I’ll be the first to admit that I have always been a proponent of shortening the tennis season.  However, lately I’ve come around a bit and have started to realize the benefits of basically holding tournaments ten of the twelve months.  And in fact, for the many players who qualify for the season ending championships, that time period is even longer.  On the one hand people argue that the season is way too long, players get injured, no one cares, it makes no sense to hold tournaments after the biggest (US Open) of the year, etc. etc. 

However, on the flipside there are some real intriguing issues out there right now.  First and foremost is the race for the last two spots for Shanghai, which has come down to the last week, and there are still plenty of people in the running.  Gonzo had a solid hold on the 7th spot, but failed to win his 2nd Round Paris Master’s match against Youhzny.  Haas, current holder of the 8th spot for Shanghai, will face Youhzny next.  In addition to Gonzo and Haas, there are yet five more players who have a shot to qualify - Robredo, Blake, Murray, Berdych & Gasquet.  So headed into the last week, we’ve got a tournament where five (now four) guys are fighting to extend their season in a tournament where just about every player in the top 20 is competing.  I ask, how is that a problem?  It’s not.  Actually, I take that back, the problem is that I, like many other Americans, have no chance to watch it.  But that is neither here nor there.

This is wild, but bear with me, because I am actually flip flopping as I write this.  (Calm down, it’s not like I’m running for president).  The fact that this week is exciting is all well and good, but really, what else has gone on in tennis since the US Open ended almost 2 months ago?  Not bloody much, with the exception of that whole gambling catastrophe that was not exactly beneficial for our sport.  The fact that I am so wishy washy leads me to believe that the best plan of action lies somewhere in between a full calendar of tennis and no action at all.

It’s obvious that both the ATP and WTA are committed to their season ending championship events, so it would be impossible to do away with those.  So how about something like this - each year following the US Open (maybe after one week off) the season ending events take place, kind of like a tennis postseason.  Every other year, following those, the previously proposed two-week Davis & Fed Cup events could take place.  Now, by the end of September the main part of the tennis season is done.  The remainder of the year could be treated kind of like MLB’s Arizona Fall League.  Hold low-level events, enabling top players who have played a ton already to take some time off, and allow lesser ranked players (and players who are coming back from injury like Mario Ancic) a shot at a couple more titles, points, money, etc. 

I realize this is a bit idealistic, and I’m not really factoring in money that the ATP and WTA make off bigger fall tournaments, but it’s my blog, so I don’t really care either.

Hump day links:

The Brother’s Murray.

Davydenko isn’t the only player to get fined for lack of effort.  Here are a couple other stories provided by Bonnie Ford, I’m sure Federer won’t get mentioned.

Jon Wetheim’s newest mailbag addresses some of the same issues.

Gimelstob officially ends his career…but as this piece shows, his new career as writer could very well take off. 

If you thought I wouldn’t mention this, you are nuts.  From blog on October 1st, “Still, Red Sox win their second title in 4 years, probably in 5 games.”  I was wrong about the team they beat and the number of games it took, but I won’t lose any sleep over it.

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