The ATP 250 in Córdoba and Buenos Aires have already passed, this week the 500 in Rio de Janeiro is being played and the qualification for the Santiago de Chile tournament has already begun.
The South American tour attracts some of the best tennis players in the world, vibrates to the rhythm of a warm crowd and earned praise from, for example,
Carlos Alcaraz
,
Stanislas Wawrinka
and
Cameron Norrie
.
And now the one who joined was Andy Murray, who went one step further.
"Unpopular opinion. South America should have its own tour with its Masters 1000 series. The way the fans support the tournaments there is incredible. Tennis is clearly part of their sporting culture," the
Scot posted on the social network .
And five minutes later he received the response from a tennis glory like Boris Becker:
"Why unpopular?!? You are absolutely right in your opinion, Andy! Tennis should go to countries/continents where tennis is booming..."
wrote the German.
Diego Schwartzman later joined and took aim at the governing body of men's tennis.
"Let's let the ATP know this, Andy. Every year they give us less support. Not only because of how the fans support the tournaments, but also because of the number of top players we have and had in the past, as you know. We deserve more from the ATP. Thank you very much for your words,"
Peque published.
Murray
, 36, has one of the best memories of his career in these latitudes.
At the
2016
Olympic Games , held in Rio de Janeiro, he won his second gold medal after beating
Juan Martín Del Potro
in the final.
He felt the warmth of the South American public, which sometimes brings the football atmosphere to the
courts
, and took advantage of the moment to strongly praise South American tennis.
Unpopular opinion 🚨 South America should have its own dedicated swing on the tennis tour with its own masters series.
The way the fans support the tournaments there is incredible.
Amazing atmospheres and 🎾 is clearly part of their sporting culture.
Let's go @atptour!
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) February 24, 2024
Previously, in 2003, when he was struggling to make the leap to professionalism, Murray played on the traditional Cosat tour and played in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay.
Being that he is a triple Grand Slam champion, and who best knew how to confront the immense power of the "Big Three" made up of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, this message from Sir Andy is a strong incentive for, for example, , the organizers of the Argentina Open continue working so that the tournament that takes place at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis moves to the 500 category.
"Last year, the truth is, I didn't see it as a 500, but this year I do," said
Alcaraz,
number two in the world, during his stay in Buenos Aires.
"The facilities have improved a lot, the courts are very good and the organization is very good.
In addition, people are very involved in tennis, they get very involved and you can feel that. If this tournament becomes a 500 I wouldn't be surprised," he added.
The transformation that the Spaniard talks about was a work in which
Tennium
, the company that owns the contest, which also organizes those in Antwerp, Hamburg and Barcelona, invested one million dollars.
Most of it was spent tearing down the club's old locker rooms and rebuilding them, leaving the structure ready for a possible expansion to a second floor in the future.
This renovation was demanded by the ATP due to the “dire” state of the facilities and received the approval of that association chaired by
Andrea Gaudenzi.
Although it was not a specific requirement within the framework of the fight for promotion.
Full stadium for the final between Díaz Acosta and Jarry.
Photo: Agustín Marcarian/Reuters.
In any case,
the
upgrade
is not a simple thing.
The ATP requires a main stadium with capacity for 7,000 people, two other courts to play matches and four for training (three of which must be in the headquarters club), which Lawn Tennis is still far from achieving.
With a contract with the BALTC until 2033 just signed, it is a challenge for the tournament to find a way to meet the capacity requirements on the club grounds.
At Tennium, too, they know that when push comes to shove, being prepared will not assure them anything.
In this context, Andy Murray's words resonated loudly and in South America they hope it will reach the halls of the ATP.