For the top players their schedule revolves around the Grand Slam schedule. They practice and train according to when the next tournament is taking place. So what do the other players do, well they actually participate in the ATP tour.
Take Jo- Wilfried Tsonga who is usually compared to a younger Muhammad Ali. He did not make it to the finals of the Australian Open like he did in 2008. However, he has been able to climb the rankings to number 5 without winning a major. How is that possible? He doesn't stop playing he enters tournament after tournament grasping every opportunity given. To Tsonga the end of the Australian open only signifies the beginning of the year, where he will hope to climb the ranks even higher.
It has only been a few days since the tournament came to a close and Tsonga has already reached the second round of the SA (South Africa) Tennis Open. He is the top seed in South Africa and has an 8-2 record on the 2009 tour already. Tsonga is hoping to win his third title on the tour and raise his ranking.
It is people like Tsonga who make the ATP strong. More top players need to enter more ATP tournaments, and not just enter them when it is convenient for them. The ATP tour could have better publicity if the pros were more willing to participate. More publicity would mean more fans, which would also mean more money for the tour. Everyone wins!
To accomplish this I think that the tour should set some requirements for the pros. Make them play a certain amount of tournaments a year. Do something that will force them to participate in more tournaments.
very interesting comments and thoughts, the tour is actually two tours in one, there is one for the very top players, roger, nadal, the williams sisters, who play only when they are building up to a slam and then there are the "rest" who are out there playing and battling every week in every corner of the globe, i agree with your suggestion that the tours need to do more to promote and build up the "other" players on the tour and not just the stars!!
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