[Golovinjured.]

..or should we just wait it out and hope for happy days?

The problems:
Burnout/Injuries/Slumps
Rankings that don't truly reflect the tour
The players don't ooze the same appeal that a Kournikova/Hingis/Williams/Seles etc. ever did. Except for Serena, Venus, and Sharapova.

The solutions:



Are there any? Personally, I think that;

(1) There should be NO mandatory events, they just cause trouble and it's not really necessary. I mean, which players are going to bypass a slam or Miami/IW in the first place? Except for outstanding circumstances. Abandon that woeful TOP 10 rule, while they're at it.
(2) The whole season should be shortened by atleast 2 weeks, preferably 4. Longer offseason, preparation for a big year, and more likely to want to play more when the tour starts again. I don't know where the 4 weeks should come from, but two weeks could come directly from the scrapping of IW. There is already a 2-weeker in the US, we don't need 2 back to back, do we?
(3) Longer grass season, shorter clay season OR American hardcourt season.
(3) Less tournaments all up. Less places to play, more likely that top players with meet more in one event.
(4) A change in the ranking system, a dramatic change. One that preferably puts Serena at #1, Venus in the TOP 5, and Elena at some stage in the TOP 3. LOL.

These are just rough, off the top of my head. As I hear more opinions I'll probably alter it a bit.

 

[Roookie]

Raise the money prizes of tournamets, maybe they'll try a little harder.

 

[Lindsayfan32]

The simple solution get rid of Larry Scott and give the job to someone who can run more than a chook rafle. Come to think of it Larry Scott can't run a chook rafle either.

 

[Golovinjured.]

So you think the players should be rewarded with more money, in hope that they'll try harder?

:help:

 

[A Magicman]

Bring back average points with a minimum number of 12 tournaments and have no mandatory tournaments.

It used to be like that once upon a while and it was the fairest system of all.

Winning was rewarded, tanking was punished and the rankings reflected the real strength of all players.

 

[Larrybidd]

The whole season should be over soon after the US Open. No more that 6 weeks after the Open should be the YEC and that's it. That might help with injuries by giving the players plenty of time to rest and recover.

As for the ranking system, seriously why is that a problem, except for die hard fans that like to argue about it. Who ever decided not to buy a ticket or watch a match because they disagreed with a WTA rank? College football fans HATE with passion the fact that a ranking system decides who plays for the national championship, yet the sports thrives despite it, some would say in part, because of it - as it gives fans reasons to argue about it.

As for the supposed lack of compelling stars - players become stars by winning on the highest stage. Unlike hollywood and the WWE, the tour can't fake it. Talented players just need to make it happen. And over time it will - always does.

 

[Matt01]

..or should we just wait it out and hope for happy days?

The problems:
Burnout/Injuries/Slumps
Rankings that don't truly reflect the tour
The players don't ooze the same appeal that a Kournikova/Hingis/Williams/Seles etc. ever did. Except for Serena, Venus, and Sharapova.

The solutions:



Are there any? Personally, I think that;

(1) There should be NO mandatory events, they just cause trouble and it's not really necessary. I mean, which players are going to bypass a slam or Miami/IW in the first place? Except for outstanding circumstances. Abandon that woeful TOP 10 rule, while they're at it.
(2) The whole season should be shortened by atleast 2 weeks, preferably 4. Longer offseason, preparation for a big year, and more likely to want to play more when the tour starts again. I don't know where the 4 weeks should come from, but two weeks could come directly from the scrapping of IW. There is already a 2-weeker in the US, we don't need 2 back to back, do we?
(3) Longer grass season, shorter clay season OR American hardcourt season.
(3) Less tournaments all up. Less places to play, more likely that top players with meet more in one event.
(4) A change in the ranking system, a dramatic change. One that preferably puts Serena at #1, Venus in the TOP 5, and Elena at some stage in the TOP 3. LOL.

These are just rough, off the top of my head. As I hear more opinions I'll probably alter it a bit.

This must a bad joke.
Maybe later more about this crap...

 

[volta]

Raise the money prizes of tournamets, maybe they'll try a little harder.

reduce it and see them try even harder

anyway , WTA is just on a transition phase , it's kinda bad right now but there is always the after the storm . (same happened on the ATP and now look)

 

[Demosthenes]

Bring back quality points.

 

[SIN DIOS NI LEY]

Less weeks of competition = players with the same number of tournaments that they play actually (15-20) in a shorter period of time. I don´t think it is a good idea

 

[Talula]

This must a bad joke.
Maybe later more about this crap...

