Yuki Bhambri

[Omkara]

PKB, is there a way around the mandatory two week quarantine period needed to enter Singapore?

[Sanjay]

Fit-again Yuki Bhambri ready for another plunge after almost quitting tennis
https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/ ... 65353.html

[PKBasu]

PKB, is there a way around the mandatory two week quarantine period needed to enter Singapore?

No, I don't think there is any way of getting around it -- unless you are a professional tennis player with a main draw ticket

I haven't been in Singapore for more than a year now. Couldn't even transit through, because Singapore doesn't allow transit stops for passengers from India, Philippines, etc. If you touch down, you immediately must go into 2-week quarantine at government-approved hotels (where you pay for your own stay).

[PKBasu]

Fit-again Yuki Bhambri ready for another plunge after almost quitting tennis
https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/ ... 65353.html

I hope he gets to practice with some of the other pros now that he is in Singapore. Practicing in Delhi with juniors is just not adequate preparation for a full ATP tournament. The first match, particularly, will be tough.

[Sanjay]

I think neither Yuki himself nor tennis fans should have any high expectations on his first tournament. He should use it to get a feel of pro tennis again and slowly work himself back.
Just playing is an achievement right now.

[Atithee]

Is he using one of his PR for this entry? If so, why? At the time, he didn’t realize that anyone with a tennis racket can almost walk on to a court and be granted a match?

[PKBasu]

Yes, he is using his protected ranking to get into this tournament. I think he should instead have requested a wildcard into the main draw. In retrospect, he could have got into the qualifying draw without using his protected ranking -- but it was impossible to gamble on that possibility at the time that he sent in his entry. He has been away from the circuit for more than 2 years now, and is consequently unranked. He cannot even get into a Futures draw without a wildcard at the moment.

[PKBasu]

So, a pretty promising comeback for Yuki at the ATP Singapore Open, where he lost 36 67(3) to Matthew Ebden, who beat #77 Delbonis at the ATP Melbourne 1 at the beginning of this month (before losing a close 3-setter to #83 in R2). Ebden has a career-high of 39 in singles (from October 2018, right around the time that Yuki's absence from the game began).

Yuki has an uphill climb back, from having zero ranking points currently. He will probably need to play some of the Futures in India next month to get some points in his kitty, and slowly rebuild from there. An absence of 2 years and 4 months from the circuit is a massive hole in the career track. The good news is that Yuki was playing superbly in the second set. If I were him, I'd stay in Singapore as long as possible, keep practicing against ATP-level players for the rest of the week, and only then fly back to play one of the Futures in India next month.

[Dinesh]

Yuki is in the qualifying alternates entry list at the Dubai ATP500 event that starts in 2 weeks. He’s currently 5 out of making the Q with 5 main draw & 3 qualifying draw wildcards to be given out. With days to come, I am sure some players will withdraw which will give him the Q slot.

There’s also another ATP tournament in the Middle East with Qatar hosting a 250 level one next week but Yuki hasn’t entered there.

A wildcard in one or both of these weeks would be great, so Yuki continues to be amongst the current top-70 players and hit with them.

[PKBasu]

He shouldn't be using up his protected ranking for so many tournaments at the ATP level (even qualifiers) without first building up some points the easy way (Futures first, then Challengers). Of course, playing ATP tournaments will earn him more money, but he desperately needs points now.

[prasen9]

There are various explanations. He thinks that he is at that level and wants to play fewer tournaments but those that will give him a ton of points. And, if that does not happen, he is ready to walk away or build with the wildcards in Indian futures, maybe other Asian futures, etc. If you are playing at the top tournaments, the advantage is that you get more money but also more points per game won. Maybe he does not want a taxing schedule and so he is maximizing the opportunities for points/$. I am fine with this strategy. He will get wildcards in futures, etc. if he has to play those. And, doing that in India will save him money. If he gets back to form, then he can jump into the next level. Otherwise, he will possibly become a doubles specialist or quit.

[arjun2761]

If he can stay fit, he can probably pick up points at challenger events and can probably reserve some set of his 12 PRs(?) for that. If needed, he can play the futures on WCs. With the rest, playing ATP events make sense. Just a little surprised he went with a ATP event first. Perhaps, his thinking was that he would likely lose in the first round in his first couple of events in any case (at ATP or challenger level), so may as well collect some prize money while regaining his form.

[PKBasu]

I agree that it's pointless playing qualifiers at Futures events. He can probably only gain main draw wildcards at Indian Futures, not those in places like Egypt, so he really didn't have an opportunity to pick up any points before March -- until the Singapore ATP opportunistically came along. If there had been some decent-standard Indian events (like the Nationals, which Yuki has never played as far as I can remember) he could have gotten a bit better-prepared for Singapore. AITA unfortunately has been asleep at the wheel.
Ideally, I would want him to play one Futures, then the qualifiers at the ATP event in Dubai. If he gets a wildcard into Doha, he should of course go there!

[sameerph]

In this year I would not blame AITA. They would not have got governement permission earlier to organise events. In fact I would laud them for orgainising at least 6 tournaments in March when except for Singapore and middle east, none in Asia is organising any tournaments so far.

This has hit the Indian players badly. Hopfully they would make better use of these 4 futures in India in March.

As for Yuki, I agree he should play one or both of Doha/Dubai tournaments only if gets a wild card. Do not use PR for playing there. He cannot in any case for Doha as he has not entered there but I suggest he should not use it for Dubai qualies too. Then, probably play one future in Delhi starting March 29 unless he starts getting wins at ATP level in Doha/Dubai which will make him confident of entering challengers with his PR.

[Sanjay]

This topic has been interesting. What should Yuki do?
I feel he needs practice with progressively good players so should play some Futures until he crosses that level and then do Futures.
Earning may or may not be an issue but I think he is well off.