Well then, look who has gotten himself into some hot water.
“I would have liked to have won (the match vs. Tipsarevic), but it’s not the end of the world. You know, if it was a slam or something, my tactics and my game style would have been a bit different. You know, like I said, I wasn’t necessarily coming in as well prepared as I have done in previous tournaments. You know, I was trying different things. So I made more mistakes than normal, and I went for a lot tonight.
I need to make sure I’m playing my best tennis at Indian Wells and Miami. I need to be in top shape for there. I said before the start of the tournament I hadn’t trained as much and I can’t expect to play my best tennis.”
Safe to say the tourney organizers were less than impressed.
“It’s disappointing that it could be construed in a way which indicates he wasn’t taking the event quite as seriously as he does,” said John Beddington, a Barclays consultant. “It’s as disappointing for us as it is for Dubai Duty Free who work so hard and operate the event.”
I think James Larosa had a great point saying “money can’t buy you everything” in pure sarcasm to the fact that none of the top seeds are left in Dubai. I’m starting to think that if tournament organizers want to shell out big money for top players and THEN complain they didn’t play well enough (which is obviously just a completely selfish thing) they should offer cash rewards according to how far they got.
People on that post (which annnoyed me, ripped into it on the coments, but that’s an aside) seem to think that it’s some sort of lame excuse or something, but Muzz is telling it like it is. How can you expect top players to want to play their hearts out against a not-so-elite field in 500 or 250 events? What better places for them to try new things against competitive players in the top 50, really. I dunno, the whole thing’s dumb. Get over it, non-Masters events.
Here’s a big what if: What if he had just said, “Tipsarevic was too good”? Would that have been too difficult for him?
Nice blog!
Thank you! … Personally I just think it’s sort of interesting. OK sure, if Muzz shuts up, the tourney isn’t pissed… but secretly the tourney still is pissed that all these top players didn’t bring their best, clearly. But Andy probably didn’t need to say what he said… really, it the whole “under the table” appearance fees thing is like the pink elephant in the room. It’s getting a bit ridiculous, I just think it’s something worth talking about.
I’m just gonna put what Nole said since that’s how i wish some top players would act more often :
But Djokovic also feels a responsibility to give something back to those who reward his stature in the game. “You carry certain responsibility when you are in the world’s top five,” said the player who had to rally from a disastrous start to beat Ivan Ljubicic 2-6,6-4,6-0 but is now only two wins away from retaining the title. “You cannot just go out there and practise. Every tournament is important. That’s the way I accepted every tournament in my professional career.” [...]
“Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, so I try to play 100 per cent, and try to win every match I play,” he continued. “I cannot calculate and I cannot experiment. Sometimes maybe you should prioritise some bigger events. But, look we are professionals, and we are here to perform as best as we can.
“There are not just a lot of expectations from ourselves and our people that are surrounding us. It’s about the tournament and people who come to watch.”
That Janko/Murray match was amazing though !
Pete Sampras used to say the same thing. I read the book “Hard Courts” by John Feinstein and Feinstein recounts an incident that took place early in Sampras’ career where after he won a title in Philadelphia he said he would prefer to win Slams and that “people don’t really care who wins Philadelphia.”
The organizers were put off but technically, he’s right, even if it is a dickish thing to say. The top pros do care more about the Slams than the regular events (Sampras, Serena, Fed, etc.). People need to stop pretending that the top pros place the non-Slams and the Slams at the same level.