Yes, Monica does play Tier III's on occasion

And once, Tier IV even. However, not some colossal amount.

Madrid is her 7th such event since the beginning of 2000. That's about 2.5 per year, and none of them were actually played just for the sake of playing a Tier III. OK City 2000, Madrid2001, Madrid2002 were all the earliest she could get back from an injury. OK City 2001 was defending a title. Doha was a favour to the tour. :fiery: Japan Open and Shanghai were to appease sponsors, one of which I think was opposite a German tourney.

Anyhow, as for the results. Better than some players who make the potentially embarrassing dip in competition. Madrid 2001 was a Monica clearly injured, did not play for 2 months before and 2 months after, and capped the only 3 match losing streak of her career. Madrid 2002 is not yet complete. The other 5 = 5 titles.

OKLAHOMA CITY: Venus Williams won it 2 times and then Monica won it two times (once by beating Capriati). So not only Monica plays this tier III but also Venus & Capriati.

MADRID: Correct me if I'm wrong but past champions that I know of include Davenport and Novotna. So again a lot of top players play this tournament.

DOHA: Didn't Hingis win it last year?

All these Tier III tournaments are played by many top players not only Monica. Also it's great for the fans of these smaller tournaments to see a champion like Monica come, otherwise it would be very boring to see "average" players. She's making many people happy. As for the tournaments in the asian countries, I believe she has some sort of contract with her sponsership and she has to play over there.

Yes, Madrid has at least one top player every year

2002 - Monica (might win the event)
2001 - Aranxta (won the event)
2000 - Mary
1999 - Lindsay (won the event)

1998 - Perhaps the only year a big name didn't play, but several top 20 players played, such as Patty, Sandrine, Domnique, and Babsi

1997 - Monica and Jana (both reached F, Jana winning)
1996 - Monica, Jana, Aranxta (Jana won the event)

Obviously Oklahoma City was a popular Tier III

I'm glad Monica plays tier IIIs - not just for the ranking points but more because it gives a lot of her fans opportunities to see her that they probably otherwise wouldn't get.

In 2000 when monica came to oklahoma city she came at the last monute because a top name was needed after anna and venus withdrew

In fact in 2000 Gala Leon-Garcia won Madrid over Fabiola Zuluaga. Probably Gala is the lowest winner in Madrid. But as previously said Madrid has always had great players and not bad players.

GO MONICA :D