[pusher for life]

Didn't make a research but I don't think that any World No.5 has ever played back to back tournaments prior to the Australian Open.

Definetely not a reasonable thing to do before a two-week Grand Slam. Especially if you're No.5 in the world.

Anyway, we don't call him Vulture for no reason though.

[GOATsol]

great thread

[duong]

Originally Posted by pusher for life

Anyway, we don't call him Vulture for no reason though.

it will bring him ZERO ATP point.

I think Doha made pressure on him because they didn't have Fed, Djokovic and Tsonga play Hopman cup (money ), Murray Brisbane like last year, Berdych Chennai, Del Po never plays that week, and Nadal was not enough then they made pressure on Ferrer ... and proposed him a lot of money

And yes, money is surely important for Ferrer when he's at his best markettable potential. Same thing happened when Verdasco or Almagro were ranked highly, or with Tipsarevic ... they take benefit when they can.

Will it be good for him in Australia ? the question is opened, but I think he felt great in the end of last year (see Davis cup final) and has good hopes in Australia where the surface is good for him.

Corretja said he could do something in the Australian open and I agree with him that he has indeed the potential, I know some in this forum will maugh at it but he gave many difficulties there to Djokovic, Murray and Nadal in recent years.

On a more genral point of view, with all these ATP tournaments + the big exho tournaments in that period, and Australia and Middle-East now seem to offer a lot of money for tennis, there is indeed a lot of competition to attract top-players in that period.

[August]

And should Ferru have an early exit in either of those tournaments, OP would probably say better player won, unlike in Paris where e.g. Berdy and Tsonga tanked.

But yeah, worrying to see him play that much before AO. He'll also play the Abu Dhabi exho before Doha.

[scarecrows]

and the 5th slam aka Abu Dhabi

[Lopez]

Ferrer always plays the week before a Slam. Nothing new here.

[Sophitia36]

Well, he likes to play a lot, so it might not be a problem.

[Mark Lenders]

NID






I'm just surprised Vulture isn't playing Brisbane, Sydney and Chennai too, but it is probably related with the apperance of good players in those tournaments, we know how he doesn't like them.

[Ben D.]

Richard too (but in combo w//Sydney, closer to AO site)
Richie will fight for his #10 ranking in 2013

[Federer in 2]

Good decision. If he is fit enough, why wouldn't he?
At least one title is a lock, so despite 250 Auckland points dropping, he will keep his ranking nice and secure with (at least) 2 ATP 250 wins in the non-countable section.
This will also be a good opportunity to gain some confidence against Nadal for AO, just in case.

If we look at the rankings:

Nadal is ahead by 290 points.
Fourth seed for AO unlikely (if even possible), but here is what they are defending up to RG:

Nadal: 1200 + 360 + 360 + 1000 + 500 + 90 + 1000 = 4510.
Ferrer: (250*) + 360 + (250*) + 500 + 45 + 180 + (10*) + 300 + 180 + 360 = 1925 (2435*)
*Note that some of Ferrer's points are non-countable.

I know this is a little far away, but since there is such a small gap between them and such a big difference in the points they have to defend, Ferrer is for me the favorite to have the #4 seed for RG.
Of course he could get stuck with Federer/Nadal which would suck, but if he is lucky enough to end up with Murray and Djokovic in his half, it could make a huge difference.

My apologies for getting a little off topic, though. Best of luck, David. I sure hope I can watch it all closely

[Pratik]

Originally Posted by Ben D.

Richard too (but in combo w//Sydney, closer to AO site)
Richie will fight for his #10 ranking in 2013

Considering his fitness, I'm not so sure that this is a good idea.

[duong]

Originally Posted by Bashkatik

Good decision. If he is fit enough, why wouldn't he?
At least one title is a lock, so despite 250 Auckland points dropping, he will keep his ranking nice and secure with (at least) 2 ATP 250 wins in the non-countable section.

Ferrer will not lose (and get) any optional ATP point before Acapulco tournament (then Barcelona then Rosmalen).

As for the comparison in points between Nadal and Ferrer, that's a topic which has been heavily discussed, there was a topic "post-AO draws will be a lottery" where I put all of the numbers : yes Ferrer has a good chance of getting number 4, maybe even number 3, in the first half of next year.

I also posted something more general for the points in next months (it was before the DC final then add 150 points for Ferrer and 75 for Berdych) :

http://www.menstennisforums.com/show...&postcount=798

[LeChuck]

The world no. 1 Sampras played in both Doha and Sydney ahead of the Australian Open in 1994. Although at Doha he showed up, received a large appearance fee, and then tanked his 1st round match against Alami. He did win both the Sydney and Australian Open titles though.

Hewitt played in both Adelaide and Sydney in 2005 as the world no. 3, and again in 2006 as the world no. 4. Then again Adelaide was his home city event and understandably he wanted to support both of the smaller Australian events.

[Sapeod]

David is a physical beast, so he should be fine. Also, he loves his tennis so he can play as much as he wants.

[Orange Wombat]

Vulture

(Oh wait, but he doesn't get any points from Auckland )

(And he probably won't win Doha anyway )

He has to try to win as many points as possible so he can surpass Dull in the rankings, but he won't most likely get any points here

David He likes playing tennis too much