Player Protest Provokes New Men’s Pairings For U.S. Open Tennis

Reacting to a wave of player criticism and the threat of a boycott, the U.S. Tennis Association on Thursday remade the men’s draw for the U.S. Open.

Two-time champion Stefan Edberg, originally drawn to face Jim Courier, still got a tough first-round match - Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek.

“That is the ultimate sad irony because those are the two guys, Stefan and Richard, who went in to represent the players’ view and to object in person yesterday,” said Mark Miles, ATP Tour chief executive officer. “They did it without any view as to whether it helped or hurt them.

“Stefan Edberg is the ultimate sportsman, and I’ll fall out of my chair if he complains about the result. He went in there because the draw just looked bad for the sport. He made two points. One, you should use the ranking, and two, you’ve got to redraw. You can’t determine the order of seeds after you’ve done the draw.”

The USTA rejected the players’ demand to stay with the rankings, but agreed to remake the draw.

Miles said almost every player who heard about how the draw was conducted objected because it left open the possibility that the draw could have been rigged to favor certain American players.

“There was a very strong feeling that the draw had to be remade,” Miles said. “Some players felt if the draw stood, the players should not play.”

Daniel Nestor, one day after beating top-seed Thomas Muster, was eliminated from the du Maurier Open in Toronto, losing 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4) to doubles star Todd Woodbridge in the third round.

Also ousted was No. 6 seed MaliVai Washington, who was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by Pat Rafter of Australia.

Conchita Martinez defeated Nathalie Tauziat 6-3, 6-4 to become the first semifinalist at the $450,000 Toshiba Tennis Classic at Carlsbad, Calif.