Japan Open
Photo by REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Rafa has announced his intention to play in this year’s Japan Open.
“It is with great pleasure and excitement that I am coming for the first time to Japan,” said the 24-year-old Spaniard, who won his fifth French Open title this month and is limbering up for Wimbledon.
“To me, this is a great opportunity to play in a tournament that I have never played before and that I have heard great things from other players. I know I have a huge fan base in Japan so that also makes me very happy.”
For more information about the tournament, check out its ATP Profile page. I’ll try and get the calendar updated later today.
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So he’s gonna have plenty of yummy Japanese cuisine which he loves. Sounds great!
I have big faith in Japanese organisation and believe that Rafa will enjoy his time there.
Perhaps I should plan a trip, seriously!
I remember last year at either the China Open or Shanghai Masters pressed, and Rafa was asked by a Japanese reporter why he didn’t play in Japan & he said jokingly that the Japan Open should invite him. Which means that he finally got an invitation and he’s choosing it over the China Open, which I was thinking of going to this year.
Maybe he thought he has to be in China for Shanghai anyway, so go visit his Japanese fans instead and eat some genuine Japanese food at the same time.
Atch2, how about Shanghai? The stadium looked really empty last year and I was thinking about going to help fill up some space! But now japan is in the mix and I am torn! But shanghai should be cheaper and offers less non tennis distractions ;)
Shanghai is more expensive than Beijing, but cheaper than Tokyo I’m guessing. And those empty seats did look like such a waste in Shanghai.
(is Switzerland really leading Spain by 1? OMG)
Yes!!! What on earth……………….?!?!?!?
Hope it doesn’t affect Rafa’s state of mind especially if he faces Roger ;-)
Topic? :)
I am really sorry miri! I was watching the match and got carried away. I was about to post a comment saying I’m off topic as soon as I realised, but you were faster ;-). My apologies :-(
unbelievable!the journalist will start writing abt rafa vs roger
I don’t like Rafa playing non Grandslam and non-Master’s events.
He should focus on staying healthy and not play too much on hard courts.
This is one thing I never understood about Rafa – he complains that the season is long and too many hard court tournaments and then plays this event which is not even mandatory — that too after the slams for the year are over.
I can see him play Abu Dhabi cause its a warm up to AO.
But this? can someone help me understand? :)
He’s supposed to play 4 500 tournaments a year to meet the ATP regs. Look at his calendar and see how many he’s played so far…yeah. He needs some 500s.
He is “supposed” to – but is it mandatory?
I know ATP counts a total of 4 slams and 8 masters and then a few other tournies outside so it would help him from points perspective.
But would he be penalized for not playing the required 4?
Just curious.
As usual, the ATP site is helpful:
And from the actual Rule book (not the rankings FAQ):
*snip*
So, no fines, but he’s not meeting the definition of a commitment player by the ATP rules if he doesn’t. Rafa doesn’t seem like someone who likes the idea of rule-skirting.
PS: thanks for all the data Miri!
Its too much of a “commitment” :)
No wonder the players are constantly complaining about the calendar length.
But at some point if he feels he is tiring and risking injuring he should just give the “rules” a pass :)
Eventually its the slams. I truly believe in saving the best for those.
It doesn’t appear that Fed has followed those rules for some time…He plays a couple of 250′s, but not all the required 500′s it seems…hmmm…
Roger, because of his years on tour and the number of matches he’s played, gets to bypass a couple of tournaments a year without penalty. Rafa is getting to the matches played limit quickly and will also be able to skip a tournament in a year or two.
Well he pulled out of Barca which was a 500 so I guess he has to replace it somewhere. I too hate it that Rafa will play too much on h/c towards the end of the year although selfishly I hope he returns to the O2 again this year at least to improve on his performance from last year! I can see him practice whenever I want and hopefully get to see him play a match live too depending on how lucky I am.
Grunt. Not impressed.