The ‘unpopular’ request of Andy Murray and Boris Becker to the ATP, succumbing to the passion of the public in South American tournaments

The ATP 250 in Córdoba and Buenos Aires have already passed, the 500 in Rio de Janeiro will be played this week and the qualifiers for the tournament in Santiago de Chile have already begun. The South American tour attracts some of the best tennis players in the world, vibrates to the rhythm of a warm audience and has earned praise, for example, from Carlos Alcaraz, Stanislas Wawrinka AND Cameron Norrie.

And now the one who joined was Andy Murray, who took it a step further. “Unpopular opinion. South America should have its own tour with the Masters 1000 series. The way the fans support the tournaments is incredible. Tennis is clearly part of their sporting culture,” the Scotsman posted on the X social network.

And five minutes later he received the answer 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, 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 have had in the past, as you know. We deserve more from the ATP. Thank you very much for your words,” Peque published.

Murray, 36 years old, has one of the best memories of his career in these latitudes. In the Olympic Games of 2016, held in Rio de Janeiro, he obtained his second gold medal after beating Juan Martin del Potro in the end. You felt the warmth of the South American public, which sometimes brings the atmosphere of football law courtsand took advantage of the moment to strongly praise South American tennis.

Previously, in 2003, when he was struggling to make the leap to pro, Murray had played on the traditional Cosat tour and had played in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Paraguay.

Given that he is a triple Grand Slam champion and has been able to better deal with the immense power of the “Big Three” of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic, this message from Sir Andy is a strong incentive, for example, for , , The organizers of the Argentina Open continue to work to ensure that the tournament taking place at Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis moves up to the 500 category.

“Last year, the truth is I didn’t see it for a 500, but this year I did,” he said. Alcaraz, number two in the world, during his stay in Buenos Aires. “The facilities have improved a lot, the pitches are very good and the organization is very good. Also, people are very involved in tennis, they are very involved and you can feel it. If this tournament became a 500 I wouldn’t be surprised,” he added.

The transformation that the Spaniard speaks of was a work in which Tennio, the company that owns the competition, which also organizes those in Antwerp, Hamburg and Barcelona, ​​invested one million dollars. Most of the money was spent demolishing the club’s old changing rooms and rebuilding them, leaving the facility ready for a possible second-floor extension in the future.

This restructuring was requested by the ATP due to the “catalamorous” state of the facilities and obtained the approval of the association chaired by Andrea Gaudenzi. Although it was not a specific requirement in the framework of the fight for promotion.

Anyway, He update It’s not a simple thing. The ATP requires a main stadium with a capacity of 7,000, two more courts for playing matches and four for training (three of which must be at the home club), something Lawn Tennis is still far from achieving.

With a contract with BALTC until 2033 just signed, it is a challenge for the tournament to find a way to meet the capacity requirements on the club’s grounds. Even in Tennium they know that when push comes to shove, being prepared doesn’t guarantee them anything.

In this context, Andy Murray’s words had strong resonance and in South America it is hoped they will also reach the halls of the ATP.