2026 Indian Wells Practice SDP: How it doesn't work
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2026 11:42 pm
Since you are all familiar with Survivor Draw Pools, I am not going into a long exposition of the rules.
However, Indian Wells and Miami create some unusual problems in running an SDP. In particular, the qualifiers are usually not placed until I feel it is too late to request people to make picks. Not only that, but I usually don't know which halves of the draw are playing on Day 1 until Day 1. So, I am going to give everyone Day 1 off, and no picks will be required for Day 1. If I could guarantee that the required information to make picks was going to be available in time to make picks, I would have people make picks. But, I am not going to wait around just to find out if I will have the information early enough. So Day 1 (Wednesday) is a free day.
However, Indian Wells and Miami create some unusual problems in running an SDP. In particular, the qualifiers are usually not placed until I feel it is too late to request people to make picks. Not only that, but I usually don't know which halves of the draw are playing on Day 1 until Day 1. So, I am going to give everyone Day 1 off, and no picks will be required for Day 1. If I could guarantee that the required information to make picks was going to be available in time to make picks, I would have people make picks. But, I am not going to wait around just to find out if I will have the information early enough. So Day 1 (Wednesday) is a free day.
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