PredictionGame
Tournaments this week




MIAMI Director Blames Rules For Serena/Naomi Clash

All General Discussion concerning WTA and ATP
Grossefavourite
Accomplished
Accomplished
Posts:6807
Joined:Jul Sat 27, 2013 8:53 am
MIAMI Director Blames Rules For Serena/Naomi Clash

Post by Grossefavourite » Mar Mon 19, 2018 3:26 pm

Serena Williams: Miami Open tournament director says seeding rules should change

Serena Williams played in the doubles in the USA's Fed Cup tie against the Netherlands last month - with her daughter in the crowd
Seeding rules in women's tennis are a "kind of punishment" for players such as Serena Williams after maternity leave and "should be changed", says the tournament director of the Miami Open.

James Blake, a former world number four, was speaking after Williams, 36, was drawn against Naomi Osaka in the opening round of this week's event.

She is unseeded after taking 13 months off to have her first child.

"It makes sense to protect someone who goes on maternity leave," said Blake.

"The rules should help her get the benefit of an easier draw and a better path.

"These kind of things shouldn't happen. She has won this title so many times that she needs protection.

"It's not as if she left because of injury and lost her passion for the game. She had a kid, which we should all be celebrating, so when she comes back there should be a grace period where she can still be seeded."

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles winner, has no official ranking, which means she cannot be seeded for WTA events.

However, she can gain entry to eight tournaments in 12 months - including two Grand Slams - with her protected world number one ranking.

Her comeback in Indian Wells at the start of the month ended in the third round against sister Venus - their earliest meeting since the second round of the Australian Open in 1998.

An eight-time winner in Miami, she is now preparing to face 20-year-old Osaka, who won the Indian Wells title at the weekend but is not seeded either.

Special seedings were sometimes applied to players returning from long lay-offs, but that rule was scrapped by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

User avatar
Ace2Ace
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts:24311
Joined:Sep Tue 14, 2004 11:49 pm

Post by Ace2Ace » Mar Mon 19, 2018 3:30 pm

All they have to do is conduct the full draw in public.
Enough of the politically correct outbursts.
Who programmed the computer to do the "random" draw?

As long as the computer is doing the draw, I won't believe it's clean. There are all kinds of ways to program "random" selections.

Do you think the slot machines at Casinos draw "randomly" the winning combinations? lol lol. Think again.
How would these slot machines earn money to these Casinos if they were just giving money away without any kind of control??? They have to get to a certain amount before giving away a percentage. People who own those machines are not stupid. Random draws depend on who decides on which random.

I don't believe Osuigwe vs Liu in R1 just happened randomly.
Last edited by Ace2Ace on Mar Tue 20, 2018 4:02 pm, edited 14 times in total.

User avatar
BJM123
Junior
Junior
Posts:344
Joined:Oct Sun 06, 2013 10:26 am
Location:Upland

Re:MIAMI Director Blames Rules For Serena/Naomi Clash

Post by BJM123 » Mar Mon 19, 2018 10:15 pm

Ace:
You stop that! You know better than to speak or post commonsense. They should have a fan of the sport do the "random" draw.

Grossefavourite
Accomplished
Accomplished
Posts:6807
Joined:Jul Sat 27, 2013 8:53 am

Post by Grossefavourite » Mar Tue 20, 2018 1:50 pm

Serena Williams: Mandy Minella says players 'not punished' for having children


Serena Williams' comeback should not result in a change to the seeding rules after maternity leave, says Mandy Minella, who returned to tennis last month after having her first child.

James Blake, the Miami Open tournament director, said female players are being "punished" after pregnancy.

Williams, who is unseeded, faces Indian Wells winner Naomi Osaka in the opening round of this week's event.

"The rule should stay as it is," said former world number 66 Minella.

Minella returned to professional tennis in February, 99 days after giving birth to daughter Emma having played at Wimbledon while four and a half months pregnant.

Read more: Minella on the journey from childbirth to court
"I don't think we would be talking about this if it wasn't Serena," said the 32-year-old. "There are many players who have been out because of pregnancy and there will be many more.

"It's not that we are punished for being pregnant."



Williams, 36, made her return to the WTA Tour at Indian Wells earlier this month, losing to sister Venus in the third round.

A 23-time Grand Slam singles winner, she has no official ranking, which means she cannot be seeded for WTA events.

