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Post by janie on Aug 8, 2013 15:05:06 GMT -5
I never heard about the men's exo hogging a night in Toronto, either. If that TD has such low regard for women's tennis, why does he have that job? What nonsense. And Tomic and Lopez are now supposed to be household names? Sure they are -- in their home countries.
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Post by lexpretend on Aug 9, 2013 1:13:32 GMT -5
Hey, a semi-decent win for Shitra over Stosur. People are saying she looks fitter. Can this possibly be? Bearing in mind that last week culminated in that disaster against La Razz.
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Post by Traveling Man on Aug 9, 2013 1:45:20 GMT -5
First I'm hearing of the men's exo but agreed with janie and alex.
The late 90s/golden era was the only time the wta was just as if not more popular than the atp. Otherwise it's never been too different than today in terms of popularity. That's no reason to schedule a exo in a prime time slot DURING the tournament. While that blip of a couple of years was great its been over a decade. They need to move on.
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Post by lexpretend on Aug 9, 2013 2:04:35 GMT -5
Lopez and Tomic pullin' in the crowds:
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Post by lexpretend on Aug 9, 2013 2:10:12 GMT -5
(The root issue here is the dumb Roadmap forcing Montréal and Toronto/ATP and WTA to compete against each other in the same week, when the old schedule of men one week, women the next worked perfectly.)
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Post by janie on Aug 9, 2013 6:08:41 GMT -5
That pic, ha! So glad practically no one showed up.
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Post by Edna Krabappel on Aug 9, 2013 6:27:01 GMT -5
The other side looks a bit more stacked, to be fair. But obviously it's BS to claim that SEWTA has low public appeal and then bring in Tomic and Lopez to counter it.
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Post by Pamela Shriver on Aug 9, 2013 9:49:59 GMT -5
Hingis and Hantuchova lost in the second round of doubles. Didn't she say that she wouldn't come back to singles specifically because she wouldn't want to be losing in the second round or quarterfinals every week?
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Post by janie on Aug 9, 2013 13:55:57 GMT -5
Hingis and Hantuchova lost in the second round of doubles. Didn't she say that she wouldn't come back to singles specifically because she wouldn't want to be losing in the second round or quarterfinals every week? Yes, but I hope she'll give it a little more time. Though losing to Georges/BZS 26 46 has to sting. She needs a stronger partner to fire her up. OTOH, she was silly to think her WTT results would translate into WTA success. It's not even the same game.
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Post by R. Black on Aug 9, 2013 14:13:17 GMT -5
The second night match is not a "prime time slot" in Canada, it's not like the US Open.
I guess I'm the only person who doesn't see any problem with some diversification for the night session. Stars usually don't want to play the second night match, so the second match is almost always a not-so-interesting single match or a DNOC match. They might as well try something different to see what interest it generates. It might seem like a dumb move, but all the "dumb" things they've tried over the years like planning concerts and stuff must have worked, as the Canadian Open is the most popular 1 week event with record-breaking attendances.
Re: Hingis. She hasn't played for 6 years. I don't think she expects to win right away, though I doubt it will go on for very long if she sees her comeback doesn't lead anywhere.
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Post by janie on Aug 9, 2013 17:48:50 GMT -5
Don't you see a problem with this tournament going to the guys in the ATP tourney up the road and offering them $$$$ to play in an exo if they happen (or choose) to lose early in the real event? This is only one of the many problems I have with this bizarre idea, but I find it troubling and if I were the ATP I wouldn't like it.
Meanwhile, you have to say this for our Kvitty: she's very predictable. You can always predict that she'll have a stunning loss sooner rather than later.
