Monte Carlo Masters director shares why women's event won't be held
The Monte Carlo Masters Tournament Director Zeljko Franulovic explained the reasons why a women's event has not been held in the city for years. A few weeks ago Stefanos Tsitsipas asked himself this question on Twitter. "There were some ideas, proposals, even projects that have been envisioned, but when you think about the fact of adding 56 or 60 players in the main draw plus doubles, plus training courts, and you have to deal with all the scheduling, and you have men and women, it is quite complicated", said Franulovic. "So even though we have managed to change for the better, we do not have more square meters. The surface still stays the same. So it's not the same as if it was Miami or Indian Wells where there is no problem of space. But we have made the decision to keep our men's tournament and improve the quality.
We need to consider two points here. First of all, this is something that has been done in the past to have this women's tournament. We have also to be aware of the fact that in the Principality, the dates and the seasons along the year are very specific. For instance, in spring we have our tournament here. Then we have Formula 1, as you know, the Grand Prix. And then summer arrives very soon, and people go on holidays. People are on the beach. And so it is difficult to organize such a tournament and expect to have a big development of such women's tournament. So if we separate men's tournament from the women's tournament, we are not going to benefit from the power and the attraction that the men's tournament will have. For instance, if we decide to organize it in July, it's going to be, like, on their own. So we have tried before, and it hasn't worked. So that's one point. Another point is that we need to assess the price, particularly the costs and the prize money because of course, the prize money has to be at the same level for the women as for the men. So we need to draw a really solid business plan and do our accounting before actually going into that venture."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2vj8Mz9
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