The last race to Istanbul!
- Thread starter Correspondent Kiu
- Start date
Angelique Kerber becomes the 8th and final qualifier for Istanbul.
The Istanbul field is set:
Serena Williams
Victoria Azarenka
Agnieszka Radwanska
Na Li
Petra Kvitova
Sara Errani
Jelena Jankovic
Angelique Kerber
The Istanbul field is set:
Serena Williams
Victoria Azarenka
Agnieszka Radwanska
Na Li
Petra Kvitova
Sara Errani
Jelena Jankovic
Angelique Kerber
Sundaymorningguy
Grand Slam Champion
Caroline wrote to the CEO of the WTA apparently she was furious that Kerber got that last minute WC and draw change for Linz
Sundaymorningguy said:
Well something fishy is/was going on. Because Kerber was so late another player in the draw had to pull out and the "miracle" happened a local player pulled out for personal reasons - just to start in doubles the next day! - then there were room for Kerber. Her late arrival + her ranking made life more difficult for Ana Ivanovic who had to go from 2nd seed to 3rd seed. So most players are a bit angry with WTA. As a representative in the players council Caroline has officially demanded an answer from Alistar why the rules have been bent. Here is a transcript - via Google translate from Danish - from an interview in Danish television with Caroline - you can see the Danish video via a link in the article:
http://www.dr.dk/Sporten/Oevrig_sport/Tennis/2013/10/14/224508.htm
Ekstra Bladet has in recent days to report a fishy case of the female tennis players WTA tour.
Tournament organizer WTA has bent the rules to get a top-10 name of the application for a tournament in Austria and it has sparked outrage among female tennis players, says an honest Caroline Wozniacki to DR sport.
-You get a bad taste in the mouth. There are many things that are done in an unsportsmanlike and unethical manner. And you can listen to the other players on the WTA tour, they think it's so ridiculous, says Caroline Wozniacki.
Mysterious apologies gave way to the top-10 Kerber
She's even been affected by the affair as German Angelique Kerber at the last minute got place in the Austrian tournament was Wozniacki's direct competitor to the prestigious and attractive season finale in Istanbul.
Kerber could only stand in the tournament if another wildcard play pulled - it made a local player then suddenly the "personal reasons" - and thus could Kerber few square and retrieve important points in the competition with Wozniacki to reach the season finale.
According to Ekstra Bladet is the local player, Lisa-Maria Moser, been persuaded by the WTA to pull out to make room for top-10 player Kerber and thus make the tournament more attractive.
And Caroline Wozniacki and her colleagues are not sure if there are owls in the bog.
- If you talk to the players, then 99 percent of the players been up and complain, so it's not just me. In this one situation went the most out of me because it was her and me, who fought on the last room. But the tournament went beyond a young player who wanted to play in the main tournament. It can not be right, says Wozniacki.
For many gray areas
Local player Lisa-Maria Moser, who then withdrew for "personal reasons", had no problems even to receive a wildcard for double-row of the Austrian tournament, and that is to make Wozniacki angry.
-There are so many wrong things about this (...) there are many gray areas, and you will have to look the rules a little after that, she says.
Should be a gentleman's sport
Ekstra Bladet also provides that Serb Ana Ivanovic was also influenced by the WTA's maneuver, as she Angelique Kerbers entry into the Austrian tournament races tredjeseedet, and thus had a more difficult way through the tournament.
- Tennis ought to be a gentleman's sport, and that is the direction you should go for. This does not give the best reputation for WTA Tour. There are definitely some things that need to be changed.
Hear Caroline Wozniacki honest comment to misery in the clip above.
Because of poor sound we have cut issue in the middle out. It was: You're sitting in the WTA's players council. Is this something you could find to take up the players council because, as you say, are gray areas here, and that it might be a lesson going forward that you do not need to have these gray areas?
Has the WTA tour lost her virginity for the ? time - what do you think?
I support Woz. Kerber should not have been given a wild card. This is unfair to the player who was pushed to withdraw as well as those trying to qualify for Istanbul.
So, the next logical approach would be for Alistar to make sure Caro gets an alternate spot, which would probably outrage the tour even more and put Caro in a bad spot as well by accepting it.
Alistar realy blew it!
Alistar SHOULD read about this from more than just Caro...
Alistar realy blew it!
Alistar SHOULD read about this from more than just Caro...
Sundaymorningguy
Grand Slam Champion
Well Kerber will probably have a target on her back now from the ladies she decided to screw over. The perfect revenge would have been Ana I beating her.
I don't know much about how the ruling body of the WTA works, but I do think things should be streamlined. The ATP has events labeled 1000, 500, 250. The WTA has premiere and international. Casual fans might not know which is the higher level. Where did nonsensical points such as 470 980, 280 come from? Why such weird numbers? Why do I have to search to know how many points are at stake? Why two year end events? These are the things tennis fans could site as reasons for not taking the women's tour more seriously.
10sfan said:
The problem with the WTA rulebook is there are too many rules that aren't really in anyone's interests apart from a short term money boost.
All these rules restricting how many top 10 players can play internationals, premiers need to be scrapped. They don't benefit the players and they don't benefit the tournaments. The only reason they are in place is they have this idea that tournaments should pay for the top players they get via extra prize money. This system is a complete failure though. Take an international, your prize money has to be $235k, in order to get an extra top 10 player you have to make your prize money $500k. Plus you would then have to pay the top 10 player an appearance fee. There won't be many players in the top 10 who this is worth it for. In fact as far as I am aware no international event has ever upped their prize money to $500k to get an extra top 10 player, there are internationals with $500k prize money (normally rich Asian internationals), but that's just because they are rich, and not to get an extra top 10 player. *[EDIT - Apparently both Li and Errani will play next years international in Shenzhen at the start of the year]*
It's worth noting everything that went on at Linz is in the rule book. Whether it should be is another question, but it was all perfectly legal.
