamic law. Women are forbidden to drive, or travel abroad without an escort, amongst other things. And I'm sorry...whether or not they can be directly implicated in the Sept. 11th attacks, (the commission report says they can't,) they fostered a lot of the thinking that led to them. That's my own opinion.

At least women can drive in the US and UK. And your "etc., etc." covers a lot of area where the US and UK are massively better than Saudi Arabia.

 

[Moxie]

The head of tennis in Saudi is a woman though she was not present in the final ceremony presentations
Unbelievable

The men are bad enough for going there, but I'm totally with you that the WTA should not.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The men are bad enough for going there, but I'm totally with you that the WTA should not.

Well that is the first Six Kings Slams , from what I am hearing it will happen again in 2025

 

[Moxie]

Two great players.

Anyhow, still not clear about the prize money. Evidently it is $14.3M total, $1.5M minimum each, and then $6M for the winner. Some math:

winner = $6M
$1.5M x 5 other players = $7.5M

$6M + $7.5M = $13.5M, with 0.8M to spare. Does Alcaraz get that, thus $2.3M?

Not that it matters!

The rest went to Rafa's gold racquet.

 

[El Dude]

It isn't just that it's "oil money," IMO. They assassinated dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. There are no rights for LGTBQ+ people, and there are severe penalties for breaking with Islamic law. Women are forbidden to drive, or travel abroad without an escort, amongst other things. And I'm sorry...whether or not they can be directly implicated in the Sept. 11th attacks, (the commission report says they can't,) they fostered a lot of the thinking that led to them. That's my own opinion.

At least women can drive in the US and UK. And your "etc., etc." covers a lot of area where the US and UK are massively better than Saudi Arabia.

Glass houses, Moxie. We can pick and choose our issues of comparison, but the US has caused more worldwide suffering and death than ten Saudi Arabias. Case in point: funding an active genocide. But this probably isn't the place.

 

[El Dude]

The rest went to Rafa's gold racquet.

That might be true, actually.

 

[Moxie]

Glass houses, Moxie. We can pick and choose our issues of comparison, but the US has caused more worldwide suffering and death than ten Saudi Arabias. Case in point: funding an active genocide. But this probably isn't the place.

No, it's not the place, and there's a thread for that. Especially if you want to support the above statement.

 

[Kieran]

I didn't hear about this event until recently! As I've said in the past, most players are so FOS complaining about the length of the season, but then they get involved w/ these $$ grabs where they seem to work as hard as any event on the calendar! Alcaraz & Sinner better hope this doesn't take away from their efforts the rest of the season w/ Paris Masters & the YEC! Djokovic has had all kinds of rest so this was a great practice match, that SF w/ Sinner!

Exactly. Bad enough they’re whoring in a sandy prison, but they also get to complain about scheduling. Always did. I understood players back in the early days of the pro tour wasting their bodies on lucrative exos, but not anymore. I know the money is immense but they squeeze the pips on clothing deals and footwear and in a dozen other less morally dubious ways, but they’re shameless now. I said this back when Rafa became ambassador for tennis in Saudi Arabia in May, I was sorely disappointed in him.

And of course we all remember the stupid Indian exo after the season ended, in 2013 Rafa played it, and paid for it in full in Australia. Senseless…

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

This weeks champs,
ATP250 Stockholm Tommy Paul, 4th title, 3rd of 2024

ATP250 Antwerp Roberto Bautista Agut, 12th title

ATP250 Almaty Karen Khachanov 7th title, 2nd of 2024

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Just an reminder,
Dominic Thiem will retire this coming week, playing his last professional tennis at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna., tournament begins October 21-27th.

 

[tented]

Just an reminder,
Dominic Thiem will retire this coming week, playing his last professional tennis at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna., tournament begins October 21-27th.

He took part in an Ask Me Anything on Reddit about a month ago.

There’s also an interview on Tennis Majors: “Dominic Thiem, the retirement interview”

This part caught my eye:

Interviewer: What did it change for you to be a Slam winner?

Thiem: Honestly, I think back then I took it way too importantly for my career and for my life. Even, I thought that it would make me happy forever, and would change my life forever. But, of course, it’s not like that. It’s an illusion. Basically, nothing changed. And honestly, in 20 years, hopefully if we still are here, nobody will really be interested if I’m a slam champion or not. Back then, I was not thinking like that. I really thought: ‘OK, if I’m not going to win a slam in my career, my career is not great and I always will have some doubts’. It was not an easy situation. Of course, it’s very nice to have the title, to have the trophy at home, but in the end it’s still only a trophy and it shouldn’t make a big difference in life. That’s how I see it now.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Off court coaching will be allowed from 2025.
Currently, off court coaching is only allowed in team events
This will be the first time where off-court coaching will be permitted for all indvidual matches
"The rules of tennis committee felt this particular change could make the game fairer and more entertaining"
Source. iftennis/com.en/news/-and-me.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from Paris Masters.
This will be the first time missing the event since 2020.
Source. sportklub1info.rs/tenis/atp/djok
This is the last time this event will be held in Bercy, competition will move to Paris La Defense Arena in 2025

 

[Kieran]

Off court coaching will be allowed from 2025.
Currently, off court coaching is only allowed in team events
This will be the first time where off-court coaching will be permitted for all indvidual matches
"The rules of tennis committee felt this particular change could make the game fairer and more entertaining"
Source. iftennis/com.en/news/-and-me.

Wait, what does this mean? Coaches sitting courtside? “Make the game fairer and more entertaining?” WTF does this even mean? Fairer, how? More entertaining, how?

It’ll ruin the game and cheat players who deserved to win out of a title. It’s man to man combat on court. It’s Darwinian. Let them try this shit out on the women, who cares what they do?

This is a terrible idea. Hopefully this is not true. There’s a lot dodgy websites out there..