Kooyong Exhibition, in Competition with ATP Events, Draws Big Names, But None of Big 4

Written by: Staff on 9th January 2012

Kooyong Exhibition, in Competition with ATP Events, Draws Big Names, But None of Big 4

Milos Raonic of Canada returns the ball to Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia during their final match of the Chennai Open 2012 tennis tournament in Chennai, India, 08 January 2012. Milos Raonic won 6-7, 7-6 and 7-6 to claim the title. EPA/NATHAN G |

While the annual AAMI Classic exhibition (Jan. 11-14) in Kooyong (Melbourne) has not drawn any members of the ATP’s so-called Big 4 this year, it does sport a very strong field that includes notable players Milos Raonic, Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, Jurgen Melzer, Gale Monfils, Tomas Berdych Bernard Tomic and Jo Wilfried. Another exhibition in Adelaide that is played the week before the Australian Open has drawn ATP players Tommy Haas, Stanislas Wawrinka, Michael Llodra and Alexandr Dolgopolov.

The ATP Tournament in Sydney features Juan Martin Del Potro and John Isner as its top two seeds, while the ATP tournament in Auckland features David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco as its top three.

Clearly the existence of exhibitions the week before the Australian Open, which allows players to have relatively stress-free practice matches, has hurt the fields of the ATP’s two events, but for whatever reason, the ATP does not fine players likes the WTA does for playing in exhibitions during tournament weeks.

The Sydney tournament has long complained about it, and with Australian Brad Drewett being recently named the CEO of the ATP, sources say there is a possibility that next year a rule change will be considered.

Whether that convinces the likes of Djokovic, Nadal Federer and Murray to play an ATP tournament the week before a major is debatable (none of them traditionally do before the other majors either) but at the very least it would give long time historic tournaments like Sydney a chance to attract a better field.

Interestingly, the WTA tournament in Sydney features eight of the top nine ranked women in the world, while Del Potro is the highest ranked male at No. 11. The WTA now does fine players for participating in exhibitions during the weeks of Premier level tournaments.