LONDON – With Gustavo Kuerten threatening a possible
Wimbledon boycott, the All England Club is expected to announce a
new seeding system Tuesday.
Kuerten, the world's top clay-court player, said he would
consider a Wimbledon walkout if the All England Club continues with
a policy favoring grass-court specialists.
"If the players come to me and we say together, 'We're not
playing, we're not happy about this,' I'm going to be the one who
is going to vote in favor of that," the Brazilian said Sunday
after winning a tournament in Monaco.
Two leading Spanish players, Alex Corretja and Albert Costa,
withdrew on the eve of last summer's Wimbledon after being omitted
from the list of 16 seeded players. They were ranked Nos. 11 and 15
in the world at that time.
Wimbledon is the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments
that doesn't stick to the ATP rankings in determining its
seedings.
The All England Club has based its list on a player's
grass-court credentials, often relegating clay-courters below their
rankings or out of the seedings altogether.
"I don't think Wimbledon respects the players," Kuerten said.
"What they do is not fair. The players who think things are not
right should speak together and see what to do if it's going to
happen again."
Kuerten, who won his second French Open title last year, has
competed four times at Wimbledon. His best showing was a
quarterfinal appearance in 1999.
Kuerten wants Wimbledon to seed players according to their
positions on the ATP tournament entry system, which ranks players
according to their results over the previous 52 weeks. He is
currently No. 1 on the entry list.
Kuerten, who beat Hicham Arazi in straight sets in Sunday's
Monte Carlo final, has won 32 of his last 33 matches on clay. He
finished last year at No. 1 in the ATP's Champions Race list.
On Tuesday, Wimbledon is due to announce a compromise seedings
proposal, but it's uncertain whether it will satisfy Kuerten and
the others.
The All England Club is expected to disband its seedings
committee and turn to a computer to determine the 16 seeded
players.
Wimbledon chairman Tim Phillips discussed the system with
members of the ATP's players council in Monaco last week.
The key issue is how to combine the players' performances on
grass with their placings on the entry system.
Wimbledon apparently wants the seedings to be decided by using a
point system weighted in favor of grass court performances or
potential. The ATP wants Wimbledon to accept the top 16 players as
they stand, then determine the order according to the grass-court
computation.
Also Tuesday, Wimbledon officials will announce the prize money
for this year's tournament, another controversial issue.
For years, the Women's Tennis Association has pressed Wimbledon
to introduce equal prize money for men and women. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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