tennis

Osaka still set to play Wimbledon, say organizers

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She is still in America right? Seems very unlikely that she will play at Wimbledon. She is anxious about playing on grass I think and anxious about answering questions from the media. Which is totally up to her really. Some surfers do not like left hand breaks for example. Why not save her energy for conditions that suit her? Plenty of hard court tournaments coming up hope she will return for them

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

I wonder what "social cause" she'll be rallying for next at Wimbledon.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Good for Naomi-chan! We are all looking forward to seeing her fight for another major, if she has mentally recovered fully.

I think she can definitely win Wimbledon this year.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Which is totally up to her really. Some surfers do not like left hand breaks for example. Why not save her energy for conditions that suit her? Plenty of hard court tournaments coming up hope she will return for them

Actually it is not, under the WTA contract rules, she must compete a minimum number of tournaments, covering all surfaces. Barring injury or other medical reasons. The exception is players who competed a certain number of years on the tour, they are allowed a mored relaxed schedule (Federer is such an example).

7 ( +9 / -2 )

“ we have reached out to her team “ is a good one, considering IMG, Osaka’s agency has been selling broadcasting rights for Wimbledon( except UK) and sponsorships for 50+ years.

so pressure to play comes again from many sides.

i always said, and i used to work for them, that it should not be allowed to organize tournaments, represent players, sell broadcasting rights and sponsorships all by one company.

as i can not accept that Alibaba or Wada, owners of big sports marketing companies can be sponsors of global events at the same time.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"....under the WTA contract rules, she must compete a minimum number of tournaments, covering all surfaces"

Cannot find any rules like that. It seems that she has to enter 8 of the main tournaments not including majors. She has already entered at least 4 of these this year. Nothing about surfaces. I would be very surprised to see her back before a warm up event before the US Open. She may play the Olympics and will get a lot of pressure from sponsors to do this. She no longer has anything to prove and does not need the money.

Hopefully everyone involved has taken into account what she said and do not ask any more questions designed to bully players

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Hopefully everyone involved has taken into account what she said and do not ask any more questions designed to bully players

What are these questions "designed to bully" players?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

timeon: she must compete a minimum number of tournaments, covering all surfaces

Is that right? I never heard of the rule stipulating players need to compete on all surfaces. Huh - I learned something new today. Is that true for both WTA and ATP?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When Federer decided to shorten the schedule, there has been a lot of discussion on tennis boards about that decision, and that is how I learned that the pro players must enter a minimum number of competitions. I do not remember the number, but I think it was quite large, at least larger than 8 (I did not check so I may be very well wrong). And I remember something about surfaces, but again just hearsay and I may be wrong

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I found this detailed explanation of a tennis board, not official data, but it seems legit. By the way, this is for ATP players.

The only players required to play specific tournaments are commitment players.

These are the Top 30 players as they enter the ATP Finals of the previous year.

A 2018 ATP commitment player is any player positioned in the Top 30 in the ATP 2017 Rankings as of November 6, 2017.

The commitment for the commitment player is, the singles event of all :

ATP World Tour Masters (except Monte-Carlo, see note) 1000 tournaments for which he is accepted

The ATP Finals (if qualified as a direct acceptance or designated as the alternate)

4 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, 1 of which must be held following the US Open.

Note: For commitment and ranking purposes, the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 will be included in the minimum requirements for the 500 category.

To sum up, a commitment player is required to play 8 + 1 + 4 = 13 tournaments next year.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Her handlers say she is not playing at Wimbledon.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Peter Neil they threatened her with a ban if she did not do press conferences so was never likely she would go there. Once they become more flexible with their rules and she feels OK with it she will probably play again. Hope so anyway she is a great player

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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