Rafa Nadal: “We have to put the Masters 1,000 closer to the Grand Slams”

Rafael Nadalthat this monday jumped onto the natural grass slopes of the Santa Pona Country Club (Calvi-Mallorca) To find out to what extent his new treatment has been effective in order to play Wimbledon, he shared a talk with Andrea Gaudenzi, president of the ATP, a few dates ago in Rome. The conversation turned to future of tennis and the new OneVision project that aims to transform the men’s professional circuit.

The project starts in January 2023 with the idea of ​​increasing prizes and financial transparency, the calendar and boost the Masters 1,000. From the outset, the appointments in Madrid, Rome and Shanghai will see their competition days increased as well as the number of players. In the long term, it is intended to unite the ATP, WTA, ITF and the four Grand Slams to increase the potential of tennis.

“We are going to work together to improve our sport, instead of fighting each other. competition is football, American football or golf”pointed to Gaudenzi. An opinion shared by Nadal: “I agree, we waste a lot of energy debating each other, tournaments fight for their interests and players fight for theirs.”

OneVision wants the interests of players and tournaments to go the same way through a long-term prize agreement, which includes a 50-50 split mechanism, and is already underway at the ATP Masters 1000, which allows players to share in the financial success of tournaments. “I believe that is a winning formula,” Nadal pointed out.

“It’s intended to give players visibility into the economics of tournaments and also for players to share in our future success. If the tournaments do well financially, players will get 50 percent of the profits, in addition to the prize money”, explains Gaudenzi.

A nivel Masters 1000, the base prize will increase to more than 15 million dollars in 2025. The fixed bonus pool experience double-digit growth and cover the Top 30. On the other hand, a new variable bonus pool, related to profit sharing, has the potential to provide more financial support to more than 140 players.

Most days at the Masters 1,000

The ATP Tour calendar has been redesigned to create more tennis in prime time throughout the season, addressing fan demand to watch more matches with the best players in major tournaments.

From next year, the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Rome and Shanghai will become 12-day tournaments along with Indian Wells and Miami. Canada and Cincinnati will follow from 2025. “The Masters 1,000 are huge tournaments. Sometimes, from my point of view, the Grand Slams and the rest of the tournaments are much lower, so our goal from ATP is to put our tournaments closer to the Grand Slam in terms of promotion and importance“, says Nadal.