Many players complain the ATP Tour is too long. Starting in January and ending with the World Tour Finals in November (not to mention the later Davis Cup Final) the off-season for some players can literally be just three or four weeks.
Hardly much time to reflect on the season which has gone before and precious little time to prepare for the year ahead.
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| David Ferrer's early season victory in Auckland was his second in the tournament |
There are two main effects of this ... on the one hand, we see more and more players struggling with injuries - strains, stress fractures, muscle tears and the like. Whilst on the other, and of interest to us here, we see more players becoming highly selective with their schedules. They pick and choose only the tournaments which fit into their limited programme of events.
Of course, they have to play in the Grand Slam events (Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open, US Open) as well as the Masters Series tournaments in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Montreal etc.
But elsewhere players opt to play in certain events based upon a variety of differing factors - it's being played in their native country or on their prefered surface, their sponsors would like them to attend or the draw tends to be a favourable one ...
In other words, they choose tournaments in which they do well. Or at least in which they expect to do well.
And this explains why we see players turn up in the same events year after year. It also explains why we see players perform well in the same events year after year.
Example: David Ferrer (Auckland 2011) WON 4/1
The Spanish player makes a habit of playing in New Zealand. His visit in 2011 was the 7th time in 10 years that Ferrer had competed in Auckland.
His record here prior to this year's event was QF/QF/W/QF/SF/R2... and then he was advised by the Tennis Betting Service in 2011. The outcome was a customary solid showing by Ferrer who eventually went on to win the title (W4/1).
Ferrer, clearly, is a good early season performer. He plays well at this time of year.
Without stating the obvious, the best players tend to play well right through the year (so we're not necessarily talking about the very best players here). But seeing as though most events on the ATP Tour are won by 'lesser' ranked players, these are the guys we need to note.
Determine who plays well in the Spring ... who peaks as the Summer programme gets underway and which guys save their best tennis for the Autumn (when a lot of other guys are tired and 'over the top' for the season).
Be aware of this phenomenon and do study the schedule of certain players as it can be very revealing (and very helpful) when it comes to determining your tournament betting strategy. It's no coincidence that particular players do well at specific times of the year.
