Brazil Venue Faces Infrastructure Problems For Events

Written by: Resendiz on 10th December 2012

Brazil Venue Faces Infrastructure Problems For Events

epa03502044 US. tennis player Serena Williams returns a ball against Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, during their exhibition match of the Gillette Federer Tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 08 December 2012. EPA/Sebastião Moreira EPA/Sebastião Moreira |

The fans in Brazil have come out in great numbers to watch the Federer Gillette Tour, but apparently on Saturday at Ibirapuera Gymnasium, they were roasting watching a match between Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams,

The Brazilian press reported that Federer had commented on the excessive heat in the gym, which does not have an air conditioning system. Brazilian player Thomaz Bellucci added: “It’s a sauna in there, like a furnace.

The gym was first opened in 1957, and was renovated in 2011. It was repainted, new seats were installed, a new floor was installed and public access was improved. The gym is part of the Sports Complex Vaz Guimarães, which also features a stadium and a water park. The renovation cost around $26 million.

But apparently, the gym is owned by the state government of Sao Paulo and it hasn’t come up with the funding to put in a cooling system.

The exhibitions are being put on by the sports agency Koch Tavares, which also runs the

Brazil Open, the ATP Challenger Finals and in 2014, will run a new ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro and a WTA International Series tournament in Florianopolis

Rio de Janeiro has expressed interest in hosting the ATP World Finals, but the ATP just renewed its contract with London until 2015. Whether Brazil will make an acceptable bid after that remains to be seen.

“In this gym you can’t have an event of that size,” said Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is also playing the exhibition series. “The arena in London is amazing, the structure is very good. Certainly, the future is possible, since [Brazil] will get the World Cup (in 2014) and the Olympics (in 2016). Brazil is huge and will certainly have opportunities going forward. ”

Federer agreed: “The atmosphere of the fans is incredible, but for large events, would also need to be more infrastructure.”

©Daily Tennis News

Topics: Atp, Brazil tennis news, Gillete tennis news, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka