Peeved Corretja-Costa withdraw

WIMBLEDON, JUNE 26: It will be a night to remember for some of the natives of the Iberian peninsula. While the Spanish soccer team went do...

WIMBLEDON, JUNE 26: It will be a night to remember for some of the natives of the Iberian peninsula. While the Spanish soccer team went down to France in their Euro 2000 match, their big guns of the tennis world, Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, withdrew late Sunday night from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships protesting over not being seeded here despite their high rankings.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the third member of the rebelling triumvirate, had already pulled out due to a lower back injury before the actual mutiny got underway. According to the ATP entry system, Corretja is ranked 11, Ferrero 13 and Costa 15. In the newly created ATP Champions Race, they are 6, 7 and 17 respectively. On Sunday evening, an emotional Corretja and Costa made it clear that if they did play, it would be only if they were 8220;forced to do so because of ATP commitments8221;.

Ultimately, they responded to a plea by ATP Tour CEO Mark Miles made during Sunday8217;s address, that if 8220;they do decide to pull out, they should do so in advance, so that some lucky loser could get a chance to play.8221; Corretja was replaced by Austrian Werner Eschauer and German Davis Cupper Michael Kohlmann takes on former champion Richard Krajicek in place of Costa.

Tim Phillips, chairman of the All England Club, had defended the system, quoting from the Grand Slam rule book after stating this was not the occasion to quote rules, saying. 8220;For the selection of seeds, the ATP list shall be the primary, but not the sole basis for such selection and arrangement of seeds.8221;

He continued that in order to have a happy outcome from the seeding process, 8220;we have sought to try and separate out the players that are likely to excel on grass8221;.

While Miles felt the penalty, if any, would be left to the All-England Club as this was a Grand Slam, Phillips made it clear in a statement this morning that the players would not be penalised on this occasion. 8220;As far as further action is concerned, I can confirm the players have already suffered in terms of automatically incurring a zero pointer towards their ranking which cannot be made up at other tournaments, have lost the opportunity to earn prize money and have already incurred significant travel expenses. We will not, on this occasion, levy further penalties against them.8221;

In the new system, it is mandatory for top players to play all four Grand Slams and Super 9s or Masters Series events and points from these will count towards year-end rankings.

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In what is really a more significant statement, Phillips also stated, 8220;We were unwilling to revise the seedings and draw as requested but both organisations have agreed to work together over the next 12 months to determine a seeding system that addresses player prowess on different types of surface.

Corretja has already put forward a proposal that 12 events be mandatory and the 13th be of the player8217;s choice. 8220;What am I supposed to say if a fan asks me what my ranking is? I8217;m 15 on hard courts, 56 on grass, five on clay and No. 110 on indoors,8221; he said.

What he says is true. Perhaps, for the betterment of all 8212; and despite the fact that people like Corretja and Costa are not known for their prowess on grass 8212; it is time that Wimbledon demystified their entire process and accepted the normal ranking system that prevails in all other events whatever the surface.