Travel to Asia and experience the value of it.

Martina Hingis won Tier III Sunfeast Open title in Kolkata (former Calcutta) and boosted her ranking to No.8 in the world. She is also a step closer to Sony Ericsson Championships scheduled in Madrid next November, having clinched 6th spot in the 2006 Race. This week she’s gonna play Seoul, a Tier IV tournament. So far, no stunning news. So we can get it over it. But the haters always on the back and more than someone complained she faced so low ranked players in Kolkata and keeps on playing those kinds of ‘cheap’ tournaments. Someone yelled: “Martina ought to stop playing low tiered events with only one other top 50 player just to move a spot in the rankings. It doesn’t make sense”. Someone has even said that playing too often just for ranking points might be dangerous: the more you play the higher is the risk of injury you run. “Elementary, my dear Watson”, said Holmes.
Pemulis is wondering why so much rage for this woman. Whether she loses to low ranked players (Razzano and Sugi above all) or steamrolls them (Mirza, Poutchkova above all), the haters are always out there, complaining all the time. This is getting kind of boring. Pemulis thinks some people are missing the point, which could be very simple. Have you ever heard of appearance fees? Money off-the-charts, undeclared appearance money that some players receive just for play in a certain tournament. As far as Pem knows, appearance fees are not forbidden on the WTA Tour. And I wouldn’t shout “SHOCKING BEHAVIOUR” a lot. Great champions, symbols of their sports, are sometimes hired to promote events they are competing in. Have you ever watched the TV spot on Dubai tournament? Moreover, there are 2 more possible good reasons to travel to Asia: the clever Hingis is gonna scout out the youngster players (like Olga Poutchkova); the clever (?) Hingis keeps on training and playing as much as possible, in order to get ready for the Sony Ericsson Championships. Avoiding injuries, of course! Does this make any sense?