In a chat to local journalists, the Tournament Director commented on the upcoming Brazilian clay-court tournament that takes place from 19 to 24 February. Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini and Diego Schwartzman headline the field which is not the best possible.
We recognize that it was not planned, but it was not for a lack of attempt, we did offer to other top 23 players but because of the time and issues they did not come, admitted Carvalho, who would like to see the Rio Open taking place on hard courts, possibly after 2021. The ATP Council focused on ATP Cup in 2018, so there wasnt room for the discussion, but this year we will try to speak about this possible change again.
Its an old idea, which gets strengthened when we see the Acapulco entry list featuring five, six top ten players while before when it was on clay there were just two, three like us. The Rio Open tried to negotiate with , who often said he wishes the clay-court season would last longer.
He showed interest, we did a proposal, then we increased our offer, but he has a contract with Rotterdam that bet on him even when he was younger. committed to Acapulco on hard courts for the third year in a row.
He chooses a different schedule. Nadal is a little risky bet for every event as he often withdraws, but its a risk that Id like to go through… All the years he came all the tickets were sold. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title
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