Novak Djokovic's sportmanship praised by an ATP event Tournament Director
In an exclusive interview to Tennis World USA the Libema Open Tournament Director Marcel Hunze recalled when Novak Djokovic was committed to playing in 's-Hertogenbosch but then missed it. Hunze appreciated Djokovic's humanity. "I remember that he has withdrawn from the tournament because he had an injury. My phone rang as I was going back to the hotel and it was Novak. He called me and apologized that he was injured and he could not play, and he wished a very good tournament. There are not many players who call themselves when they have an injury and they have to withdraw. So I still remember that call. Because normally it's the agent, or the agent calls the ATP or they send a mail. A personal call from a player doesn't happen that often and Novak was one of the few who did it", said Hunze.
Rain can be always a problem in the Netherlands, but Hunze feels confident: "Rain on a grass court is not a good combination. As soon as we have a few drops, we have to stop playing. We do have covers on all the match courts and practice courts as well. We have experienced groundsmen, so as soon as it rains it will be covered in a few minutes and we are not scared about the rain as long as it doesn't take the whole day. Only one final, in our tournament history, we had a final on Monday, which is probably my worst memory ever, but it happened just once so we are normally optimistic about the rain situation. My best memory was probably when Sjeng Schalken, the second best player for the Netherlands, won the title twice in a row."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2ZDIeqh
No comments