[gernica]

TALES FROM THE TRANSPO DESK: PART 1

Once again on a whim I decided to volunteer as a driver for the LA tourney. Having done it last year for the first time, I had a reasonable expectation as to what I was in for: Driving brand new Mercedes Benzes, answering player questions about the home values in Bel Air and Beverly Hills, douchey players who like to sit in the back seat even when they are the only passenger, and an opportunity to engage and get insights from some genuinely nice and engaging players.

Last year the tournament used three hotels, one to house the qualifiers and the officials, one for the doubles players and one for the main draw singles players. Two of the three were relatively close to the site. This year only one hotel was used for all participants which sounded like a great idea until I was told the selected hotel was the Hollywood Renaissance located adjacent to the Kodak Theater (where the Oscars are held) and the Chinese Theater where movie stars’ hand and footprints are enshrined in cement. In other words, the hotel located at Hollywood and Highland is smack dab in the middle of tourist central and any real LA-ite wouldn’t be caught dead there, let alone in the middle of summer. Not to mention, traffic is murder in the area requiring at least 45-minutes to get there from the tournament site at UCLA – Sunset Blvd. being the only real option, even though the physical distance is only seven miles.

In general, tournaments like to select player hotels based on locations. Since players do not rent cars, a centrally located hotel within walking distance of shops and restaurants allows players to be self-sufficient and removes the burden of chauffeuring them around for non-tournament activities such as dining out at night. For this reason, the Renaissance was an ideally located hotel but the stress of the commute certainly impacted players and tournament workers alike. In fact, Gulbis immediately checked out of the Renaissance and moved back to last year’s player hotel. I guess you can do that when you are a near billionaire.

It is well known that most players are quite committed to their routine and despite the hotel being so far away, so many would practice in the morning, ask to be driven back to the hotel for a couple of hours, only to be driven back for their afternoon practice. I just couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t stay on site rather than braving the frustrating traffic day after day.

Even though this was my second year volunteering for the tourney, I continue to be interested in how tournaments operate and how players handle the grind of bouncing from tournament to tournament while still making a living at it.

Singles players receive six free nights, while doubles receive four free nights of hotel stays. Beyond that, they continue to receive free accommodations as long as they are still in the tournament. Also, the free stays do not begin until Sunday night so players who arrive early have to foot their own bill. Players don’t take advantage of the remaining free nights once they lose and almost always immediately checkout and fly off to the next tournament upon losing. In fact, many will start looking for flights immediately after a loss or prior to an expected loss. Furthermore, the free hotel only applies to one room for the player, so the cost of lodging for coaches and physios has to be covered by the players. The discounted rate at the Renaissance was around $200/night, so entourage costs can add up quickly for the players. In addition, players are also responsible for covering the cost of the entourage’s meals and travel. Add that to their pre-determined salary and all of a sudden losing in the first round could mean a serious net loss of income for the player.

For example, Michael Berrer earned $6,410 for a first round loss. Not a bad sum for getting your ass kicked by James Flake. However, the tournament withholds 37% off the top for US taxes. Add to that the $1,100 for his coach’s hotel stay, the $1,200 last-minute plane tickets to Washington (and that is on the cheap side), his coach’s salary for the week, and all of a sudden Michael Berrer isn’t left with much. These numbers also don’t include deductions for the ATP pension plan, which requires five years on the tour to be fully vested. So if a player’s career ends because of an injury before they reach five years, they get bubkus for their contributions to the plan. Hardly seems fair. Frankly, if I were a pro-player, that sort of math would be more than enough motivation for me to never lose in the first round. Somehow at age 59, I see Agassi donating his pension to his charity while Sampras continuing to line his pockets.

Most of us fans assume that players inside the top 100 must have a fairly comfortable existence on the road, but one would be surprised to learn how cost-conscious most players are -- Bellucci readily admitted he quite couldn’t yet afford the $85K Benz SUV that I was driving him around in. Well Tomaz, that’s what you get for having Guga’s old coach Larri Passos and still making nothing of your talent. Marcelo Melo estimated that he spends about $50K a year in travel costs alone. With numbers such as these, all of a sudden the career earnings as listed on the ATP site aren’t quite as impressive for your average players.

Compare these numbers to the WTA tour, which pays significantly less than the ATP, and the economics for life on the women’s tour becomes that much more undesirable. For example, the LA event is a 250 (lowest) series for the men, while the comparable WTA event in College Park last week paid out only $1,725 for a first round loss, and Stanford, a premier event paid out $5,200 for a first round loss.

Anyway, on to the war stories!