The historic and traditional Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, the most important venue for Argentine tennis, the home of Guillermo Vilas, will experience a true revolution. Next week its centenary main stadium will begin to be remodeled and modernized with a double objective: to value an emblematic site of the sport and guarantee the life of the ATP of Buenos Aires for ten years, which could even aspire to a category promotion.
The authorities of the iconic club, inaugurated in 1892, reached an agreement with the Tennium company, owner of the tournament called Argentina Open since 2017, to support the holding of the event as a whole and to envision an achievement that has been on the agenda for some years: raising the caliber from ATP 250 to ATP 500.
In this way, Buenos Aires ensured that it would remain the venue for the fifth oldest tournament in the world at least until the 2033 edition, after extending the contract with the Altenis company, the representative of Tennis in Argentina.
The previous agreement had expired after the title won by the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, the world number one who has already officially confirmed that he will return to play next February’s edition.
The continuity of the tournament at the BALTC was at risk due to the requirements promoted by the ATP regarding the shortcomings that the infrastructure of the main stadium had represented for a long time. The governing body of the men’s circuit wanted, due to history and tradition, the tournament to continue in the mythical club of Palermo, but at the same time it demanded a series of works to adapt the grandstand and its surroundings. Indeed the spare parts will begin next week. The club’s bet, after this agreement, is to be recognized as a superior category stage.
The enhancement of the stadium will include several strong updates in terms of modernization. A new 500 square meter VIP lounge will be built; there will be a redesign of the changing rooms with direct access to the Central Court; there will be new refrigeration systems; public restrooms will be refurbished; and there will be a renovation of the exterior floors of the stadium and of the transmission booths, which already had significant deficiencies due to the passage of time.
The stadium renovations will be revolutionary. Image: NA.
The works will last five months -the final result will take place in December- and will be financed by the Altenis company, which will take care of the club’s proportional, with advance payments on account of future fees. In the middle, without representing any problem with the works, Buenos Aires will host a Davis Cup series: Argentina will receive Lithuania, from September 16 to 17, for a pass to the 2024 Qualifiers.
The extension of the agreement, with the key financing for its update, includes the great opportunity to target growth of the tournament in the coming years. Some time ago, in dialogue with Página/12, the Uruguayan Martín Hughes, executive of Tennium, recounted: “The Argentina Open has been a few years since we took it; we want and seek to enlarge it. There is always the issue of being able to take it to category 500 or modify the surface to a hard court. We have to find a way around it. I think we have many chances”.
Growth, of course, does not depend on the company with headquarters in Barcelona or the club, but on the ATP, but it must be taken into account that the body that governs the highest circuit for men sought to promote these reforms so that the contest would continue at the same headquarters.
Hughes, at that time, revealed the plan that the ATP had with a view to the coming years, in which Buenos Aires, the fifth longest-running event on the planet -dating back to 1893-, had an advantage: “There are several ATP 250 tournaments those that the ATP generates an upgrade to redesign the calendar. We are attentive to what may happen; Argentina will always be a candidate for history. We are going to be immersed headlong in the process. We would have to invest a little in infrastructure but the automatic increase would be the prize money, which can even be quadrupled and would serve to bring in better players”.
The first big step has already been completed: Buenos Aires will experience a true revolution with another great reason for celebration: the works will be ready on the way to the centenary of the stadium in October 1926. The Billoch Caride Central Grandstand, the Guillermo Vilas Central Court, where great champions such as Björn Borg, Roy Emerson or the legendary Rod Laver played, they will write a new page in the history of tennis.
[email protected]
2023-07-29 03:01:00
#Historical #BALTC #modernized #continue #ATP #Buenos #Aires #ten #years #key #remodel #opportunity #move #tournament #category
