World tennis is at the dawn of an unprecedented change since the start of the Open era. On the sidelines of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, meetings multiplied last week around the two main projects. One, worn in particular by Craig Tiley, boss of the Australian Open, and revealed in detail by The Team et The Telegraph looks like a closed league where the four Grand Slams and ten other tournaments – equivalent to the current Masters 1000 – would be reserved for the top 100 in the world.
The other, the president of the ATP, Andrea Gaudenzi, ready to open his arms to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its unlimited resources in exchange in particular for the creation of a tournament to open the season in the Gulf . Director of the Marseille tournament (ATP 250) and observer of the circuit, Jean-François Caujolle gives his view on the current negotiations.
How do you analyze the two projects facing each other for the future of the circuit?
First, we must remember that since the arrival of Andrea Gaudenzi at the head of the ATP, there has been a desire to bring ATP and WTA closer together. Something that would resemble a collegial authority. And the creation of a tenth Masters 1000 has also been in the works since his election. However, the solutions are not infinite in terms of timetable. Either in week 1, or just after Roland-Garros, on grass. But we cannot say that Saudi Arabia suddenly arrives with its billions to buy the Tour. There will be a call for tenders and it will undoubtedly be the Saudis who will win.
The Grand Slams project is very poorly put together. I don’t know how the other Grand Slams can follow this path
But unlike other players, Saudi Arabia has infinite means and could, in the long term, want even more.
The ATP did not look kindly on the Saudis in particular. She listens, as she does with other partners. This is not a solution hastily found by Andrea Gaudenzi to counter the Grand Slams project which is a sporting and economic aberration.
For what ?
Because the project is very poorly put together. I don’t know how the other Grand Slams can follow this path… That Craig Tiley wears the thing, that doesn’t surprise me. He has always been disruptive. It was he who first endorsed the Laver Cup, being a partner and promoting it. He wants to write his own story. I’m not sure he only defends the interests of Australian tennis.
Does that surprise you that the French Tennis Federation (FFT) is attentive to the project?
For the moment, it remains negotiations so it is quite logical that they are following the file. But in the long term, I would be surprised if the people in place at the FFT joined, especially since it would condemn the Masters 1000 at Paris-Bercy.
Gilles Moretton, here alongside Amélie Mauresmo, is closely following the “First Tour” file carried by Craig Tiley, the boss of the Australian Open. | PHOTO: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/ AFP See full screen Gilles Moretton, here alongside Amélie Mauresmo, is carefully following the “Premier Tour” file carried by Craig Tiley, the boss of the Australian Open. | PHOTO: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/ AFP
How are the Majors wrong?
Because they want to destabilize the structure of the current circuit, which is not the case with the Saudis. Of course, there are some adjustments to be made, but overall it works pretty well.
With the Grand Slams project, it is the end of tournaments like Vienna, Rotterdam or Stuttgart, which attract a total of between 80,000 and 110,000 people. If there are no top 100 players in these tournaments, people will no longer come and neither will partners.
But it’s also a bad thing for the players. You have to put yourself in the place of the 70th in the world, who will only play 14 matches per year because he will lose in the first round. A 10th in the world, who makes the semi-finals of a Grand Slam but never goes all the way, will not have his name listed anywhere? The ATP 500 and 250 are also there for that. Gilles (Simon), Gaël (Monfils) and Richard (Gasquet) have won some great tournaments. With this system, their names would not be engraved anywhere. This Grand Slam thing is made for the top 4 or 5 in the world.
We cannot take money on one side and make sport moral.
Several figures such as Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have opposed rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, particularly for human rights issues. What do you think ?
Why do we accept China? Why was Russia accepted? Why do we accept Doha (Qatar)? When Saudi Arabia puts money in Western banks, no one flinches. We cannot take money on one side and make sport moral. I’m not saying I condone it. But let’s stop the hypocrisy. The ATP’s position is good: invite them to the table and listen to what they have to say. We must stop seeing Saudi Arabia as absolute evil. Slamming the door on the Saudis might make them want to create something parallel. They will invest billions and billions. It will last four or five years and it will be a mess, as was the case in golf.
In your opinion, this is an opportunity to further materialize the ATP-WTA rapprochement?
Of course. We have an actor who comes in and says, I’m going to put the same in men and women. While the ATP currently generates more revenue than the WTA. Let’s take advantage of it. They arrive with a structuring project and above all respecting the rules of the Tour.
READ ALSO. Between Saudi Arabia and the closed league project, world tennis at a crossroads
Saudi Arabia had the opportunity to organize the NextGen Masters at the end of last season. Popular success was not there…
I want to say no more than in Moscow (Russia) or Shanghai. I could name other cities where the tennis culture is not very present. With a Masters 1000, will there be more people in the stands? We’ll see. But we cannot look at the viability of a project solely in terms of the arrival of spectators, otherwise we would only have tournaments in Europe, the United States and South America. We can’t just tell them: “you set up your clubs, you increase your licensees and we’ll talk about it again in 50 years”. The world is moving too fast.
2024-03-18 18:00:29
#tennis #divided
