Talk:2018 BNP Paribas Open – Women's singles

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I have a number of resources (not just the Guardian) that confirm that S. Williams will start at this year's IW thanks to the protected ranking. With PR, S. Williams is also listed on the Italian page (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNP_Paribas_Open_2018_-_Singolare_femminile). If only one source was mistaken, it would be a misunderstanding. But you can not ignore many sources!

https://www.foxsports.com/tennis/story/serena-powers-to-1st-win-in-comeback-with-baby-on-her-mind-030918&ved=0ahUKEwjZ4aze4-HZAhWvbZoKHWmTAPYQqQIIKSgAMAE&usg=AOvVaw1V1LwHWvQas7sz_KSYk_oc

https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/serena-williams-set-for-familiar-welcome-in-palm-springs_sto6657523/story.shtml

http://sports.nbcsports.com/2018/03/07/serena-williams-set-for-first-round-match-at-indian-wells/

https://www.desertsun.com/story/sports/tennis/bnp/2018/03/01/serena-williams-latest-bnp-paribas-open-return-could-also-her-biggest-challenge/375367002/

Mouchatm (talk) 13:06, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

Some unofficial sources made a mistake. We don't have to repeat the mistake. The 2018 WTA rules at http://www.wtatennis.com/wta-rules say that main draw acceptance is based on the rankings six weeks before the main draw starts (players need time to make travel plans and have visa applications processed). That's why the entry list with Serena could be published 24 January 2018.[1]. Rankings are not updated during Grand Slams so the rankings from 15 January 2018 were used. Serena still had 2000 points from winning the 2017 Australian Open and was ranked #22.[2] PrimeHunter (talk) 15:56, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

You are mistaken by a poor understanding of the rules. When a 6-week deadline is given, you can not use the ladder issued 7 weeks ago. This is inconceivably illogical. You say my sources are bad, I say your source is bad. My advantage is that I have multiple sources available. Find more sources than I for your statement and then overwrite the page.Mouchatm (talk) 16:22, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

On the side page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_BNP_Paribas_Open), S. Williams is said to have PR (I did not mention it). Stop doing this, and eradicate this malice.Mouchatm (talk) 16:29, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

Her points expired January 29 so she would also have been #22 on January 22. I only mentioned January 15 to explain the date on http://www.wtatennis.com/rankings/2018-01-15 while http://www.wtatennis.com/rankings/2018-01-22 says "Ranking not available." An entry list published six weeks before an event is obviously not based on future unknown rankings from five weeks before the event so they use the latest rankings at the time. I warned you against edit warring when you were already above three reverts and yet you continue to revert. See Wikipedia:Edit warring#The three-revert rule and be glad if you aren't blocked. You can argue the case here but stop reverting multiple other editors. Other Wikipedia articles cannot be used as sources. See Wikipedia:Verifiability#Wikipedia and sources that mirror or use it. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:42, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

The PR for S. W. is on several news sites, including Sport Illustrated, New York Post and Washington Post:

https://www.si.com/tennis/2018/03/09/ap-ten-indian-wells-3rd-ld-writethrurd-ld-writethru

https://nypost.com/2018/03/09/serena-williams-first-victory-since-giving-berth-wasnt-easy/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/tennis/new-mother-serena-williams-returns-to-tennis-with-a-little-rust-and-plenty-to-learn/2018/02/12/2cbb4404-1012-11e8-9065-e55346f6de81_story.html

JupiterXYZ (talk) 18:41, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

Even if all these sources were right (they're not), we should always take in account the OFFICIAL source (which is the WTA). See the official main draw report: http://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/draws/2018/609/MDS.pdf (no mention of a protected ranking for seren whatsoever). Arielslytherin (talk) 20:07, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

So they forgot to write there. Someone should warn WTA about the mistake. JupiterXYZ (talk) 20:22, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

The official Indian Wells entry list, provided on their website, specifically stipulates that the cut-off for main draw entry was January 21st, when Serena was ranked 22nd (she did not drop out of the rankings until January 29th). This is not opinion; it is indisputable fact. Check it for yourself, if you wish; in the entry list, Serena is also NOT marked as using a protected ranking, unlike Gasparyan (who entered at SR 62). This, directly from the tournament (and consistent with WTA rules; see below) is from the most primary source possible (alongside the WTA, which also confirm the same conclusion).

The above news sources simply did not do their research or fact-check properly. The fact that they all made the same assumption (as I would've done, had I not checked the entry lists) does not make them correct.

WTA tournaments have separate cut-off dates for direct entry to their main and qualifying draws, so by the time that the tournament starts, players are included in the draw who are no longer necessarily ranked within the criteria applied at the cut-off date. In the official WTA rankings, Serena was ranked 22nd on 21st January (since this was in the middle of the Australian Open, no rankings were released, so the most recent ranking was from 15th January). Points for players from 2017's Australian Open did not drop off until 29th January. As cited below, the Indian Wells MD cut-off was 21st January.

https://11f4k830or6yrwagw43qiccz-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IndianWellsMD2018WTA.pdf

Dalek194 (talk) 21:15, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

Right. Serena might have applied for protected ranking into this event (don't know whether it would be granted) but there was no reason. She could get normal entry without it, and a protected ranking cannot be used for seeding. A player can enter at most 8 events on a protected ranking so using one here would be a waste. The above link [3] says SR for Gasparyan and SR stands for special ranking which is the same as protected ranking. See e.g. the end of [4]: "SR : Classement protégé / Protected Ranking". As Dalek194 pointed out, it does not say SR or anything else special for Serena. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:11, 11 March 2018 (UTC)