MADRID, 9 (EUROPA PRESS)
The ATP announced this Thursday the approval of Phase One of ‘OneVision’, a long-term Strategic Transformation Plan designed to take tennis to new heights from 2023, and that among its measures is the expansion of several Masters 1,000 in order to “provide more top-tier action for fans throughout the season and more earning opportunities for players.”
Thus, five of these tournaments, the second best level after the four ‘Grand Slam’, will go from eight to twelve days, something that is already happening with Indian Wells and Miami. In addition to the tournament at the Caja Mágica, Rome and Shanghai (China) will also be expanded, also from 2023, and the Rogers Cup, which alternates Montreal and Toronto as venues, and Cincinnati, from 2025.
In this way, the preliminary phase of the Mutua Madrid Open will be played between Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 April, while the first round of the main draw will begin on Wednesday 26 and will end on 7 May, completing a total of 22 sessions of the best tennis in the world The WTA 1000 will also increase to 96 players and run parallel to the men’s draw.
“This is fantastic news. After having managed to grow the WTA tournament, we are now making the definitive leap by increasing the duration and participants of the ATP draw, and also increasing the number of players in the WTA draw. It is a movement that wins the fans, players and of course the city of Madrid and all the sponsors of the Mutua Madrid Open”, celebrated Feliciano López, director of the Madrid tournament.
This expansion brings with it an immediate upgrade to the Masters 1000, with prize money at these five events set to increase by more than 35 percent between 2022 and 2025. In addition, according to the ATP, the end-of-year bonus pool is anticipated to increase. year will almost double in the short term so “now it will be distributed to the top 30 players” when before it was distributed to the top twelve.
Also starting in 2023, new tournament category agreements for the Masters 1000 and ATP 500 will come into effect “to bring long-term stability to the tour and allow for greater investment in the sport, while raising all event standards for players, media and fans”.
This ‘OneVision’ Plan will also mark “the beginning of a new era of corporate governance and professional decision-making, through an expanded and restructured composition of the ATP Board, along with new checks and balances to protect against conflicts of interest.” “, noted the ATP, which clarified that the development of Phase 2 “is currently underway, with the vision of creating a unified governance structure and operating model across the sport.”
“Our sport has a tremendous head start and is on the cusp of a new era of growth. Reaching our potential requires us to come together, seek out new growth opportunities and focus on what matters most: the fans. The launch of ‘OneVision ‘ represents a time of change on tour and a huge collective effort across our sport. I’m incredibly excited for what’s to come,” said ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi.
