Yuki Bhambri

[PKBasu]

Yuki should just play the clay Masters qualifiers after Glasgow. Most likely, he will lose to Europeans or Latin Americans, but there is every chance that he will play other hardcourt players in those small qualifying draws -- and pull off the occasional win. No point playing Challengers when he has the chance to pick up some easy money. It is too late to try and become a claycourter now. Play the minimum required on clay, pick up the money at the FO (and hope to draw a hard-court player in R1), then move onto a full schedule of ATP events (and perhaps even one Challenger) on grass, including Wimbledon and Newport.
Take a week's break, and then go to the Canadian Masters, Washington, etc.

[arjun2761]

Yes, the ranking system is flawed in the sense that it awards a lot more points for later rounds than for the early rounds irrespective of the level of competition. An ATP 250 QF (worth only 45 points) may be harder to achieve (i.e., you typically have to get past a top 40 player) than making a low-level challenger final (where you typically don't play anyone in the top 100) which gives more points. Seems that there are 2 options to fix this (1) by increasing the early round points at the ATP level; or (2) by giving extra bonus points for beating top 100 players.

While many in the 70-100 band bounce between ATP and challenger events, often these are players who can't win at the ATP level. Yuki has shown this year that he can win at the ATP level, so his first preference should be to play ATP draws as much as possible. He should then play challengers as needed based on (1) if he needs the points to maintain his ranking; or (2) based on logistics such as minimizing traveling, fitting in training etc. Otherwise, the benefits of the ATP first approach is (1) the prize money is better and that can open the door to better training and coaching, (2) playing at a higher level generally helps improve your play if you have the ability and Yuki does seem to have the ability to play at a top 50 level, and (3) winning at the ATP level is how he is going to make the top 50 if he is to get there.

[Sin Hombre]

I think after Glasgow, Yuki should play in ATP events exclusively.

Not in total agreement with that. Goes without saying that the ATP level is mega tough with every match being a struggle. Look at how hard he had to fight at IW and Miami. I don't think there is any harm in playing an odd high value challenger here and there to pick up some money, points and confidence that comes from winning.

I agree with this.

Yuki’s target should be to get into the top 70 or so by end of Wimbledon. If that means playing Glasgow and another CH, and then Antalya which is one of the weakest ATP 250s, then that is the right scheduling.

The aim should be to position himself to get into main draws directly in the post-W north American and Asian hardcourt swings. That is his best surface and best chance to make an impact on the main tour.

Very little value to be had by playing and losing in the first round of qualifiers in Madrid and Rome.

[sameerph]

Overall, I agree that Yuki should mix higher level challengers and ATP tournaments. However, in the month of May the only big challengers are either in Europe or 1 in Korea on hard courts. I do not see Yuki going back to Korea just for 1 week. Other option is to play a couple of lower level challengers in Uzbekistan. I do not think he gains anything by playing there.
So, option for that limited period is either play Madrid/Rome qualies or a couple of big challengers in Europe.
My take on this is the draw is going to be quite tough for those big European challengers too and he may get knocked out in first round there too. So, it is better to do so at Madrid/ Rome qualies and at least earn some money. If he wins a round or two it will be a bonus.

[Varma]

Yuki is a big stage player. He punches above his weight often when he gets chances to play against higher ranked players. The way he is playing, he should definitely be playing ATP events exclusively unless there is a desperate need to go for challengers. His game matches up quite well against most players ranked 40-100, so I don't see a reason why he can't win 2 or more rounds at ATP 250 events at least 60% of the time. Within the next year or so, I see him making a final and giving himself a chance to win his maiden title. He is certainly capable of winning a couple of rounds at Wimbledon and US Open this year unless he draws against a top-20 player, although he certainly does stand a minor chance against anyone outside top-10. The need of the hour is to rest and completely heal from the abdominal tear and be ready for the busy season ahead. A healthy Yuki can surprise us more than we can imagine. Unable to bear the continual disappointments and having hard time digesting that a supremely talented guy who made us all drool can't play a full year on tour, I completely gave up on him 2-3 years ago (solely to avoid more heartbreaks. I too am getting old, you know ). But this year, I had to dust my dreams and wake them up to dance all over again. Now I am having hard time containing the excitement of anticipating what this year has in store for us!

- Varma

[arjun2761]

Looks like Yuki will play the French Open for cash but not much else on clay. Otherwise, he will focus on the hard and grass court tournaments.

[Sin Hombre]

Excellent thinking from Yuki and his family

Completely right in focusing on points now so that he can play in tour main draws on his favoured surface post-Wimbledon.

@sameer
The Glasgow CH was a late addition to the calendar to create opportunities for Murray to make a comeback. It was not the only such late tournament in the UK. There will be a $100k event at loughborough university in the week of RG qualifying which is not in the calendar on mtf but tickets are already for sale. Both are indoor hard.

