A case for a season-opening championships

The fact that almost every player who took part in the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha was carrying some injury is a major worry for the WTA, who among other things, are struggling to get a new deal from their sponsors.

Of the 10 players that were in Doha for the prestigious event, four pulled out. They included Russia’s Dinara Safina, who quit just after 13 minutes on the court during her match against Jelena Jankovic, Denmark’s world number four Caroline Wozniacki against Serena Williams and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka against Agnieszka Radwanska, who had replaced Vera Zvonareva.

Zvonareva ironically was the first alternate and the fact that even she had to be replaced by the second alternate Radwanska meant the championships resembled a theatre of the walking wounded.

So much so that when sisters Venus and Serena took the Khalifa Tennis Complex centre court on Sunday for their final, both had their thighs strapped, and the almost one-sided encounter pointed to the fact that the elder sibling was not at her best, both on the physical and mental fronts.

In fact Venus was quizzed several times after the match if she was injured and she avoided a direct answer, saying, “I gave a hundred per cent all the time.  So I felt I was doing my best out there.”

A long year had left the players short on appetite for big time tennis and had it not been for the lucrative $4.55mn prize fund few would have bothered to take part. It begs the question if such an important event should really be coming at the end of a gruelling season.

Already, the tournament has had its fair share of criticism for its round robin format which can create complicated scenarios that could result in truly deserving players failing to make the semifinals.

It almost happened with Wozniacki, who gallantly won her first match against Zvonareva despite crippling cramps and then beat the rising Belarussian star Azarenka, but had to wait out some anxious moments before finally qualifying for the last four, courtesy of a favour from Poland’s Radwanska who defeated Azarenka. Jankovic was lucky to receive a walkover from Safina, without which she would not have made the knockout stage.

Logic suggests that the tournament should be held at the beginning of the season so that the players are fresh and raring to go. It will then justify the lucrative prize fund too. The way things stand now, several million dollars for only half-fit players is simply too much and also amounts to giving the fans the short-shrift.

Eight top players from the previous season should play in a season-opening tournament and the winner should be declared the world number one with the others trying to catch up throughout the year. Such a race would be more interesting.

Serena now heads for 2010 as world number one, having won the Australian Open and Wimbledon along with the Sony Ericsson Championships, but she won’t have it easy next year as Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin return to big time action.

Hopes are also high for a fully-fit Maria Sharapova to grace more tennis courts than red carpets, while Wozniacki and Azarenka lead the new generation. Women’s tennis will be never short of stars, what is needed is better structuring of the events so that spectator interest remains high throughout the season.