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Does Tennis Need A 5th Slam?

6K views 148 replies 66 participants last post by  Lazyking 
#1 ·
there has been a lot of talk about a 5th slam. Ion Tiriac is certainly behind a 5th slam. he says he just wants to beat the asians to one since it is only a matter of time before they have one. nobody will be able to refuse the millions they will throw at the players.

are you in favor of another slam? season ending masters cup has been declining in popularity which is why they keep moving it around. it turns out that now they will give London a shot at hosting the masters cup in 2009. could that one be replaced with another slam?

thoughts? i would be in favor of indoor slam on green clay that is significantly faster than red clay. not likely to happen however.
 
#2 ·
This one has been done to death.

No.
 
#4 ·
What makes you think that the status quo can be maintained forever with only 4 grand slams and some Master Series? What do you have against the Asians? Why can't the market in Asia be exploited for tennis? Typical Western bullshit.
 
#7 ·
 
#5 ·
No.
 
#10 ·
To be different, lets jump off a 100m bridge without a parachute. That's good for a change.

Change what for in this case? I bet you are one of these people that thought Round Robin was a good idea.

Yes, just invent a GS event and whoever won the 5th one would be considered a lot less than the established 4. Some things can't be bought, no matter how much cash is thrown at it.
 
#13 ·
there can be no good reason for not giving an Asian grand slam if those guys can afford it. The thing is, it would be bad if some tournament started off with being a grandslam. It would be nice if the tournament was held for quite a while and then grades itself into the Masters series for sometime and then becomes a Grand Slam.

Seriously, there must be a bidding process and its just sick to watch the same places get the Grand Slam everytime. PMK, some things can't be bought by money because its the bullshit we've been taught. The current structure of tennis tournaments is unfair to Asian players.

I don't want to listen about the number of top asian players in ATP, because it doesn't make sense to make that comparison with European counterparts without considering how many top tournaments are conducted in Asia. Just because tennis started off with Europe and Americas doesn't mean that it has to be the same way.

I hope there's a breakaway tennis league that encourages top Asian players and becomes more popular than ATP. Of course, nobody can play as well as Richard gasquet can, but that's not the point.
 
#34 ·
I don't watch Wimbledon anyway as for the Aus Open. If you actually read what I wrote about how they saved the event, then the answer is clear.

Here is your problem, you just think of change for the sake of change. What's the reason for a 5th Slam? There are too many events on the calendar as it is.

Football, when they banned the goalkeeper from picking up the backpass, great rule change for the game. Volleyball, changing the scoring system, so every point counted, instead of having to win it on serve. The game was a lot faster and better to watch.

The above examples of change that were thought out and worked for the better of the game.
 
#50 ·
Football and tennis are totally different markets and what works in one doesn't work in another sport essentially.
i think the only diference is in the current level of popularity with the mainstream sports fan.

many people in serbia considered tennis boring before Djokovic was glorified in the media.

today u could say tennis is the no1. most popular sport in serbia.

and we know its popular in asia already... japan & china at least.

so its not rly different

to make it simple : we went from -> nobody used to watch tennis in serbia -> everybody watches tennis in serbia
 
#51 ·
i think the only diference is in the current level of popularity with the mainstream sports fan.

many people in serbia considered tennis boring before Djokovic was glorified in the media.

today u could say tennis is the no1. most popular sport in serbia.

and we know its popular in asia already... japan & china at least.

so its not rly different
See, what Djokovic did by winning the Aus Open, is what Borg did for Swedish tennis and Becker did for German tennis. The kids wanted to be like them and they wanted to play the game, which goes back to my point about the bandwagon effect. Those 2 nations had a big boom and big results for a while.

Now the level of depth isn't there, therefore as less success, it gets less coverage. The same will happen in Serbia, these things are cyclical, yet predictable.

Tennis isn't that popular in Japan, well not compared to football, baseball or Manga comics. Table tennis is king in China as well.

If it was that popular then there would be some more players coming through and good results from local players drives up interest.
 
#30 ·
Remember all it takes for the Asian breakaway league to succeed is to win a match between the top two players of the regular ATP, that can be used to create a frenzy in Asia and market it and develop it. Tradition can't be bought by dollars, I agree. But can be brainwashed into people leveraging the power of media like the Western media has done for centuries into antagonising any culture other than its own.
 
#32 ·
For all I know, Asian market in tennis is significant (even if its only because of Federer and Nadal). If they do come up with a breakaway league, Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Japanese and..... will have tough competition between them and they don't have to play qualifiers of mm tournaments in Europe to get their ranking in ATP.

And if the interest for the league grows, ATP is bound to lose their viewership. I'd like to see that happen. Will teach the snooty officials a lesson.
 
#36 ·
You are a funny guy. How are they going to improve their games exactly?
 
#49 ·
I only hope that there are more events in India or atleast top players turn up to play in India a little more often. Can't blame them because they have to play throughout the year. Last year, Gasquet won in Mumbai. So happy that Gasquet decided to play in India, but I think he won't be going back.

I am travelling to Europe next month and will make it a point to understand the culture that makes tennis tick in Europe. I don't know about Malaysia, but India is where I like to see my GrandSlam.
 
#66 ·
Let's just make a tourney that's on par with Indian Wells and Miami in Asia. These two tournaments don't have what it takes to be slams but one in Asia could grow to GS status.
The thing is that right now there is no obvious choice for GS.

The biggest problem right now is pollution. Tokyo, Shanghai or Hong Kong would not be able to host outside events.
 
#67 ·
At the moment, I don't think there is a need for a 5th slam. I'm not sure what the exact situation is with the popularity of tennis in markets such as Asia but if indeed there is such a great demand for tennis in Asia. The ATP could start out having more tournaments, and possibly a AMS in Asia, which with the new calender they will be doing. And if that market continues growing maybe one day there will be a fifth slam but it will take many many decades before that potential slam will be viewed as being on the same level as the original four, in terms of history and prestige. A great venue and lots of $$$$ does not equal a hundred years of tradition.
 
#71 ·
Tennis needs a huge ATP/WTA event that pays double the majors and gives double the points.
I don't know why they haven't done it yet.
It seems like an obvious move, when you have billionaires like China, Dubai, Tiriac, all wanting big events.

Make a huge, huge event that doesn't involve the ITF.
 
#73 ·
If that happened, it would still lack credibility. The Grand Slam Cup proved that.
 
#72 ·
I think the biggest issue for any candidate would be attendance.
There is no way a new asian tourney would achieve the same attendance starting R1 (on 2 stadiums)..
Here at Roland Garros, you would have to wait 15minutes in order to see a court 7 R1 match between Wawrinka and Querrey!
People in Asia are not that much into tennis yet so they'll buy tickets only for the big matches.
 
#77 ·
Scrap Wimbledon and put an indoor event. We only need 4, otherwise there is little importance on them. Wimbledon is a waste of two weeks.
 
#79 ·
The ITF is not going to scrap Wimbledon. But the ATP/WTA can make a much bigger event.
An event that is a huge part of the country. Not just some 2 week local tournament that comes and goes.

The ATP and WTA should think big. They have access to money that the ITF can only dream about.
You need a country where the big money companies want to be in, want to market in.
Where you can make a huge event.
 
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