Given it is RG qualifying week, it is almost certain that the field will be a couple of players in the top 100 like Yuki and otherwise all outside the top 200; and should be a great opportunity for him to scoop up a lot of points.

I think his schedule should be
30 Apr - Glasgow CH (indoor hard)
2 weeks break
20 May - Loughborough CH (indoor hard)
27 May - RG
1 week break
11 June - possibly s'Hertogenbosch (grass; weak field)
1 week break
25 June - Antalya (grass; 2nd weakest atp 250)
2 July - Wim

[atula]

Why Play Challengers..when you can play the ATP..

THE WEEK OF 30TH aPRIL HAS 3(Three) ATP...Tournaments..BMW Open/Estoril Open &BNP Paribas...Turkey Open..with 32-32-32 Singles Dr TO
96Players for the same...Yuki can easily get thru...

[jayakris]

Why Play Challengers..when you can play the ATP..

For safety points. There is a chance to go 5 or 6 ATP tournament in a row without picking up any substantial points, and suddenly the ranking drops from 85 to 110 and you can't make ATP events. Picking up some 75 to 150 points from 2 or so challengers every 4 months is a safe thing to do when you are in the ATP range of 70 to 100 (which is a difference of only 175 points => 775-600). If I were Yuki, I would play 4 grand slams, as many masters as possible (say 4 or so main draws), some 8-10 other ATP events and up to even 6 or so challengers in the next 12 months to make sure that he doesn't drop below top-100. Once he gets inside top-65, then he can skip challengers for several months at a stretch and take a chance that he will make some 400 odd points from some 3 or 4 ATP events out of the 12 odd events that he will play in a 6 month period.

My point is that right after you make a run and go inside top-100 is NOT the time to expecting to be playing full-time on the ATP tour. You make a plan to stay safe, in case you don't go deep (ie. QF or better) in tour events consistently enough. We have seen many cases of players getting into the 75-100 range and then falling out very soon, as they never play challengers till they are totally out and below 125 with just 100 or 200 points from 10 or 12 ATP events with many first and second round losses. You lose time and your ability to plan well (pay your coach etc) once you are unsure of making ATP events, and it becomes a mess.

Till you get inside top-65, you shouldn't rely on just ATP events to stay within the top-100. Hopefully Yuki will make a good run somewhere in the next 3 or 4 months to do just that, and forget about challengers altogether for the rest of the year and later.

I like Sin Hombre's schedule above.

[sameerph]

Principally I agree with both of you but I do not think he should get into French open without a single week of tournament on clay. I know it is too late for him to get good on clay but he may not be that bad on the surface too. If he does not get a European or a South American in the first round, he can get a win there. By not having any tournament play on clay, he may be blowing that chance too. In 2015, he reached final at Samarkand challenger on clay and then beat 115th ranked Alexander Nedovyesov in the French open qualies first round. So, if he gets a few matches before, he has a better chance of winning a round at French open.

So, I suggest some variation in Sinhombre's schedule -

30 Apr - Glasgow CH (indoor hard) - skip it if he is still not 100%.
1 week break
14 May - $125K(+H) Bordeaux challgner or $75K(+H) Samarkand challenger
21 May - ATP Geneva or Lyon qualies
27 May - RG
4 June -$150K Surbitron challenger ( if we wins a round or two at French open, skip this week)
11 June - possibly s'Hertogenbosch (grass; weak field)
1 week break
25 June - Antalya (grass; 2nd weakest atp 250)
2 July - Wim

[S_K_S]

Good times for people named Yuki as Yuki Kawauchi wins the Boston marathon

[suresh]

I agree with Sameer that Yuki needs to play at least a week on clay before FO. A favourable draw might mean he might do better than expected at Roland Garros.

[jayakris]

Sure, a week on clay (as long as it is a challenger) is fine, and better...

[RohitG]

Based on the entry list, Yuki should be the top seed at Glasgow (although the last min wildcards might be higher) Going by the article linked by Arjun, Yuki has mentioned he won't be focusing much on clay, at the most he'll go for one prep tournament. However he has also mentioned that he intends to have a full grass season. He has a target of 25 tournaments for the year. I feel it might be a bit cumbersome to travel back and forth, week in and week out. So from logistics, from putting less strain on his body, from points and from prize money perspective: I tend to believe it will be close to what Sameer mentioned. What needs to be seen is whether he camps France followed by UK or goes for the travel route, i.e go to Samarkand and for the grass season: Germany, Netherlands, Turkey over the tournaments taking place in UK

[sameerph]

True, from logistic points of view, Samarkand,Uzbekistan is totally out of the way and I doubt if he will choose it. Only it will have a much easier field than say a Bordeaux in France and he has done well there before. So. I just put that in as an option but unlikely. I am sure going to Netherlands, Germany from England,France is not too tough logistically, not so costly too. Turkey may be a little odd, so if he does not go there for that ATP, he will have to play at Eastbourne which will have a much tougher field.