250: Almost But Not Quite

So does anyone understand this new ATP system?
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I was totally down with it before - you had your Grand Slams, you had your Masters Series events, then you had all the other ones (International Series, I think they were called.) But now we've seemed to move into some whicketty-whack new age. Grand Slams are still the same - I think there would be some serious protesting if that got messed around with - and I think I get that 1000 events are analogous to Masters Series events, but what, WHAT is the difference between a 500 event and a 250?
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My interest is piqued after reading a story about Rafa presenting a plaque to the tournament director of Rotterdam to mark the first 500 event on the ATP world tour. Fine and dandy - but what does that mean? Why does Rotterdam get to be a 500 while Costa do Sauipe and San Jose are only 250? Who made that call? Why did they make that call? Rotterdam is sweet, yeah - but is it special?
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You know what's going to happen, yeah? The top guys are all going to flock to the 500 tournaments and not play the 250s, which means we're basically going to create another circuit level between ATP and Challenger, the almost-but-not-quite. I appreciate that the tier system has worked okay over in the WTA… but seriously, what was wrong with the old system, ATP guys?
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(Oh, and kudos to Brydan Klein for winning a Challenger tournament! Onya!)
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Today's Results
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ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament (Rotterdam)
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Andreas Seppi def. Thiemo de Bakker, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 7-6 (7-1)
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Brasil Open (Costa do Sauipe)
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Nicolas Almagro def. Ricardo Hocevar, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5
Marcel Granollers def. Flavio Saretta, 6-2 2-6 6-1
Eduardo Schwank def. Diego Junqueira, 6-1 7-5
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SAP Open (San Jose)
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Radek Stepanek def. Dominik Meffert, 5-7 6-3 6-1
Christophe Rochus def. Igor Kunitsyn, 6-2 7-6 (9-7)
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Open GDF SUEZ (Paris)
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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Oxana Lyubtsova, 6-1 6-1
Alizé Cornet def. Anastasija Sevastova, 6-1 6-3
Alisa Kleybanova def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-2 7-6 (7-3)
Monica Niculescu def. Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4 6-3
Emilie Loit def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-1 6-4
Karolina Sprem def. Petra Kvitova, 6-3 6-1
Daniela Hantuchova def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-2 6-2
Nathalie Dechy def. Sorana Cirstea, 6-2 1-6 6-2
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PTT Pattaya Open (Pattaya City)
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Vera Zvonareva def. Andreja Klepac, 6-4 6-3
Caroline Wozniacki def. Chan Yung-Jan, 6-3 6-0
Sybille Bammer def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-4 3-6 6-1
Yaroslava Shvedova def. Tamira Paszek, 6-3 6-4
Sania Mirza def. Nicha Lertpitaksinchai, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5
Neuza Silva def. Jessica Moore, 6-2 6-1
Yuliya Beygelzimer def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-2 6-2
Ivana Lisjak def. Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-2 4-6 6-3