The Price of Winning on the ATP Tour

After four days of play at the ATP World Tour Finals, the number one and two ranked players in the world are on the bubble for making the semifinals, and the number three ranked player is out of the tournament after only one match.

Day one saw Rafa Nadal taken to the limit by Mardy Fish, finally winning after almost three hours and a third set tiebreak. Day two saw Novak Djokovic pushed in very much the same way by Tomas Berdych, winning in a third set tiebreak only after saving a match point late in the third. It couldn't get any wore for the top-ranked guys, right? Wrong.

Day two also saw Andy Murray completely manhandled by David Ferrer, losing in straight sets to an opponent he had never lost to on a hard court. Ferrer played well, but Murray's resolve seemed completely absent. As out turns out, Andy had a groin injury and hinted that he might pull out the next day...which he did.

Day three: Rafa loses to Roger Federer 3 and 0 in an hour, one of the most lopsided results in their rivalry. Roger's forehand is working and Rafa seems to have absolutely no answers.

Day four: David Ferrer continues his run and vanquishes threw world number one Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-1 in one hour and fifteen minutes. Novak is listless, serving poorly, not moving well. Again, David has played well...BUT...

David is playing well and Roger Federer is playing well, and look to be on course for maybe a finals appearance together. But both have not won a ton of events this year. Both haven't contested many finals this year. That privilege has gone to the the three guys at the top who are struggling mightily to continue playing in the finals (1 down 2 to go...).

The top guys have worked very hard to earn their positions in the rankings and at this event, only to show up and play at a fraction of what they are capable. Is this the price of winning on the ATP Tour?

It kind of looks that way doesn't it. Then again, I don't remember Roger breaking down and/or performing this poorly. So is this the fault of the tour in terms of over-scheduling or of the players in terms of not managing their own schedules well? It will be interesting to hear the discussion on this topic once we get past the finals.