The structure of tennis is a mess -- and
perhaps the biggest reason for its drop in
popularity in the United States.

The season has no real definition, the best
players often go months or even years
without going head-to-head, and the rankings
of top-level players can be due more to the
number of tournaments played than the
quality of the game.

It wouldn't be too hard to make it better.
Here's one way to have a more coherent
annual structure that includes a definite
off-season and ends with a two-week Davis Cup
extravaganza that could make the Cup a lot
more interesting and create an event that
could hold the public's attention.
The tennis gods should create a series of
maybe 15 tournaments in which the best
players are expected to participate. These
tournaments are the only ones that matter
for top 50 rankings. The Grand Slams count
the most, of course, but the other 11
tournaments would provide ranking points as
well.

There would still be a satellite tour -- or
series of tours, perhaps, analogous to a
series of minorleagues in baseball or a
series of divisions in European soccer. A
major player in a slumpmight want to play in
these other tournaments at times, but doing
so wouldn't provide any points for the top
50 rankings. Just like with the English
soccer league, at the end of the year the
bottom 15 players in the top-50 would be
relegated to the minor leagues, and the top
15 in the minorleagues would be elevated.
"Minor-leaguers" could play in the "opens"
-- the Slams -- but notin the other
tournaments except as wild cards. The wild
cards would be given to a player for a major
tournament in his home nation, or if a
satellite player is having a particularly
dominant season in the minor leagues.

The individual season would end with the US
Open -- a much more fitting place to finish
the season than a November tournament
indoors. Then, later in September, there
would be a two-week Davis Cup in which the
final 8 nations would all gather at one spot
-- not the same place every year, of course.
There would be three rounds of play, and
countries would fight not only to win, but
to determine their place in the top 8 -- or
at least the top four -- meaning a lot of
players would be playing the full two weeks
in meaningful matches. Such a Davis Cup plan
might really draw some Ryder Cup-like
attention and also be more attractive to
players like Sampras who don't like all the
travel associated with just a single Davis
Cup tie.

So in sum:

* a "division 1" circuit of about 15
tournaments that would determine the top 50
rankings

* a series of lower divisions that would
involve other tournaments in which top-50
players could participate, but not earn
ranking points

* a shorter individual season, begun in
early January with the pre-Australian Open
tournaments and ending with the US Open

* a season-ending, two-week Davis Cup at the
end of September with the final eight
nations all playing in one place
--COUNTERPOINT FORTESCU

--June 27, 1999
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