World Team Cup Is Terminated

Written by: Staff on 5th October 2012

World Team Cup Is Terminated

epa03393028 Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a return to Andy Murray of Great Britain during the men's final match on the fifteenth day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 10 September 2012. The US Open has been extended a day for the fifth straight year due to weather. EPA/ANDRREW GOMBERT |

The World Team Cup has died a natural death in the current harsh economic climate, with the iconic tournament set to morph into a garden-variety ATP 250 tournament in 2013. ATP officials said that while an official announcement will be made next week in the German city, media reports on the end of the 35-year-tournament were true.

The Sports Business Daily reported that the license for the clay event which had been a showcase tuneup for the French Open which followed it, had been sold for $2.1 million to Madrid Masters impresario Ion Tiriac.

But under a clause in the operating agreement, Dusseldorf organizers at the picturesque Rochusclub will still retain the right to actually operate the event. No date for the new 250 tournament has yet been set.

Reports indicate that Power Horse energy drink, which came on board as Dusseldorf sponsor in 2011, would be a likely candidate for bankrolling the new tournament in the Rhine rive metropolis.

The World Team Cup formerly attracted world-class fields of players eager to train for the French Open. But in recent years, elite players have been practicing privately in the week before the Grand Slam.

The last edition, 2012, was won by Serbia , but without Novak Djokovic. Host Germany was naturally guaranteed an annual spot, with the nation winning five titles.

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Topics: ATP 250 tournament, German tennis news, Novak Djokovic, Power Horse energy drink, Sports, Tennis News, World Team Cup 2013