Tennis Opinion: Abrams is experiencing withdrawal symptoms
The Miami Open, one of the biggest tennis tournaments of the year, began yesterday -- sort of. With the un-spring-like weather rearing it’s ugly head in South Florida, the tournament, which features the top pros from both the ATP (Men’s) and WTA (Women’s) Tours, only got a very few of the first round matches played in between the constant raindrops. With this tournament coming on the heels of Indian Wells in Coachella Valley, Calif., last week, these two tournaments aim to showcase all the healthy top players and are collectively known as the Sunshine Double.
Today they will be finishing off the Qualies so that the main draws will be filled, and will be playing some first and second round matches, since many of the players received byes and have their first matches in the second round. Some of the players who will appear in the main draw, however, have already lost, and, designated as “lucky losers”, will appear in the tournament proper in place of players who had entered, were placed in the draw, and withdrew for a variety of reasons.
An example of a lucky loser would be American Mackenzie McDonald. McDonald, the 23-year-old former NCAA champion from UCLA is ranked 60th in the world, and that ranking is high enough for him to have received direct entry into the main draw. Unfortunately, six weeks ago, when the entry applications were received, McDonald’s ranking wasn’t high enough to get him straight in, and his entry was placed in the Qualifying Draw. There, he won a round, and then lost to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, ranked No. 106. Sonego qualified, and was placed in the main draw to play Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, ranked as the 48th best player in the world. That entry guarantees Sonego $16,425. If he beats Sonego, the Italian will guarantee himself a $26,430 payday. Should he win his second round match, he’ll receive $48,775 at least, and maybe more, should he continue to triumph.
Last week in Indian Wells, world No. 2 Rafa Nadal won a tough quarterfinal match over Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6, 7-6, and the next day, mere hours before he was to face Roger Federer in a showdown of epic proportions in the semis, Nadal pulled out with a strained hamstring. Had Nadal simply gotten to match point in the quarters and then retired, he would have assured the fans of a compelling semi-final match between Khachanov and Federer. Why didn’t Rafa, a noted sportsman, not do that? Well, by winning that quarterfinal match and reaching the semis, Nadal guaranteed himself $354,000 in prize money. Had he thought about the fans, and simply retired with match point in hand, he would have walked away with “only” $182,000. Interestingly, the SAME EXACT THING happened in the top half of the draw where France’s Gael Monfils, playing scintillating tennis, demolished German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-0, 6-2, in the Round of 16, and was unable to play in the quarters against Austria’s Dominic Thiem, the 3rd seed. Thiem received a Walkover into the semis where he overcame Canada’s Milos Raonic, to set up a Final battle with Federer. Thiem, capitalizing on two absolute strategically bonehead plays by Federer at 6-5 in the third, came away with the title and the top prize of $1,354,010. Federer settled with runner-up prize money of $686,000.
Who loses when these pros simply can’t, or don’t, play? It’s the fans, of course. They’ve paid big money for tickets to specific days and sessions to see whom they want to see play. When that player doesn’t play, the fan is left either holding a useless ticket, or gets stuck watching a hastily arranged “exhibition” provided so that those paying for the seats don’t go home without seeing some tennis. In this case, the exhibition provided was a doubles match featuring tournament director Tommy Haas, a retired pro who plays some matches on the Senior circuit, and 60-year old John McEnroe.
Now, lets get back to the “lucky losers”. Last week in the California desert, Kevin Anderson, the 5th seed was one of three players who was in the draw and withdrew from the tournament (bad elbow) without stepping on the court. Anderson was joined by Pablo Carreno Busta (shoulder) and Grigor Dimitrov (shoulder) on the sideline, and they were replaced by Ricaradas Berankis, Miomir Kecmanovic and Andrei Rublev, respectively. Kecmanovic took advantage of his “lucky loser” status (he lost in the qualies to American Marcos Giron, another former NCAA champion out of UCLA) by taking Anderson’s spot in the draw and getting a first round bye that Anderson’s 5th seed brought him, and then won three more matches before he bowed out to Raonic in the quarters. By getting lucky, Kecmanovic took home $182,000 plus had his room and board at the tournament hotel paid for by the tournament itself. Talk about lucky!
Nadal and Monfils were not the only players who had to withdraw or retire from a match while playing the tournament. Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka and Slovakia’s Martin Klizan also had to pull out of matches while playing, but at least they played and simply got injured during match play. Interestingly, Nishioka retired after he had lost the first set to Kecmanovic in the Fourth Round, helping the lucky loser advance to his big payday.
Players getting injured and not being able to either compete at all, or not able to finish a match, has been an issue for many years. But as long as there’s prize money to be won, most of the players will at least try to perform, even if they’re not at their best. After all, the tennis season lasts a full eleven months, and there really isn’t a day when a player doesn’t experience some painful issue, whether it’s their shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle, knee, hamstrings, or glutes, let alone the times they have a cold or the flu. But in order for the tournaments to continue to offer compelling matches for fans to watch, the ATP this year introduced a new feature to players who have already entered the draw and don’t feel well enough to compete. The ATP allows an entered player to withdraw without playing and will compensate those players with half of the prize money that would have been paid to them had they played and lost. It allows the tournament to replace those players with “lucky losers”—players who played and lost in the qualies, so that the fans get to see matches. That’s why you may see a tournament offering prize money of $8,359,455, with a “total financial commitment” of $9,314,875, as both Indian Wells and Miami do.
Maybe it’s time for the Tours to study ways to provide those who come to see later matches a compelling substitute instead of just sticking them with the disappointment of a big name pulling out prior to a match, and the match replaced by a silly doubles exhibition. For those who pay $250 or more for a ticket, I’ll bet that’s what they want. Additionally, how injured are the players who pull out of a tournament or a match as it’s being played? Last week Anderson pulled out of Indian Wells, yet he’s entered (and seeded 6th) this week in Miami. And Serena Williams, after taking out the tough Vika Azarenka in the second round, just outright quit her match against Garbine Muguruza after losing the first set 6-3 and being down 1-0 in the second, and, miraculously has recovered from her “injury” well enough to play in Miami. Maybe she should provide tickets to all the fans deprived of seeing her play, who were disappointed when she just walked away while she was losing last week.