Don't like these first rounds byes for the top-4 seeds we have this week in a 500 32-player draw: getting 108 points for winning just 1 match is too much. Otherwise, Stuttgart usually has great fields, excellent visuals/camera angles and a very high level of play.
Regarding ATP 500s scheduled head-to-head, I recall reading that income taxes can impact which tourney the top players choose to enter, specifically Halle vs London.
I went to my first Citi Open in Washington in 2019 and was lucky enough to watch Jessica Pegula win her first WTA title, Coco Gauff and Caty McNally won doubles, and fan favorite Nick Kyrgios won the men's side. It's a great event in a wonderful city. I can't recommend it enough.
The 500s are such an undercovered category in my opinion. Fields are stacked! And it's still looking like club-like atmosphere and not the red carpet vibe you're now getting in the 1000s and ofc Grand Slam events. I'd say they should really play into opening the access for coverage in ways the 1000s and GS cannot do anymore: they'd have an even nicer footing in the system.
Also makes me wonder what the appearance fees are like now in the category. Lips have been quite tight on the topic recently. We're surely no longer in the amount given to the previous era, but I'm quite sure there's a nice battlefield still on that. No coincidence that some of the best draws in the 500s also have owners with deep pockets. Calendar plays a part, for sure, too.
Ben, I agree that Stuttgart's role of competitors has been unusually weighted to the cream of the crop for years, to its credit, but it's hard to ignore the power (money) of the title sponsor, Porsche. The info may well not be available, even to you, but just what they pay in appearance fees would be at least interesting, if not illuminating, especially as compared to other 500s. Plus, like Charleston, Stuttgart is one of the most established tourneys on the WTA calendar, having started in 1978. (And much the same can be said of Washington, DC, too.) All the more reason for the tours to. not contract to some "all 1000s" kind of competition. Keeping notable tournaments in smaller markets helps keep the fans' fires alive. Not everyone can travel to the majors or 1000s, and we know live tennis is a different animal than watching it on a screen.
Ben, thanks for the research!
Don't like these first rounds byes for the top-4 seeds we have this week in a 500 32-player draw: getting 108 points for winning just 1 match is too much. Otherwise, Stuttgart usually has great fields, excellent visuals/camera angles and a very high level of play.
Regarding ATP 500s scheduled head-to-head, I recall reading that income taxes can impact which tourney the top players choose to enter, specifically Halle vs London.
I went to my first Citi Open in Washington in 2019 and was lucky enough to watch Jessica Pegula win her first WTA title, Coco Gauff and Caty McNally won doubles, and fan favorite Nick Kyrgios won the men's side. It's a great event in a wonderful city. I can't recommend it enough.
The 500s are such an undercovered category in my opinion. Fields are stacked! And it's still looking like club-like atmosphere and not the red carpet vibe you're now getting in the 1000s and ofc Grand Slam events. I'd say they should really play into opening the access for coverage in ways the 1000s and GS cannot do anymore: they'd have an even nicer footing in the system.
Also makes me wonder what the appearance fees are like now in the category. Lips have been quite tight on the topic recently. We're surely no longer in the amount given to the previous era, but I'm quite sure there's a nice battlefield still on that. No coincidence that some of the best draws in the 500s also have owners with deep pockets. Calendar plays a part, for sure, too.
A PTPA discovery motion that would force tournaments to reveal all appearance fees sure would be interesting!
That would actually be a useful consequence of this whole...thing.
Good stuff. And some of those tables made me think of watermelon. (Stuttgart, however, is all rind, no melon.)
Ben, I agree that Stuttgart's role of competitors has been unusually weighted to the cream of the crop for years, to its credit, but it's hard to ignore the power (money) of the title sponsor, Porsche. The info may well not be available, even to you, but just what they pay in appearance fees would be at least interesting, if not illuminating, especially as compared to other 500s. Plus, like Charleston, Stuttgart is one of the most established tourneys on the WTA calendar, having started in 1978. (And much the same can be said of Washington, DC, too.) All the more reason for the tours to. not contract to some "all 1000s" kind of competition. Keeping notable tournaments in smaller markets helps keep the fans' fires alive. Not everyone can travel to the majors or 1000s, and we know live tennis is a different animal than watching it on a screen.
Thanks for all the data.