Why do you think this is crap? The Tour is in dire straights. Womens tennis has never had such a low profile in the media - which of course is catch 22 as that just perpetuates the lack of interest.

I personally think it's a lot to do with the players. They just aren't delivering. Which is why seeing Amelie win Paris and her reaction was just so thrilling - she cared. So many don't come across as caring. When I recall how much the likes of Graf, BJK, Seles, Navratilova, Evert, Hingis (for a while), Sabatini, Novotna, Capriati and many others appeared to really care about their game and wins/losses, the majority of the current bunch just don't seem to have their hearts in it. To be a real champion it has to mean everything. And that shows.

 

[Agape]

 

[ElusiveChanteuse]

:worship:

 

[Sam L]

WTF? And where are the stars on the ATP tour? Federer? Nadal? That's it.

The WTA has Venus, Serena and Sharapova. 3 > 2.

 

[scoobsuk]

Womens tennis does seem to be extremely dependent on 2 or 3 names. If they can't or won't show up to a big event, it's a big problem. The womens IW tournament has been practically anonymous this year - there has been little to excite the interest of me, who has been following both mens and womens tennis for a very long time. Nastya getting to a semi - good stuff. Beyond that it's been dreary - it's not like there's even been great tennis that's not been recognised - from what I've seen the standard of the tennis has been anonymous too.

This is why at 11am they put on a womens match featuring recent Aussie open semi-finalist Zvonareva on Stadium 1 and 5 man and his dog go to watch it. Meanwhile, recent Aussie open semi-finalist Verdasco is playing Kohlschreiber on Stadium 2, not Federer and Nadal, and the place is packed to the rafters with spectators.

When the mens match was over there was a mass exodus back to the main court.

And I can't say as I blame them. I would have gone to the Verdasco match too even if I had tickets for the main court.

It seems to me the fans here and elsewhere are voting with their feet. They have to put the womens final on the same day as the mens in Indian Wells so they don't get an embarrassingly small crowd.

The tour's problem is that the solution to this is a group of tough, competitive players who are mentally very strong as well as skilled tennis-wise, and for whom winning is everything and losing is agony. Somewhere along the line something has gone wrong - there seem to be a lot of players out there who don't mind losing as much as they should and are scared of winning the big matches. It's bizarre and does not make for a tour that's worth watching. I've been a staunch defender of womens tennis over the years but these days I'm struggling. I'm really struggling.

 

[Vaidisova Ruled]

I think WTA lacks of stars. Yes, there is Venus/Serena/Maria.
And then there is Ana and JJ, but they are not at the same level.

It's too bad that Martina Hingis (even when she was not a slam contender anymore), Lindsay Davenport, Kim, Justine, Capriati are not playing anymore.

Before it was way more interesting. Now you know that one of the williams will win the tournament.

That's why there are not (apart from Venus vs Serena) any rivalry (like Capriati vs Serena).
And now, in the young players (apart from Pavlyuchenkova) I don't see any "future star".
I have nothing against Cornet, but her game is not really interesting and if she'll enter the top 10, it will be kinda sad.
There are not "big personalities" or rivalry. And the matches are kinda boring (lots of UE).
I think that if there were real stars (like before), so big rivalries with lots of drama, nobody would care about the UE.

Maria/Serena/Venus are not enough.

ps: lots of people are saying that azarenka will be a top player/star, but all of the mathes I saw, I didn't see anything big. However I never saw Azarenka vs Serena, and lots of you praised that match. Where can I see it?

 

[goldenlox]

No matter how you rank them, this would probably be this final. Vera was in a quarter with Mauresmo, Razzano, who had recent good results, played Caro and Vika
Players are not consistent. Our current #1, Serena, has made one final in 6 months. And remember, Vika was up a set and had to retire against her

What do you want? The top 7 are the best 7, no matter how you rank them 1-7.

 

[doujyr]

You can't just conjure up good players out of nowhere! Always makes me laugh to read this stuff. The crop of players are what they are, as it is in any sport. Fiddling with this or that isn't going to change that.

 

[BartoliBabes]

OMG shut up about it already... its fine!

 

[serenus_2k8]

OMG shut up about it already... its fine!

Uhm..the crowds speak for themselves...anyone who thinks its fine needs to pull their head out the sand and take a look around.. If Venus and Serena hung up their rackets and Maria's shoulder never recovered, even the slams would be filled with 'sorry, who?' players that generate 0 interest. ATP = the future of tennis :armed: