Miami /Sony Tennis Starts 2015 “In The Hole ” First Time In ATP History

Written by: Staff on 1st April 2014

Miami /Sony Tennis Starts 2015 "In The Hole " First Time In ATP History

epa03534695 A spectator watches Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland playing against Bojana Bobusic of Australia during their 1st round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 14 January 2013. EPA/Barbara Walton |

With both men’s semifinals not played because of walkovers, Miami may see its revenue for next year significantly affected by exchanged tickets.

Kei Nishikori withdrew from his semifinal against Novak Djokovic with a leg injury, followed by Tomas Berdych withdrawing against Rafael Nadal with gastrointestinal problems, leaving both Friday sessions without a singles match. It was the first time ATP history there were walkovers in each semifinal at a tournament.

“We do exchange tickets, but it will be for next year,” said tournament director Adam Barrett after the first withdrawal. “We don’t have tickets available for the men’s semifinal tonight or the men’s finals. We have very limited availability before Saturday’s women’s final. So not enough to take care of.”

Depending on how many of the ticketholders for the two semifinal sessions this year ask for equivalent exchange tickets for next year, the tournament may need to limit sales of new tickets for its 13,300 capacity stadium.

Both Nishikori and Berdych decided to default shortly before the first semifinal was scheduled. As soon as the players said they would not be able to play, organizers made announcements and attempted to contact spectators so they could decide whether to attend the Friday sessions.

The tournament chose not to hold an exhibition instead of the scheduled singles match before the first semifinal, and used the same policy for the second semifinal.

“A match of this caliber, a match that people were looking forward to involving the No. 2 player in the world, involving Kei who has had an unbelievable run, beating four seeds on the way to the semifinals, including Dimitrov, Ferrer, Federer, and there is nothing that replaces that,” said Barrett.

“That’s what we felt was the best was not to try to replace it but to allow them to exchange their tickets for a future session.”

Content via Bob Larson

Topics: Atp, djokovic, Kei Nishikori, Miami, Rafa, Sony, Tennis, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

April 1, 2014 at 8:20 am

Miami /Sony Tennis Starts 2015 “In The Hole ” First Time In ATP History – http://t.co/Vl3bP1kDgD #miami #sony #tennis #ATP