'You don't have Roger Federer and Nadal, so...', says former Wimbledon champion

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have left everyone speechless in the past 15 years. Fans have become so accustomed to seeing them triumph in the Majors that they often diminish the value of the competition. Moreover, the supremacy of the Big 3 cannot be questioned, especially in the Slams, having won 56 of the last 67 Major played (the last 13 consecutively). For some time now, the idea has begun to make even the four most important tournaments of the circuit play at the best of the three sets, so as to reduce injuries and allow other players to compensate for their detachment from the three sacred monsters. Interviewed by Josh Cohen in the 'Match Points' show, former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli expressed her opinion on such a radical innovation.

Bartoli on the Big 3

“I know for Roland Garros, they won't use it," Marion Bartoli said. "And I think it's a valid point. You don't want to have a top seed going out losing 7-6, 7-6 to a big server. Now your top seed is out of the tournament and all of a sudden the one who is selling tickets is out of it and you don’t want to see that. If you are US Open organizer, and you have Novak Djokovic coming in and Rafael Nadal says he won't play. Now you don't have Roger Federer, you don't have Nadal. So the only top seed you are relying on is Novak Djokovic. He goes out to play a big server and loses 7-6 7-6 in the first round. And all of a sudden you have nobody left in the draw" - she added. "I know for the players that it's gonna take a toll on their body to play five sets, especially at the US Open on hard. But it is how it has always been," Bartoli concluded. By the end of July the final response of the USTA will be known on the development of the US Open, which will be anticipated by the Cincinnati tournament. The quarantine problem has not yet been resolved, while the Citi Open in Washington has been forced to announce the cancellation in recent days. A week full of news is looming. The ATP chairman talked about the schedule getting complicated if the 2020 US Open gets canceled. He said that the complexity of the situation would increase exponentially and they would have to consider playing in November and December. They are trying not to think about it and are focusing on restarting the tour in July.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Bzi7JX