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Post by Old Hag on Aug 10, 2013 0:26:13 GMT -5
Three, we can discuss the relative merits of the ATP and WTA as fans, but it behoves tournament directors to promote the sport as a whole - that's only sensible long-term thinking because everyone knows the quality is cyclical. The WTA's future looks stronger than the ATP's does. Quality, in terms of entertainment, is cyclical. Popularity is not. I can't be as positive as you here. SEWTA had a decade of incredible mainstream stories that I can't see ever being duplicated. Seles stabbing and return. Hingis, a cute charismatic #1. Williams' emergence and domination. Pornikova bringing legitimate sex appeal [sorry, Ma$ha]. I'm not much of a fan of any of the players I mentioned, so it's not nostalgia for me. And this happened at a strong ATP downspell with the Sampras bug serving era that everyone bitched about. I think the tennis public strongly overestimates the popularity of the women's game. The women are needed at slams because there's 2 weeks to fill. They fill in the breaks nicely. They're a contrast to the men's 5 set matches that go on forever. By themselves, the majority of the world does not care about the women. There's some sexism in that, but like all women's sports, the main reason is because they're playing a weaker game. Women's tennis itself does not sell.
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Post by R. Black on Aug 10, 2013 3:54:23 GMT -5
Don't you see a problem with this tournament going to the guys in the ATP tourney up the road and offering them $$$$ to play in an exo if they happen (or choose) to lose early in the real event? This is only one of the many problems I have with this bizarre idea, but I find it troubling and if I were the ATP I wouldn't like it. Meanwhile, you have to say this for our Kvitty: she's very predictable. You can always predict that she'll have a stunning loss sooner rather than later. I find the idea terribly stupid myself, but then I'm a tennis fan. But maybe for the general public, seeing there's a women's match and then a men's match might appeal to them more than single + DNOC, even if they don't actually stay for the second match. I don't think it's embarrassing or insulting. In the past, they've programmed only one single match, followed by stupid shit like... a Bran Van 3000 concert or something? I think they realized a long time ago that to attract people, you need to sell more than the main event you're promoting. And again, it worked.
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Post by janie on Aug 10, 2013 12:12:59 GMT -5
O Canada! (WC) Dabrowski/Fichman d. (1) Errani/Vinci 67(4) 62 10-5
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Post by janie on Aug 10, 2013 16:43:10 GMT -5
Cirstea again? This is hilarious!
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Post by The Chloe on Aug 10, 2013 16:50:46 GMT -5
I watched some of that match. Meh.
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Post by Pamela Shriver on Aug 10, 2013 20:51:34 GMT -5
Don't you see a problem with this tournament going to the guys in the ATP tourney up the road and offering them $$$$ to play in an exo if they happen (or choose) to lose early in the real event? This is only one of the many problems I have with this bizarre idea, but I find it troubling and if I were the ATP I wouldn't like it. Meanwhile, you have to say this for our Kvitty: she's very predictable. You can always predict that she'll have a stunning loss sooner rather than later. I find the idea terribly stupid myself, but then I'm a tennis fan. But maybe for the general public, seeing there's a women's match and then a men's match might appeal to them more than single + DNOC, even if they don't actually stay for the second match. I don't think it's embarrassing or insulting. In the past, they've programmed only one single match, followed by stupid shit like... a Bran Van 3000 concert or something? I think they realized a long time ago that to attract people, you need to sell more than the main event you're promoting. And again, it worked. I agree 100%. I don't find anything about it particularly offensive, and I understand the motivation.
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Post by lexpretend on Aug 11, 2013 2:32:09 GMT -5
The prominence of it is what's offensive, and the idea that a WTA tournament needs any old ATP scrubs to jazz it up. Ideally there wouldn't be this weird ongoing ATP vs WTA battle but joint events never seem to work out well for the women. I think most of the public wants to watch both tours. WTA-specific fans will always be more niche, the WTA should accept that, but there's such a failure to even try to sell women's tennis as a sport. Most of its best promo these days happens by accident, eg its most watched Youtube clip being that Aga volley in Miami rather than any of its Stepford Wives photoshoots. Cirstea in the final? Oh Na, what applies to Petra also applies to you Good to see Aga actually put up a fight vs. Silliams.
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