Djokovic Wants ATP Finals Moved

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 7th November 2012

Djokovic Wants ATP Finals Moved

epa03461873 Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Andy Murray of Britain during their match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Britain, 07 November 2012. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

Two of the ATP’s top players may have differing ideas as to whether the Barclay’s Word Tour finals should move after its contract with London ’s O2 arena expires after 2013. Some members of the British press have been pushing for it and the tournament has done very well there, frequently selling out, even during the week.

But since the start of the 21st century the ATP has used the event as a way to spread its gospel and keeping it in a city that already has a major tournament at Wimbledon and where the sport is already widely accepted would be counter to that philosophy.

After 12 years at New York ;s Madison Square Garden , the ATP finals moved to Frankfurt , Germany in 1990 as that country was experiencing a tennis boom with the massive popularity of Boris Becker. It stayed there for six years, and then moved to Hanover, Germany for four years, before moving to Lisbon for a year in 2000, to Sydney for one year in 2001, to Shanghai for a year in 2002 and then to Houston for two years. Shanghai then hosted for another four years from 2005-2008 before moving to London in 2009.

There are cities in South America that would like to host the 2014 edition, as well as in Asia . “I think most of the players would share the opinion: this is one of the probably best Masters Cup we had organization‑wise, just having it played in the city which has a long tennis history and culture,” Djokovic said. “You could see that the crowd is very knowledgeable about the sport, which makes it very interesting for us players to perform here. Everything that concerns the organization, from the hotel, transportation, player facilities, everything is organized at the maximum level. We are very happy. But I am actually one of the players that support the global promotion of this event and this sport in general. So I think that after being held five years here, we should give the opportunities to other cities around the world.”

ATP Players Council head Roger Federer was somewhat non-committal on the issue, saying he would be happy either way. There are meetings be held on the issue this week in London .

“ I think it ticks all the boxes,” he said. “I think successful, liked by the players. The fans have really come here in big numbers. Media, I think the presence is big. It seems really like it’s working out well. It needs to be fulfilled from the ATP side, whoever is involved, from the site, so forth. If they stay here, that’s great. If they move, they better make sure it’s a great place that makes sense for tennis, for the business, for our schedule. But I’m sure at this point the ATP is going to take the right decision here.”