1. It pays to be the best, and being top rank means potentially easier wins.
2. Tournaments are set up to have the best players toward the end, as that gaurantees the best play.
3. If you were able to make it to the playoffs and are the lowest ranked player, playing the best players only improves your play and a look at what it takes to become number one.
In 1v1 knock out tournaments, the draw for pairs is automatically seeded so that the top rated players always play the bottom rated players. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have an option to make the draw for pairings totaly random? It would make the competition more exciting in the earlier rounds and give lower ranked players a chance of progressing past the first round rather than just being cannon fodder for the high ranked players.