"Our goal should be to put ATP events closer & closer to Grand Slams in terms of promotion & importance" - Rafael Nadal to ATP Chairman
In an out-of-the-ordinary situation in Rome recently, 14-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal turned interviewer to discuss the future of tennis with former Italian player and current ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi. Their focus was to introduce fans to 'OneVision', the ATP's long-term strategic plan, whose Phase One has been approved and will be put into action in January next year.
Gaudenzi started by laying stress on the need for unity in tennis in order to strengthen the sport and provide a better experience to the fans. When Nadal asked him about the plan to achieve that, the ATP Chairman called for financial transparency between events and players, a 50-50 profit-sharing structure, and enhancement of the Masters 1000 tournaments.
"One of the beginnings is providing the players with the transparency of the economics of the tournaments. If the tournaments do well financially, the players will get 50% of the profits on top of the prize money. It's also important to enhance the premium product — our bigger tournaments like in Rome, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, and Shanghai," Gaudenzi said.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion agreed and showed his support by calling the plan a "win-win formula".
"I think it's a win-win formula. The Masters 1000s are huge events. Sometimes from my personal perspective, the rest of the tournaments are considered much lower than Grand Slams, so I think our goal, as ATP, should be to put our tournaments closer and closer to the Slams in terms of promotion and importance. We need to encourage the tournaments to keep growing,” said Nadal.
ATP's 'OneVision' comprises two phases and the core principles of the plan are driving unity, enhancing the fan experience, and leveraging scalable growth opportunities in media, data, content and tech.
Rafael Nadal starts training on grass
As per Spanish newspaper Marca, World No. 4 Rafael Nadal trained behind closed doors at the Mallorca Country Club in Santa Ponca on Monday. Earlier this month, the Spaniard lifted his 14th French Open title and within a couple of days, received treatment on his left foot to get ready for Wimbledon. Nadal used anesthetic injections and anti-inflammatories during Roland Garros to eliminate pain from his foot.
Reports that Nadal practice on grass today, behind closed doors. twitter.com/jmgmoron/statu…
In an interview, the 36-year-old's uncle and former coach Toni Nadal seemed optimistic of the two-time Wimbledon champion's participation at the SW19 this year.
"I talked to him. At first he said 'everything hurts'. But when we spoke yesterday, he said it was much better. He wants to train. And if he has a little chance, he will play at Wimbledon. He goes on the court on Monday," Toni Nadal said.