More Suggested Changes for Professional Tennis
Previously, we discussed here some changes that could make the big tennis tournaments such as the U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the others, more compelling, especially for newcomers who have avoided the sport. Here are a few more changes that should be made.
1) For all of the non-major doubles tournaments, there should be a 25 percent increase in the field size. A doubles tournament usually has half as many rounds as a singles, but since the teams have two players, the tournament has just as many players. Thus, by increasing the field size by a fourth, you can accommodate the extra singles players without impacting the doubles participants much.
2) Anyone who plays while injured and then withdraws during the first round should forfeit his or her prize money. There have been too many instances lately of in-match withdrawals from those who should never have played in the first place because of their injuries. This denied someone else in a healthier condition a spot on the field. This doesn’t mean that those who are injured during the match should be punished—but those who know they are not up to snuff before the match should not be encouraged to play.
3) The champion from each of the major tournament should automatically be invited back the next year. You might think this always happens, but there are a few rare instances when it does not. For instance, in 2005, Wayne Arthurs won a single ATP title over Mario Ancic. A year later, his ranking had fallen to where he was almost guaranteed to automatically get in—but not quite. And instead of allowing Arthurs a wild card to get into the tournament as defending champion, he had to go through qualifying and was defeated. But a player who is good enough to win the tournament last year should automatically qualify for the next year. It just makes sense. After all, wouldn’t the other players in the tournament want to have their chance at challenging the reigning champ?
4) And finally, mo longer should there be any wild cards granted to players who are outside of the top 200 to grand slams just to pad participation in round one. This just encourages bad match-ups.
So these are our suggestions for improving all of the major tennis tournaments, including the U.S. Open. But none of these changes mean much if you’re not there to see them. To see next year’s U.S. Open in person, remember that the best tickets at the best prices can be purchased here: http://usopentickets.org