Argentina has a huge sports culture.
Cradle of great talents and fans known throughout the world for their passion, beyond the competitions of the different domestic leagues, it usually hosts major international events in the most diverse disciplines.
Although there are few competitions of the highest levels that come to the country every year.
Among the few that defy the passage of time and remain firmly on the calendar year after year is the
Argentina Open
.
The Buenos Aires tournament, which is being held for the 24th season in a row since it regained its ATP status, gained popularity and prestige over time and today is one of the great events in world sport on Albiceleste soil.
And for the 2024 edition he raised the bar even further
, with a team full of enormous figures, highly competitive, and a very large renovation of the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis, his home since 2001.
The Buenos Aires tournament, which is being held for the 24th consecutive season, gained popularity and prestige over time and today is one of the great events in world sport that take place on Albiceleste soil.
And for this edition he raised the bar even further, with a highly competitive team, loaded with enormous figures, and a very large renovation of the
Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis
, his home since 2001, when he reached the status of
ATP 250
.
“When we settled in Buenos Aires in 2001 we thought about a long-term project. But if you asked me if we were going to be here for 24 years, I would surely say no. And we are doing it because every year we can continue projecting into the future. Continuity is key. The tournament is growing and this year in particular we had a very strong growth in infrastructure
,” commented
Martín Jaite
, director of the contest, in a conversation with
Clarín
.
The biggest transformation was carried out in the players' area, reserved for the eyes of the true protagonists.
The remodeling was necessary.
Because that sector,
"was many years old and was in a dire state
," as Jaite said, and because an ultimatum from the ATP demanded an immediate improvement.
The improvement came.
And from
Carlos Alcaraz
to the Argentines, they applauded the work done.
In just six months, the club's locker rooms, located under the north box, were torn down and rebuilt.
It was a 450 square meter project, which included two changing rooms and a common room
with areas for kinesiology, offices and a kitchen.
And with the possibility of building a second floor in the future.
The dining room - with a better gastronomic offer - and the gym were also enlarged.
The public bathrooms and television booth in the main stadium were completed.
And the entire perimeter concrete floor around that area was redone.
The transformation required a huge investment borne by
Tennium
, owner of the tournament (they preferred to keep the numbers private) and was made possible thanks to a new ten-year contract between the company and the BALTC.
"We can think
'Yes, we spent a lot of money'
, but it is an investment that will be amortized over the ten years of the contract.
It was a difficult year for Argentina and it cost us, but we think we did a good job.
And, most importantly, the players noticed the change," said Jaite.
The tournament remains firmly on the calendar despite the passage of time and the difficulties and challenges generated by the very harsh current economic, social and political crisis, which ended up sentencing other events, such as the MotoGP Grand Prix,
a
fixture of each season. in Termas de Río Hondo and canceled for this year.
What is the Argentina Open recipe to survive despite everything?
On the one hand, the support of the sponsors, who continue to grow in number with each edition.
"This year we added many new ones. Our main partner
IEB
, with whom we signed for one year for now. Also
Allianz
,
Santander
,
LG
,
Clorotec
... I probably forget some. And we made long-term contracts with some sponsors that already In addition, we reached an agreement with
ViaViva
, which gave us part of the land it has in concession under the railroad tracks to install a new food court there in exchange for advertising. All of this gives us peace of mind to continue working and it allows us to sustain ourselves," said Jaite.
Also the press and staff room and the players' gym are located on the public land adjacent to the property.
“This expansion was possible thanks to the 'invisible' contribution of the City government, which allowed us to 'leave' the club and be more comfortable
,” he explained.
And he closed: "I think
there is also a silent contribution from the people who buy the ticket
, which does not appear on any poster, but it is very, very important. That is a big part of the business."
Thank you Argentina 🇦🇷🙏🏻🫶🏻🎾🧡#buenosaires #argentina #fight #match #backtowork #trusttheprocess
📸 @sbermatov pic.twitter.com/knXK5dHPxV
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) February 15, 2024
The ticket issue generated criticism this year.
The thing is that prices skyrocketed compared to last year.
A
ticket
to watch Thursday's night session from one of the elbows, in which Alcaraz, the top favorite, debuted,
cost 72 thousand pesos
.
Twelve months ago it was around 10 thousand.
And those in the general stalls, the tubular grandstand that was erected for this occasion, ranged between 7,500 (daytime on Monday) and
54,600
(for all the quarterfinals on Friday).
The costs and complaints (there were many on social networks) still did not prevent the stadium from filling up to see the Spaniard, number two in the world both in the round of 16 and in the quarterfinals (with 5,244 people on the first day and the stands even more packed on the second).
Although there were quite a few empty spaces in the other sessions.
The weakest was on Tuesday night, when
Sebastián Báez
's game that closed the day was played with about 2,500 people.
"We had a very good Monday and not a good Tuesday night. But the stadium was very crowded since Thursday. You usually see empty sectors, but you have to think that they are also playing on other fields, there are people who come down to eat or who is in the corporate tent.
Our daily average is 3,500 people per session
and tickets are selling well. In that sense, we project that we are going to be better than last year," Jaite analyzed.
And he had no problem admitting:
"
We had a really strong price increase and we understand the public's anger
. But we were behind on prices and all of our costs also went up a lot
. "
#AlcarazManía 🥳 pic.twitter.com/QunbA19qmX
— IEB+ Argentina Open (@ArgentinaOpen) February 15, 2024
Another reason why the Buenos Aires ATP is more current than ever is the names it calls for each year.
On this occasion, in addition to a legion of Argentines - nine in the singles table and ten (some repeated) in the doubles -, it had three Grand Slam champions, something that had not happened since 2010. Alcaraz, the Swiss
Stan Wawrinka
-who was one of the most "spoiled" of the Argentine public- and the Croatian
Marin Cilic
.
How does the tournament seduce these big stars?
Money is key - the top players receive a reward for playing, as in other events - but Jaite believes there is another determining factor.
"The players here have a great time
," he stated, pointing out the reason that Alcaraz himself gave to explain his decision to return to defend the title he won last year.
"I think there is a lot of word of mouth. There is a lot of tennis culture here, you feel the love of the people, there is very good gastronomy and the city is really very beautiful. Those who come to South America or Buenos Aires for the first time are very surprised. And they are transmitting their experiences. Furthermore, I believe that we make up for the lack of sports infrastructure that Argentina has in general with something that fills me with pride, the human resources. The people who work in the tournament go out of their way to ensure that everyone, from the tennis players to the audience, they feel good," he said.
With a renovated house, faithful members, big stars and good players and the unconditional support of the people, the Argentina Open demonstrated once again why it is one of the great annual events of Argentine sports.