Is The WTF A True Test Of The Best?

Only the best 8 players can qualify for the World Tour Finals. The best players earn their place by gaining ranking points throughout the year. The highest ranking points are awarded for slams and the second highest points are awarded for Masters tournaments. All these tournaments are played on outdoor hardcourt, clay or grass. It's also possible to pick up a few points in 500 tournaments and a tiny amount in 250 tournaments. Only 3 of the 500 tournaments are played on indoor hardcourt the rest like the slams and the Masters are played on outdoor hardcourt, clay or grass.

The best 8 players have earned their place in the WTF by playing on outdoor hardcourt, clay and grass. They are the 8 best players at playing on these surfaces and yet the test to find the best of the best is played on a surface that is relatively foreign to them. Fast indoor hardcourt. How can than this be a legitimate test of the talents that have lead these players to win in the most prestigious tournaments in tennis? The true indoor hardcourt specialists may not even be presents. They will not be able to amass enough points by winning big on indoor hardcourt to gain entry. In fact any player hoping to reach the very top of the game would be foolish to specialise on such a surface. Maybe the winners of the three 500 tournaments played on indoor hard should gain automatic access to the WTF as they are the played best qualified for this tournament?

Should the WTF be played on a surface that is used in the most prestigious tournaments?

The surface for the Wtf for the last few years has been anything but fast. This year it was a virtual clay court with the slow pace and the higher bounce.

So actually apart from being indoors the court at the wtf does very much represent the most ubiquitous of courts on tour: slow-medium hc.

Given that it takes place in November I think indoors is probably a prudent choice.

Nil points for you Hawky, again.



emancipator

In the history of the WTF (and under its various guises) there have been a total of twenty different winners

Of these 20 :

- 17 are Slam Champions
- 15 are multi-Slam Champions
- 13 have been World Number One
- No winners have had a career rank worse than 3

There isn't a lot wrong with the WTF.

And if it ain't broke - don't fix it

good points Lags .

The 8 players qualified have qualified based on clay, HC and grass, so its better to have WTF in a surface different to all three so it favors none and true best of best is actually tested, so by your logic WTF is actually doing a great job.

For instance had it been on clay, clay courters like Rafa would have benefited over the rest, had it been grass Fed would have benefited more, had it been Hard court, Murray and Nole would fancy their chances more, but with indoor hard court by your logic is an alien condition to every body and hence everybody have equal chances.

Is The World Tour Finals a true test of the best?

In a word: Yes.

Which is why Rafa 'The Pauper' Nadal has never won it and The Fortunate One - Roger Federer - has won it a record 6 times.

Spaghetti Hans admitting that Roger's achievements have been based on luck! I had put this down to his superior commitment, health, incisive forehand, reliable second serve, occassional breathtaking elegance and so and and so forth but I am willing to accept the incisive knowledge of an estimated member of the board.

If no-one objects I am feeling the need to make sure that some lesser used emoticons get an outing. In other words, I am sure you will all agree:

HB you put the 'i' in

You probably, in the process of writing, forgot that the Paris master is played indoors as well. Furthermore: if you add up all the points available in indoors events you get some 6500/7000 points total ( I am not including the Masters in this stat). How many points are available on grass insted?

Homework for you Hawky.

JuliusHMarx wrote:HB you put the 'i' in

he puts the 'i' in random guy wearing a hat?

Umm, he put the 'i' in 'chef'...to get 'chief'

JuliusHMarx wrote:Umm, he put the 'i' in 'chef'...to get 'chief'

Well I appreciated it. I'm off to get a and a . After that a couple of friends of mine and are going to get some with some . Let me know if I'm sounding like a or a or if my eyes explode . I'm surprised some of these emoticons don't get used more must surely be indispensable in any Fedal battle while would surely be required in any GOAT debate. seems indispensable in surface speed and conditions debates and could be used to discuss a range of players from Serena Williams to Jimmy Connors. Although could be genuinely underused.

We need a new thread, or I need to get out more.

JM I can see that Christmas is approaching and you are obviously in the spirit and you will down a few or do a bit of with your friends and loved ones and there will be much under the mistletoe best say no more but Im sure you get the

maybe I ought to get out more ..... see ya

It's a bit of a 's life being a Moderator, but when Xmas comes around I start to feel like the 's whiskers.
I can eat lots of , drink , do karaoke, around and then

Or forget the whole thing