Former Wimbledon champion vows to keep ATP 500s 'special' amid Saudi Arabia exhibitions

  • 8 months ago
Rotterdam Open tournament director Richard Krajicek is wary of the pending exhibitions in Saudi Arabia
Transcript
00:00 I think what makes the tournament special is we are a 500 event, so you can earn 500 points.
00:03 It's one of the 13 elite tournaments.
00:06 And yeah, you see it in our draw.
00:09 We have six top ten players.
00:10 We've had many legends win our event.
00:13 I think on top of that, we are an indoor event,
00:17 but I think with very, very good facilities for the players.
00:23 We keep investing in making the tournament better and better
00:28 and trying to be a trendsetter and not a trend follower.
00:32 It's an exhibition, so exhibitions can be held.
00:35 You know, they're in off-season sometimes,
00:37 and with 250 tournaments, they can happen in those weeks.
00:40 So I feel for those tournaments.
00:42 The 1000 tournaments, the Grand Slams and the 500 events are protected there.
00:48 So it doesn't affect those tournaments as much.
00:51 There is some influence, but mainly on the 250 events.
00:55 And for them, yeah, hopefully there can be some kind of solution,
00:58 because we're ashamed if exhibitions take over too much or hurt the 250 events too much.

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