Court Quality Scandal Threatens Napoli Open
In a shocking turn of events quite unlike anything seen ever before on the ATP tour, an event is on the brink of being cancelled as the courts were deemed to be of an unacceptable standard for a professional tennis event. Despite a fairly strong line-up including the likes of Matteo Berrettini, Pablo Carreno-Busta and Roberto Bautista-Agut, the Napoli Open looks to be under threat of cancellation, after organisers received a barrage of complaints from participating players as they tried to practise on the courts.
The only hope now for the tournament is the delivery of a completely new court surface, which will be transported in from Florence, where an ATP event was hosted this last week. However, with the final of that event being played on Sunday, the surface could not be removed and transported until then, meaning it can’t arrive in Naples until late on Monday. This means that should the tournament go ahead, there will be no play on Monday, as there is simply no court surface to play on. Even when it does arrive, it will need to be hastily installed, and there is no guarantee that the surface will be playable even if the surface can be laid in time.
Whether or not the tournament is played (and indeed completed), the saga will of course be a great source of embarrassment for the ATP, and it is highly unlikely that Napoli will host another ATP event in the future. Given that tennis courts in that region are almost all red clay, one has to ask why the ATP decided to allow the city to host an event during the indoor hard-court swing. If the event is cancelled, it will mean the loss of crucial rankings points and prize money for many players, not to mention the wasted costs on travel and accommodation, which is particularly problematic for some of the lower ranked players in the draw. Although the very top tennis players earn a very good living, some players outside the Top 150 barely break even on tour, so every tournament is hugely important financially for some players. The ATP has decided to remain silent on the matter, making no reference to the scandal so far.
In the tennis that has actually been played this week, there have been some interesting developments. It was a good week for both Andrey Rublev and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who both stepped up their bids to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, winning titles in Gijón and Florence respectively. The pair now occupy 2 of the 3 remaining spots for the ATP Finals, with Daniil Medvedev occupying the other, but looking in a much stronger position to hold onto his place.
There are now just 3 weeks of tournaments left in the calendar before the Finals in Turin, with each week becoming more pivotal than the next. There are 2 ATP 250s scheduled next week, with 2 ATP 500s the week after, before one final showdown at the Paris Masters, worth a crucial 1000 points to the eventual winner. Paris has proven to be a decisive tournament in the past, with players jumping several spots in the race with good performances there. The best example that springs to mind is Jack Sock in 2017, where winning the Paris Masters saw him jump from 24th to 8th in the race that year, earning him a spot at the Tour Finals, where he went on to make the semi-finals.
In other news, Jack Draper will finally return to action this week, where he will face Jenson Brooksby in Round 1 of the European Open in Antwerp. Draper has not played since retiring in the 3rd Round of the US Open against Karen Khachanov, and will be looking to finish strongly in what has been a breakout season for the young Brit. Draper has an extra incentive to win some matches, as a good few weeks will certainly see him qualify for the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan, where he will have a chance to showcase just how much he has improved against some of the best young players on tour.