Realized this when Daria Chemarda/Alexandra Liles defeated Top 500 players in 10K qualifying but failed to make the main draw.
They didnt get the 1 bonus point as was the case in previous years


Thats just not fair :( :mad:

The WTA have gone too far, making it to hard for a lot of players to get a ranking! A lot of decent players will get disheartened now and give up when they probably could have had a reasonable career. Sure this new point scheme won't affect top juniors and those destined for the top 20 but for players that might only get as high as 80 in their career usually start out pretty slow. Look at the likes of Nicole Pratt or Kerry-Anne Guse! Experience counts for a lot in the development of a player and if up and coming players cant establish a ranking their cahnces are goin to be very limited and its only goin to make it even harder for them to get a breakthru result

They really don't want people to get up the rankings do they? pfffffffff This really sucks! I mean it's not like there are gonna be that many chances to get quality points in a 10k, so why be unfair and take away the extra point from players who did beat a top 500 player? pff

I hate what they are doing to the rankings! I still think the no points for 1st r loss in a 10k sucks too! :fiery:

Quality pts in a 10k are rare enough.
but quality points in a 10K are almost an extinct species.

there's a handful of tourns in the year where even in qualies a player is ranked in top 500.

Beating Top 500 players should be worth something, even in 10k qualies.

I thought WTA had made a mistake at first, had to ask WTA if they made a mistake or not.

I hate these point system changes too - totally ridiculous :(

Yeah, that's what I mean! It's so unfair... coz it's not often that you can play a top 500 player in quallies, so if someone has to play one and is good enough to beat them, then they should have the point! It can make alot of difference to players! Especially ones trying to make their way up. If they have an extra point it could mean MD instead of quallies... or 25k instead of 10k! Stupid WTA! pff :fiery:

These changes overall mean that in a year's time, less people will probably have a world ranking.
What I'm really disappointed about is that it's going to further punish juniors. They're already restricted in the number of challengers they can enter, and now it's going to be harder for them to pick up points from the ones that they do enter.

yeah! There's another good point! pff@wta! Stupid rule changes! :fiery:

hmm or wait... does a tourney count in juniors if you don't get any points?

If you get no points then the tourn doesn't count.
in that sense the younger players are lucky (0.5 wont count) so they can play extra tourns.

Any tourn where you dont get points doesn't count.
Lina was lucky she got her injury rank, she made an aborted comeback in doubles qualifying but struggled (no pts in doubles qual), so she got her singles injury rank without further delay.

Originally posted by bluepastures
These changes overall mean that in a year's time, less people will probably have a world ranking. I agree that this is basically the idea it seems. The same way as the WTA is making it harder for players to be a full member year after year :rolleyes: .

This only affects those that don't qualify
if you do qualify beating top 500 players then you retain your quality point.

how do you become a full member, and why/how is it being made more difficult to become one?

It won't affect any players in challengers becoming full time members

Only money earned at WTA events is counted


WTA TOUR MEMBERSHIP
1. Membership Qualifications 2003
Full Membership - $ 1,000: Any player who has earned a
minimum of $35,000 as her primary source of income derived
from participation in WTA Tour Tournaments only (includes Grand
Slams but not ITF Circuit Tournaments) in either one of the past
two calendar years is eligible for full membership status. This
membership entitles players to all the benefits and voting
privileges available to Full Members of the WTA Tour and the
Women’s Tennis Benefit Association.
Associate Membership - $ 500: Any player who has earned a
minimum of $ 500 from her participation in WTA Tour
Tournaments in either one of the past two calendar years, or
would have earned said sum amount except for her amateur
status is eligible for Associate Membership status. This
membership entitles players to all the benefits available to
Associate Members of the WTA Tour and Women’s Tennis
Benefit Association.
Note: Associate Membership is not available to any player
who qualifies for Full Membership.
Associate eligible for Full Membership - $500: An Associate
Member who has earned a minimum of $35,000 as her primary
source of income derived from participation in WTA Tour
Tournaments only and qualifies for Full Membership at any time
during the year. This membership entitles players to all the
benefits and voting privileges available to Full Members of the
WTA Tour and the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association.
2. Membership Qualifications 2004
New Requirement for 2004: The criteria for Full and Associate
Membership will change for 2004
A Full Member must earn a minimum of $40,000 as her primary
source of income derived from participation in WTA Tour
Tournaments (includes Grand Slams but not ITF Circuit
Tournaments).

An Associate Member must earn a minimum of $500 as her
primary source of income derived from participation in WTA Tour
Tournaments (includes Grand Slams but not ITF Circuit
Tournaments).

The rankings are already smaller...they were 26 pages with about 1260-1280 players, now only 25 pages with about 1245.

Talk about downsizing - some of the girls are getting layed off!

Sad.

To become a full / associate member, prize money earned in WTA and ITF events was taken into account in 2002. For 2003, only prize money from WTA events is taken into account. For 2004, the prize money required to be a full member is increased :rolleyes: .

This membership is important to players as it gives right to :
- buying insurance at special price (The insurance package includes worldwide Medical, Dental, Vision and Disability coverage)
- a pension plan

I know of some players on the ITF circuit who have no insurance :sad: .