Craig Tiley, director of the Australian Open, took stock of the last edition of the grand slam and warned that the threat that a tournament, promoted by Saudi Arabia, will be set up on the same dates that the greatest of the Antipodes will always be there.
“Let me tell you why it’s always a threat: because Anyone could decide tomorrow that ‘we have an event with 100 million dollars in prizes and I’m going to put the 32 best players and everyone is guaranteed to win 2 million‘. That’s a threat. “People can do it and there’s nothing stopping them from doing it in January,” Tiley explained.
Craig Tiley, director of the Australian Open.
The head of Tennis Australia also referred to the words spoken by the Australian Prime Minister: “When the prime minister said that the [Abierto] of Australia was under threat, it is not so much under threat of being rescheduled but rather of being overtaken by something at the same time. That is why we always have to invest in this growth, in infrastructure on the premises, continue to evolve and develop. “We have a very aggressive growth strategy.”
A few months ago, The president of the Italian Tennis Federation, Angelo Binaghi, dropped the possibility that the ATP would open the door for Saudi to launch a Masters 1,000 in January. “I hope that the Master 1000 that the ATP will give to Saudi in January 2025, perhaps combined with the WTA, will be enough to satisfy their desire for tennis,” Binaghi revealed to The Corriere della Sera. A proposal about which he was somewhat reticent.
Tiley highlighted the 1.1 million fans who attended the Australian Open, a record number, and the 500 million dollars it generates each year. It is no surprise that the tournament has extended its contract with the Victorian government so that Melbourne Park continues to officially host the “Asia Pacific Grand Slam” until at least 2046.
2024-01-30 11:50:34
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