Peter Luczak Interview Part 3

This is the final part of the interview that addresses issues in the current game, it was a pleasure to do this interview.

What do you think about the length of season? They have been talking for years about reducing the season, but nothing has changed in this regard. What steps can they take to fix the calendar?

This is bit of a tricky one. If you would have asked me the same question 8 years ago when I first started playing on the tour I would have answered it very differently. The only thing I wanted to do back then was play tournies and I'd be upset if there wasn't one on in a particular week. But now being a bit older the body getting a few injuries from all the pounding over the years and having a family I wish I could see more changes my view. I'd love it if we got bit more of an off season, that one month in December doesn't really cut it especially when you are training through it trying to get ready for the Aussie summer.

I'd love it if the season would be shortened to maybe 9 months, but how do you do that. Do you just cram all the tournies into that time period, or do you cancel 1/4 of the tournies. I know they have been talking about making the season shorter but the question is how you do it. Maybe you just gradually do it over many years. I know the Oz Open started a week later this year, maybe you just push it back one week every year and cut one week off at the end of the year for the next few years. But doing that is screws up other things. Like the Aussie would no longer be played during our holidays. Maybe less people and definitely less kids would be able to come out and watch. How do you fit all the tour events and DC in a 9 month period etc. So as nice as it sounds it would be a pretty difficult thing to do. In the end the players choose how long or short they make their season. But I think I could crap on about this question for a long time.

You were a vocal critic of the flawed Round Robin concept. It seems the ATP aren’t looking out for or listening to the interests of the players, and working more so for the tournament directors. What’s your take on it?

Round Robin was rubbish, it wasn’t a fair system. They said it was meant to be for the fans. I mean you win, you progress, you lose, and you go home, what is simpler than that. It makes little sense that you lose 2 matches and have a chance of still being in. They realised it wasn’t working and had to be scrapped.

Currently with the Council having the big 3 on there, they have more of a say than in the past. Problem is that a lot of the guys didn’t know that you could approach a Council member, if they are unhappy with any issue. In theory the Council should raise the issue at the next meetings, and then they can decide on whether to vote on the change or leave as it is.

Willy Cañas said “The ATP practices discrimination from an economic standpoint, like any multinational corporation. It’s just another of millions that there are in the world. Point being that I accept it, but I'm not buying into it that it is a group of players that decide (players union) because it isn't like that”. Do you believe that Willy is correct on this particular issue?

Yes, I agree to an extent. The tournament directors (TD’s) and the players are in conflict. An example of this was that the players voted for players that have come back from a drug ban, shouldn’t be awarded wild cards on the comeback, but the tournament directors didn’t want that and then the deciding vote went in favour of the tournament directors.

The TD’s are worried about putting on a show and it’s a business for them, they have a different agenda, no tournament = no players, no players = no tournaments. The TD’s had too much power and it was important that the ATP won the lawsuit against Hamburg, we should be attempting to work together. At the moment there is too much conflict between the two groups, who are standing off against each other and I am unsure of how to fix it.

What’s your view of the new Entry Ranking system? It does not seem to be universally popular, but as they have to complete the 2009 season with this system. Is it possible to return to the old system in 2010?

They could go back to the old system, but the year has to be completed first. The ATP tried to make it simpler, but they have given too many points for the winner and the finalist relative to the other positions. The Top 50 will be harder to crack and with the greater weighting towards the winner and finalist, it penalises the consistent performer who makes a lot of quarter final appearances.

The players that did well early in the year are disadvantaged and it’s almost impossible to defend their points from 2008. An IS win was 175, once this is doubled it becomes 350 that has to be defended and to win an IS event this year the most that can be had is 250, therefore losing 100 points.

The ATP has not increased the points for the challengers to the same level for a 50k Challenger it has gone from 50 to 75. The TMS events have increased from 500 to 1000 and the Grand Slam from 1000 to 2000 points. It was easier to pad the ranking in challengers like Lu or (Marcos Daniel), but you should be rewarded for doing well in the big events.

Do you think the ATP are doing a good job in trying to combat match fixing or is it just for show, because the players that have been suspended for betting, have been lower ranked and bet minimal amounts for the most part?

I'm really not sure if the ATP are doing a good or bad job. I think the difficult part is trying to catch and prove these guys are betting. The guys tanking and betting large amounts are not stupid and there is no way they would have any accounts linked to their name. So what can you do and the guys that were suspended were silly enough to not only bet on tennis in the first place but have an account in their name.

What are your short term goals for 2009, professionally and personally?

Make the main draw at Wimbledon, get back in the top 100 and stay healthy.

Now we’re at the end of the interview.

Word Association or 2 words in some cases.

Lleyton Hewitt – Competitive
Collingwood (Aussie Football Team) - Annoying
The ATP – Love Tennis
Båstad – Favourite event
Grasscourt tennis – Enjoyable, but difficult
Clay – Claydogs, grinding
Kevin Rudd (Aussie PM) - Champion
Borscht - Shocking

This is the end of the interview and people might have worked out, the stuff in brackets is what I have added and aren't Peter's words.