New York Open organisers target Roger Federer for 2019 appearance

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Roger Federer watches on

Organisers of the New York Open are hopeful that they can tempt Roger Federer to be involved in some capacity after relocating from Memphis.

The ATP 250 event was held in Memphis from 1975 to 2017, but will now become the only other event alongside the US Open to be held in New York.

While Federer has opted to play in the Rotterdam Open in order to try and become world No.1 again, New York Open officials believe they become part of Federer’s schedule in the future now that the event is being played at a more attractive location.

“We now can competitively go to a Roger Federer — he may never want to play based on schedule, his calendar, and his schedule — but you can at least go to a Roger Federer and say, ‘Listen, we can pay you, because we actually have the opportunity to be able to sell enough seats,” Chief Josh Ripple told Sports Illustrated.

“So from a pure business standpoint, being at NYCB Live and being here in New York provides us the ability to attract those players.

“We’re not attracting Roger Federer in 2018. But you know in 2019 or 2020, we can go out and be competitive and we can make an offer for a player like that. We could never do that in Memphis.”

The New York Open begins on February 11, with Grand slam runners-up Sam Querrey, Kevin Anderson and Kei Nishikori all scheduled to play.

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