OK you guys are always whining that the SEWTA is gradually moving all of its events to China, South America and the Middle East, and in the process "killing off" European events with decades of history and an amazing atmosphere
but I just watched highlights of SEWTA Paris and the atmosphere was like a dentist office ... the stands were only 10% full, including to watch Disco Petra and hometown favorites Marion & Alize
I would say that for sure the crowds are China Open, Doha, Dubai are better and they will be better for sure in Wuhan ... add in the fact that sponsors in those countries have the $$$ to pay the SEWTA, it is natural for Stacy to pull the ax down on all European events
Was there any explanation as to why Paris and Fed Cup switched places this year? It's weird, being immediately a week after the AO, they were never going to get a good field except from any top seeds that bowed out early.
A tournament in Europe the week after the Australian Open (11 hour time difference) is never going to attract a decent field or a crowd of spectators. If anything, the poor crowds justify moving Paris to another slot in the calender.
Beijing Open is poorly attended despite being a mandatory event and following other Asian tournaments in the calender. Sorry Na Mug, you've shot yourself in the foot this time.
OK you guys are always whining that the SEWTA is gradually moving all of its events to China, South America and the Middle East, and in the process "killing off" European events with decades of history and an amazing atmosphere
Was there any explanation as to why Paris and Fed Cup switched places this year? It's weird, being immediately a week after the AO, they were never going to get a good field except from any top seeds that bowed out early.
Apart from Bartoli getting through to the semi's though, there was no real good semi-final line up. It's probably better for the tourmanent that a young up and coming French player is in the semi's rather than Kvitova. The French crowds at least are normally very good at getting behind a home player.
Not sure how good a sell the final is going to be to the locals if Mladenovic loses tomorrow.
Havent got to read all replies to this thread on my mobile, but I am at the tournament for the quarterfinal and final. Interestingly I was thinking that the atmosphere seemed more subdued than when I was here last year. There also seemed a bit less crowd and they were not getting into Bartoli like last year against Vinci and Kerber.
But also there are less kids than last year as well I noticed, I wonder if the event being run a week earlier than last year is a difference? Hope for a good final and upbeat crowd, impressed with Barthel's serve.
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I agree with most of the points made above. I think the problem with having Internationals the same week as Fed Cup is simply not going to work (I know they more want to do it to make a point to the ITF), most mid-ranked players that would play the international will choose Fed Cup because the financial incentives for them to play are higher. The top ranked players simply don't want to play those weeks full stop. So you will be left with lower ranked players that can't get into their Fed Cup teams, which will make for terrible fields.
I for one think the season should be about 2 weeks longer than it currently is, which still leaves a 2 month off season, but allows you to stretch certain areas of the season that desperately need it. Post-USO is way too condensed as it currently stands. And the other week is needed from 2015 when there are 3 weeks of grass court events needed between the French Open and Wimbledon rather than the current 2.
One thing to add to the above post is the WTA system is too over complicated for your general fan. The ATP have understood this with there 250, 500, 1000 system - that is easy for everyone to understand. The WTA system is pretty long winded to explain to casual fans, and is not helped by Indian Wells and the like often just being referred to as a Premier event by broadcasters. The whole 3 tiers of Premier events, entry rules to these events and Internationals is not that easy to understand, and I'm sure a lot of broadcasters themselves don't understand the full differences between events. On ATP everyone knows if you win a 500 you get 500 points, you win a Masters 1000 and you get 1000 points - it's that simple.
One easy solution is to rearrange Indian Wells and Miami (these two tournaments are ridiculous on two counts: together they take up a whole month - they're practically bigger than the entire grass season. And they are doubly ridiculous because they are also back-to-back mandatory events.
Fix that shit and the WTA will have two new extra weeks on the calendar that they can play and rearrange.
These are the kind of actions WTA can do instead of stealing bread away from the mouths of scrubs by shortening the whole season and not leaving room for Fed cups and what not.
One easy solution is to rearrange Indian Wells and Miami (these two tournaments are ridiculous on two counts: together they take up a whole month - they're practically bigger than the entire grass season.
And they are doubly ridiculous because they are also back-to-back mandatory events. Fix that shit and the WTA will have two new extra weeks on the calendar that they can play and rearrange.
These are the kind of actions WTA can do instead of stealing bread away from the mouths of scrubs by shortening the whole season and not leaving room for Fed cups and what not.
Surely no-one actually wants the season shorter than it already is?
While in principle what you say is good and sounds great on paper. In practice WTA probably don't have a lot of say in this. It is crazy that you have 2 non-grand slam events taking up 4 weeks of your calendar, everyone knows this, the WTA must know this.
I dont think weak field in a tournament is a problem. I mean let some low ranked players have a chance to gain.points, money and experience in those tournaments clashed with Fed Cup is not bad...
I dont think weak field in a tournament is a problem. I mean let some low ranked players have a chance to gain.points, money and experience in those tournaments clashed with Fed Cup is not bad...
You are so ill informed. You do realize that New Haven's facilities are among one of the largest in the world? Take a crowd of people and put them in a much larger setting and of course the capacity will look unfilled. It's not rocket science.
This used to be a really popular event, top players there, etc. Now it's some event for players who did shitty in Australia and mugs looking for some points.
There was no Dubai/Doha in February back then, that explains why many top players played Toray right after AO. Btw the stadium in Paris was full today despite a poor semi finals line-up. Obviously the problem is just w/ Beijing.
True. Looking forward to attending the final later today and the semis had more people. But Doha and Dubai makes outdoor hardcourt season far too long and proves WTA is obsessed with money.
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Paris would serve its purpose the week after the US Open. In terms of travel it would not be taxing. Had Stacey used her brains she would have switched Guangzhou and Tashkent so that more of a road map to Tokyo and Beijing was paved. But let's face it, she doesn't want Tokyo either, it's not about Asia, it's more about China.
Paris would serve its purpose the week after the US Open. In terms of travel it would not be taxing. Had Stacey used her brains she would have switched Guangzhou and Tashkent so that more of a road map to Tokyo and Beijing was paved. But let's face it, she doesn't want Tokyo either, it's not about Asia, it's more about China.
The crowds are poor for lots of reasons. The same reasons there was hardly anyone in the live thread on here, fewer posts about the matches, and generally little interest: there were few big names in the tournament; there were relatively early exits of players with a name; it is straight after a Grand Slam; there was a better line up of players in Thailand - WTA really fucked up; it's January/February and bleak weather in Northern Europe, we don't like going out unless we have to; indoors tennis is dying - people prefer outdoor events; WTA is losing popularity in comparison to ATP.
The above does not warrant moving anything to China. The WTA at the minute are thick - they should drop this event.
The Paris indoor arena is only a few blocks away from Roland Garros so why couldn't the stingy French tennis Feds just temporarily borrow some of the hawk-eye cameras from there? :lol:
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