Somdev is hitting his stride and new heights on the ATP tour.
His ranking has risen to 94, his best ever on the ATP tour.
Somdev has been hovering in and out of the top 100 for the past few months.
A ranking within the top 100 will ensure automatic entry into the majors allowing him to skip the grind of qualifying rounds.
Devvarman recently clinched the men’s singles gold at the CommonWealth Games in New Delhi, justifying his top seeding.
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Federer has vocalised his support for a curtailment of the ATP tour by a couple of weeks.
Federer is the president of the Player Council.
Federer was quoted as follows:
"I’m not complaining personally. I don’t mind since I just take breaks during the season. But for the average player it’s smart to finish at some stage and have a proper off-season."
The issue will be discussed at the ATP board meeting scheduled for next month in London.
The players have always sought a reduction in the number of tournaments they have to play each year.
The off season barely allows them to recover and work out the kinks in their game.
The Australian Open scheduled in January allows for little rest; the players have to be back to playing tournaments after the Christmas break.
In an article on Sports Illustrated: Inside Tennis , Bruce Jenkins tackles the issue with reference to the Davis Cup.
Bruce wonders if the tour can stop cold after the US Open , thus leaving the next three months free to play an extended Davis Cup.
(The Davis Cup is currently played over a year with sixteen teams in the World Group. The tournament consists of four rounds beginning in March with the final in December.)
This would allow the top players the luxury of competing for their national sides without the loss of earnings and time for recovery.
Criticising the lengthy ATP tour , Jenkins has gone on record saying:
“It’s one thing to talk about abandoning Buenos Aires, Bangkok or Stockholm, but there’s too much money to be earned, too much exotic lifestyle to be enjoyed, too much expanding of the adventurous mind. This is a rich-people’s sport, and they’ve set it up so it amounts to one fabulous, well-pampered holiday. I’m too distrustful of the corporate mind to believe that these tournaments are strictly about tennis, and I’m sure that goes for the players in many cases, as well.”
Interestingly, Nadal and Djokovic are proposing modelling the Davis Cup on the soccer World Cup.
On the proposal, Jenkins says:
“Give it a four-week run through the month of October, thus giving players adequate rest after the U.S. Open, and by all means, don’t have it all in one place. The Davis Cup’s greatest charm is a wild, hostile crowd going berserk for the hometown lads while a bunch of scrappy invaders try to spoil everyone’s party. There isn’t a greater test in all of tennis, and I’m including the majors, than winning a crucial Davis Cup match when it seems the entire world has aligned against you.”
Read the original article here.
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