Round robin format provides excitement and confusion

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

SPANIARDS MOYA, COSTA FACE OFF … BUT HEWITT COULD BE THE REAL LOSER Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

As the WTA Tour left their recent year-end championships contemplating taking on a round robin format for 2003, it seems appropriate to take a look at how the format is working at this week's season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The men have been utilizing an eight-man round robin for years at their final tournament of the season and the opinion remains pretty consistent – the format has a double-edge sword element, providing both excitement and confusion for spectators.

The positive qualities of the round robin receives its biggest boost from the fact that the top players don't just go away if they lose a match. The eight-men field is split up into two squads and each player plays three matches before the competition moves onto the knockout semifinals and final. This means that a fan can see their favorite player in action on at least three separate occasions during the week.

The current Tennis Masters Cup being played this week has two groups. The Red Group features Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Carlos Moya and Albert Costa, and the Gold Group features Andre Agassi, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Roger Federer and Jiri Novak.

Thus far at Shanghai, Hewitt has a 2-1 record and Agassi went 0-2. It is definitely a bonus for fans to know in advance that both of these stars had three matches. Even Marat Safin, who lost his first two matches at the Masters Cup, will still be on view in the final day of round robin competition. And amazingly, Safin is still a plausible mathematical possibility to earn a semifinal berth even with two losses in his results column. So, comfortably nestled in the positive category for the round robin is the fact that after three days of play, the semifinal slots are three quarters still a mystery with only Spaniard Carlos Moya, who already has won two matches, already a semifinalist.

CONFUSION IS DRAWBACK
Despite the upside, the round robin scenario also has a downside, proving to be rather confusing for fans trying to understand who advances and who goes home.
It is hard for some to grasp that Safin, who is in the Red Group with Hewitt, Moya and Costa, was still in the hunt for a semifinal berth when he's lost two matches. With his loss to Hewitt Thursday, Safin was finally eliminated.

And it is even harder trying to keep track of where players stand in their particular group, whereas in a straight knockout formula, just a look at the draw will tell you what players are still playing and which have been sidelined. In the round robin format, there are endless midstream scenarios to contemplate when wondering who will survive to see the semifinals.

Let's look at where Albert Costa stands in the tournament as a way of describing just how complicated the process can be for fans to follow closely. Costa, who currently stands at 1-1 in the competition, plays Spanish compatriot and friend Moya in his last round robin match. If Costa beats Moya in straight sets, he will advance to the semifinals. If both Costa and Hewitt win their third matches in three sets (Hewitt needed three sets to defeat Safin), then Costa will advance to the semifinals, leaving the world No. 1 going home early.

These circumstances also brings to light another weakness in the round robin format that could cause concern. While no one expects Moya or Costa to be anything but honorable during their upcoming match, the truth is that they have the power to fix things in Costa's favor if they so desired. Translation: If Moya, who is already into the semifinal, wanted to give Costa a guaranteed semifinal berth as well, all he has to do lose is lose to his good friend in straight sets.

WHY WIN WHEN YOU'VE ALREADY ADVANCED?
And be assured this possibility has not gone unnoticed by Hewitt, whose future in the tournament hangs in the balance. Commenting about the fact that Moya and Costa could control the outcome of the Red Group, Reuters reported that Hewitt said, "It would be bad for the game of tennis if there was anything between them. I know Carlos pretty well and he's a great guy. I've never had any problems with Carlos and, you know, on form I think he should win. I believe I played a lot better tonight than I did last night (against Costa) and I lost to Moya in straight sets yet I beat Costa in three sets. So I think that pretty much tells you who is the better player out of those two by a fairly long way."

Considering the fact that both Moya and Costa have sterling reputations amongst their peers, it seems like a safe bet that even if Costa wins their match in straight sets, it could be deemed nothing but a legitimate outcome. But it's hard to deny that the opportunity to view a win by Costa in a suspicious light does exist.
After breaking it down, the round robin format and the straight knockout formula both offer attractive aspects and not so attractive aspects in regards to putting on the best year-end show. So as long as the public is willing to just watch the proceedings as they go along, and maybe not understand the intricacies of the format, a round robin event can have a lot to offer.