Strange Draws

[bullish23]

So was talking tennis at work today (i work os) with a colleague who went to a US university on a tennis scholarship. I asked him why Djokovic had to play Federer in the semi's of the French two years in a row. I asked 'does 1 always play 3 at the french'? He said 'no, but you obviously haven't heard about the conspiracy', and he forwarded me this website:

http://www.playthegame.org/fileadmin/image/knowledgebank/Tennisdraws_Katarina_Pijetlovic.pdf

At the very least it is a compelling read.

We also started talking about how good the current top 3 are. He obviously agreed they are all exceptional players, but he thinks Nadal is really favoured with the slower courts and balls (in fact at the French Nadal's racquet sponsor also provides the balls). He told me that on Monday they opened the cans for the balls they are using at Wimbledon. He reckons that is ridiculous. He also commented that 'your man Rafter would not be able to compete with his serve-volley game under todays conditions which is sad'.

 

[Caesar]

The only people who think draws are rigged are people who don't understand statistics.

Courts slowed down before Nadal came along so it's a bit hard to argue that's a conspiracy to favour him.

Unfortunately tournaments want a surface that ensures you get long rallies, and as few upsets as possible so the end of the tournament is full of big-name matchups. That means slow, high bouncing courts and heavy balls at every Slam.