[disposablehero]

...And I expected Serena to pull out of the event, I would keep Jennifer Capriati close to Serena in the draw, so that after the withdrawal Jennifer (big drawing card) would have an easier ride to the late rounds.

 

[AjdeNate!]

Me too, and I'd make sure that the Belgians were on opposite sides of the draw.

 

[ys]

.. yes, and that my favourite Russian in this tournament is placed in the quarter with the worst hardcourt player out of Top 4, and not in the same quarter with Capriati, and better eyt , in the same quarter with the weakest Top 8... The question is, who is going to capitalise on all that..

 

[disposablehero]

Don't get me wrong now. I'm not saying I actually WOULD fix a draw, that's just what I would do if I was going to.

 

[Knizzle]

...And I expected Serena to pull out of the event, I would keep Jennifer Capriati close to Serena in the draw, so that after the withdrawal Jennifer (big drawing card) would have an easier ride to the late rounds.

But Serena would have a tough draw that would include more than Capriati though.

 

[Fyndh0rnElf]

Maybe they knew all along Venus was not playing but they waited until the draw was made to announce it, so that they could "fix" it, in the way it helped the most their american top players.

 

[Ballbuster]

True!

They wanted to get all of their Lovely Americans in the Semis. It's the American way. It's all about dollars.

 

[Fyndh0rnElf]

Last year Dokic was ranked no4 but they gave her the no5th seed instead of 4(given to Davenport). Davenport got Dokic's piece of cake draw, while Dokic was stunned in the 2nd round by a certain Bovina. If Davenport had faced Bovina in the 2nd round as it should have been, she would probably have been stunned as well, for they eventually met in the QFs and Bovina only lost in 3sets. As we all know, meeting an unknown tough cookie like Bovina early is very dangerous, but it's no so dangerous later in the tournaments, after there is time to study your opponents carefully.

Tournament organizers like to mess up with draws in the way that favours best their players, and sometimes it really changes the whole tournament. It could have been Dokic instead of Lindsay in the semis, and god knows what could have happened.

 

[treufreund]

PAM and MARY JO even said on the air that they did not agree with what the US Open did.

 

[Keith]

Lindsay had an injury protected ranking, so that is why she was given the #4 seed, not because they thought she would benefit from it. At the time, I think Lindsay was ranked about 9th or 10th.

 

[Brian Stewart]

When Venus withdrew, they should have done the "seed conga", bumping up Momo to Venus' spot, then Hantuchova, etc. Instead, they just move #33 directly into Venus' spot. Very beneficial to Capriati, and increasing her chances of reaching the semi considerably. Coincidence, or "home cooking"?

On the surface, it looks suspicious. But, they are not bound by WTA Rules. And if memory serves, this is the way they've done it before.

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

they would have done it had it been to Jen's benefit, if she was #5 seed, she would have been moved to that spot
that would be seen as "making sense" to balance the draw.

 

[decemberlove]

True!

They wanted to get all of their Lovely Americans in the Semis. It's the American way. It's all about dollars.

being all about the dollars isnt just the american way. its just about every fucking country.

 

[Fyndh0rnElf]

Lindsay had an injury protected ranking, so that is why she was given the #4 seed, not because they thought she would benefit from it. At the time, I think Lindsay was ranked about 9th or 10th.

Any why give her specifically the no4 seed? Oh yeah, Dokic was the only non american ranked in the top4...

 

[Kart]

There was no real sense in making Lindsay no.4 seed that year apart from her amazing record. It was a bit unfair on Jelena but Lindsay would probably have come through to the semis anyway.

If I wanted to fix a draw in the United States, I would make sure the Williams sisters appeared on opposite sides of the draw every year possible, even when they're not seeded 1 and 2.

 

[disposablehero]

Kinda coincidental though, isn't it, that Stanford is the only hardcourt warmup that a Williams stays entered in long enough for the draw to come out, and lo and behold, what should happen but Jen appears in Serena's section, Serena withdraws. Then Venus finally gets into a draw at the US Open, draws Jen, and pulls out.

How many people actually believe that the USTA didn't know when the draw came out that Venus wasn't playing?

 

[tenn_ace]

but how do you fix a draw if it's a live ceremony with media present? sorry for being so naive...

 

[hingis-seles]

If I wanted to fix a draw in the United States, I would make sure the Williams sisters appeared on opposite sides of the draw every year possible, even when they're not seeded 1 and 2.

What a coincidence that Venus and Serena have been on opposite sides of the draw every year from 1998-2002. Only in 2002 were they seeded #1 and #2.

 

[Experimentee]

They should have moved some seeds up instead of just moving the #33 seed into Venus' place. I dont know if that was to benefit Capriati though, Wimbledon did the same thing this year and it didnt benefit any Brits.

 

[TheBoiledEgg]

They should have moved some seeds up instead of just moving the #33 seed into Venus' place. I dont know if that was to benefit Capriati though, Wimbledon did the same thing this year and it didnt benefit any Brits.

1) there were no seeded Brits
and 2) to benefit any Brits they would have to force the opponents to play with their feet tied together