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NormDavydenko Fined For the Truth?
January 11th 2007 12:12
As many tennis fans are gearing up for the first Grand Slam of 2007, the Australian Open in Melbourne, one of its star players, world no. 3 Nikolay Davydenko is already in hot water due to his comments over the Medibank International tournament in Sydney.
Davydenko, who retired from the tournament due to a possible injury against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, has been fined $10,000 US ($12, 891) by the ATP after commentating that the tournament had suffered so many withdrawals because “it’s a small tournament, nobody cares about it.”
ATP chairman Entienne De Villiers has commented about the fine, claiming the comments “not only damaged the very fine tournament in Sydney but also sullies the reputation of our great sport.”
Truth be told, yes Davydenko did damage the reputation of the Medibank International, and has been fairly fined because of it, but on the other hand has he said anything that many supporters know it’s the truth?
The Medibank International is a very minor tournament, which is organised at a very inappropriate time. Not only is it situated against a legendary Australian tournament, the Kooyong Classic, as the warm up competition before the Australian Open, but it is set very close to a Grand Slam tournament that most players work their whole life for.
Take Davydenko’s case for instance. He states that his foot could have undergone a possible stress fracture, and he withdrew from the tournament to ensure that he was as fit as possible for the Australian Open. Now if the Medibank International was a tournament that many players competed to win, he would have worked through it, but as we see it is not the case.
Any injury a player’s get through this tournament will rule them out of a Grand Slam, so of course they will take every precaution necessary to get them as fit as possible for Melbourne. This explains why players such as Rafael Nadal, Paradorn Srichapan, Dmitry Tursunov, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova would withdraw from the tournament even before a game has been played.
The ATP must realise that Davydenko was in fact just stating the truth. The Medibank International is a small tournament, just squeezed into the schedule with only a few days rest. Let’s remember why most of them are out there, to take one of the four crowning jewels in the tennis season, the Australian Open in Melbourne. Anything other than that would just be an distraction from their preparation for a Grand Slam tournament, and no one can blame them for trying to be as fit as possible for their first game in Melbourne.
Until next time, sports minds.
Davydenko, who retired from the tournament due to a possible injury against Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, has been fined $10,000 US ($12, 891) by the ATP after commentating that the tournament had suffered so many withdrawals because “it’s a small tournament, nobody cares about it.”
ATP chairman Entienne De Villiers has commented about the fine, claiming the comments “not only damaged the very fine tournament in Sydney but also sullies the reputation of our great sport.”
Truth be told, yes Davydenko did damage the reputation of the Medibank International, and has been fairly fined because of it, but on the other hand has he said anything that many supporters know it’s the truth?
The Medibank International is a very minor tournament, which is organised at a very inappropriate time. Not only is it situated against a legendary Australian tournament, the Kooyong Classic, as the warm up competition before the Australian Open, but it is set very close to a Grand Slam tournament that most players work their whole life for.
Take Davydenko’s case for instance. He states that his foot could have undergone a possible stress fracture, and he withdrew from the tournament to ensure that he was as fit as possible for the Australian Open. Now if the Medibank International was a tournament that many players competed to win, he would have worked through it, but as we see it is not the case.
Any injury a player’s get through this tournament will rule them out of a Grand Slam, so of course they will take every precaution necessary to get them as fit as possible for Melbourne. This explains why players such as Rafael Nadal, Paradorn Srichapan, Dmitry Tursunov, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova would withdraw from the tournament even before a game has been played.
The ATP must realise that Davydenko was in fact just stating the truth. The Medibank International is a small tournament, just squeezed into the schedule with only a few days rest. Let’s remember why most of them are out there, to take one of the four crowning jewels in the tennis season, the Australian Open in Melbourne. Anything other than that would just be an distraction from their preparation for a Grand Slam tournament, and no one can blame them for trying to be as fit as possible for their first game in Melbourne.
Until next time, sports minds.
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