However, she can gain entry to eight tournaments in 12 months - including two Grand Slams - with her protected world number one ranking.

"For entertainment reasons, it's very important to have Serena Williams in the draw, but I don't think it's important to have her in the seeding positions at the moment," Minella said.

"She's so good that she will get back to the top, so the rule should stay as it is.

"If seeded now, she would take away the spot of another girl who had fought all year to have a seeding, so it's a tricky situation."

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/43477213
Last edited by Grossefavourite on Mar Tue 20, 2018 1:52 pm, edited 4 times in total.

User avatar
Ace2Ace
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts:24311
Joined:Sep Tue 14, 2004 11:49 pm

Post by Ace2Ace » Mar Tue 20, 2018 2:54 pm

Mandy is right. Until it was Serena, no one talked about this.
But Serena is a game changer. Remember how Hawkeye got into tennis?
Serena vs Capriati:
Serena's ball was 2-feet inside the court, away from both the baseline and the side line. Yet, some ref find a way to call it out.
It was such an outrage something had to be done. And Hawkeye became a reality.

So Mandy you are right no one said anything about your seeding when you came back.

User avatar
Ace2Ace
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts:24311
Joined:Sep Tue 14, 2004 11:49 pm

Re:MIAMI Director Blames Rules For Serena/Naomi Clash

Post by Ace2Ace » Mar Tue 20, 2018 3:05 pm

Good question from a fan: I forgot all about it.

"Looking back at Monica Seles, she was out with the stabbing from 1993 to 1995 and on her return she was a #1/WC seed along with Steffi Graf as the co-ranking #1 at the Canadian Open. So the question is, should Serena get preferential treatment knowing Seles got it?"

I think the rules have changed since Seles, if I am not mistaken.

Simple solution: Conduct the full draw in public; and no one will accuse you of a midnight draw in a dark room by a shady computer programmers' team.
Last edited by Ace2Ace on Mar Tue 20, 2018 3:33 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Grossefavourite
Accomplished
Accomplished
Posts:6807
Joined:Jul Sat 27, 2013 8:53 am

Post by Grossefavourite » Mar Tue 20, 2018 3:12 pm

Umm, interesting headline:

Roger Federer: World No 1 kept apart from Juan Martin Del Potro in Miami Open draw
Last edited by Grossefavourite on Mar Tue 20, 2018 3:14 pm, edited 5 times in total.

User avatar
Ace2Ace
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts:24311
Joined:Sep Tue 14, 2004 11:49 pm

Post by Ace2Ace » Mar Tue 20, 2018 3:19 pm

They were not kept apart. They are both top seeds.
They were not going to play in R1. lol lol lol
Stop it already, folks.
Last edited by Ace2Ace on Mar Tue 20, 2018 4:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.

rex
Commish
Commish
Posts:3777
Joined:Jun Sun 04, 2006 4:25 pm

Re:MIAMI Director Blames Rules For Serena/Naomi Clash

Post by rex » Mar Tue 20, 2018 3:54 pm

It's good to see that James does not like this lst round match between Naomi and Serena, but the events' hands were tied based on how this draw unfolded. He realizes that the tourney loses big either way with this match....
Last edited by rex on Mar Tue 20, 2018 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Grossefavourite
Accomplished
Accomplished
Posts:6807
Joined:Jul Sat 27, 2013 8:53 am

Post by Grossefavourite » Mar Tue 20, 2018 4:54 pm

Serena Williams helps break ground for new Miami Open site at Dolphins Stadium

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Standing on the field at the Miami Dolphins' stadium, Serena Williams used a two-hand grip to stick her shovel in the dirt, flashed a smile and flicked a forehand.

When she comes back, she plans to be holding a racket.

On the eve of the Miami Open on Key Biscayne, the tournament held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday at its future site -- the Dolphins' stadium. The tournament will move there in 2019, and the draw is expected to include Williams, an eight-time champion who now has a financial stake because she owns a small share of the Dolphins.

"She'll probably be the first person to win a tennis tournament she owns," Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross said with a laugh.

Ross overcame much skepticism to swing a deal for the move. The tournament has been held since 1987 on Key Biscayne, but a 2015 appeals court decision prevented upgrades to the complex there, raising speculation the Miami Open might leave South Florida, with potential sites ranging from South America to China.
Last edited by Grossefavourite on Mar Tue 20, 2018 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Post Reply