Ball-Park to centre-court
Even before end of first month of the new year, the first of the four Grand-Slam event in Melbourne, Australia will be staged and finished. This year end in a few days, but the next year’s Tennis competition season will begin before the New Year. With only ten months in the competition Calendar, demand for space to stage an event is very high. For players it is a tight schedule for survival.
The status of a player decides the level of prestige and the pay cheque today. It is that simple and it has come to that in Tennis/sports. Sports has the biggest entertainment and reader base, so the media is in it. They make the players to be the best bill boards. Players thrive in it. The road to that is through globally recognised ranking, rating and seeding in events.
Everything is readable
Good playing position in the draw could be got through seeding. This ensures easier passage to the quarter finals at least. Along with good seeding if the ranking and rating, that is the media worth is also good, big appearance money from events could be the first line of reward to players. This is a behind the scene happening and difficult to be certain. These are the working mechanics that has evolved to be sport. Globally it is an accepted practice and also globally it is not spoken in public.
All of these has become sport. Many read the sport pages for such info before reading the main headlines. The excitement it kindles has become the live wire of sport.
I know a person write four pages every day on cricket. He himself never played, but can site more of Sangakkara’s and Jayawardene’s Cricket, most probably more than the players themselves. This is sports as conduit for social interaction. This is where Ranking, Rating and Seeding finds its worth in sport. Everyone wants know how a player walked his way up from the Ball-Park to the Centre–Court.
Ranking
This simple to understand player evaluating system called ranking is one of the biggest cake and challenge in Tennis. It has a long, winding road, with snake and ladder characteristics, physically punishing and emotionally stressing pursuit. It can take good twelve to fifteen years to reach the top ten. It is even more stressful than academic pursuit because at any given time there is room only for ten. With so many events giving out ranking points any achievement is not permanent. It is more of an animated suspension act subjected to gravity. Going down happens on its own and going up is very hard work.
The span of involvement to be the top fifty of the world is more than half of the life time of a young player. The results come only if it is managed well. In an estimated, I believe only a very small fraction of those who try ever see the top twenty ranking in their career. What wins is still a mystery and defining successful career is like charting the universe to travel. There are no sureties.
Rated events, Enticing tangle
The road to high end ranking is playing events which gives good ranking points. To play events with good ranking points, a player must be within the cut off mark of the event. For example, Grand Slam has 128 entries in the first round. Cut off point for direct entry into this around 110 or closer to it. The rest is by qualification and wild card system.
To reach that position a player will have to come up the ranking ladder, at an age around the twenties. That is walking up to six tiers of events and spent over ten years on the Tennis court. Unless a player is born with a magic portion this is the reality. It is a difficult to sustain road.
How are the events classified? It is done by a not so simple system. Before the word annual ranking calendar came to being, only the national championships of nations had the appeal of a mega event. National championships of nations do not have that prestige’s appeal any more. Branded private events have taken over that line up. The lead players here in regard to events are the professional bodies. WTA and ATP. Their sanctions are the only road to reach the best players of the world into events. The players are theirs too.
Attractive Ball-Park
The major event owners today are WTA, ATP and the ITF. ‘Grand Slams’ are ITF trade-marked events. It all started with the Ball-Park activity and it has moved into high end entertainment and elite society affair with financial muscles. Titles of these major events are like sacred symbols of sports. Winners are immortalised. The road starts with walking into the Ball-Park next to your house and if all goes well, a player will walk into the centre-court.
Good Ball-Parks, what is it to people? What is it to players? what is it to officials? It is the starting point for nations to produce good players. If successful it will not only serve the game but also many angles of money making platforms. A string of it and our players will be on the centre court. —– Good Luck and Season’s greetings.
George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of German Federation; National coach Sri Lanka & Brunei, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– contact 94 77 544 8880 geodano2015@gmail.com -