ATP250 ‘not worth’ investment without Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal backing, says Marseille chief

ATP Tour
Rafael Nadal competing

The tournament director of the Marseille Open says ‘it’s not worth’ trying to grow the tournament without the backing of a top player such as Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

Marseille is an ATP250, the fourth tear of regular-season tour competitions after Grand Slams, Masters, and ATP500.

2020 looks like being a strong year for the competition, with Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas headlining, but that’s still not enough to grow the event, says Jean-Francois Caujolle.

“It is rather the passion, the pleasure which takes precedence,” he told we Love Tennis about why he continues to run the event.

“The ATP asked me to switch to a 500 category, I rejected. I should have put a million and a half more, so much money that I could not put in guarantee anymore.

“Of course, I want to please myself as a fan of the game and so to bring Murray, Djokovic, Federer or Nadal, I fight for that!

“And if any of them could call me one morning and say, ‘I want to play your tournament’, it would be fabulous.

“Because of this type of players, it is not me calling them, it does not work like that.

“If my tournament does not fit in their calendar, it’s not even worth it.”

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Andy Murray Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal Roger Federer

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