[shirgan]

in the last few weeks there have been a series of 4 tournaments in Greece where some Israeli players participated.

in the first tournament (Larissa 10k) only lankri and shlomo entered
in the second (Mytilini 10k) all 4, astrogo, shlomo, lankri and skripnik entered
in the third (Thessaloniki 10k) lankri abandoned the series and only the 3 others played.
in the fourth (Athens 50k) shlomo also withdrew and only astrogo and skripnik are playing

I don't understand why shlomo and lankri would withdraw just before the big event of the whole series!!
It seems extremely unprofessional. and even if playing tennis is only a hobby for them - what amateur tennis player would give up a chance to play a 50k pro event?
based on the number of byes in the quali draw, lankri and of course shlomo would have surely been able to get in.

Unless both of them were injured I can't possibly understand what could cause them to give up the most important event of the series, seeing as they were already in Greece!!!

What bigger waste of money could there be, if they were already in Greece - why not participate in the big event?

Is this bad planning from their part? are they not aiming to enter the tournaments that could advance them further? Is there some rule that I don't know about preventing them from entering a 50k??

[neospecialist]

I am a casual tennis fan and I have never understood the economics of tennis for players who are perpetually out of the top 125 players. Unless you are young and on a rising path, how does one justify these tournaments which have very little in prize money but are extremely expensive in terms of travel and hotels etc? Do players like Shlomo and Glushko have sponsors who don't really care about ever seeing a return on their investment? Do the Israeli girls travel together to various venues so that they can share hotel and other travel expenses? Do these girls come from wealthy families who are subsidizing their hobbies? I am asking more questions than the thread starter but this has always puzzled me and I wonder if anyone has any insight on these issues?

[ronim1]

Both of you are completely right asking those questions. We as tennis fans have no clue to what makes them tick.