ATP Pune: a victim of the ATP Cup?
An ATP tournament has been taking place in Pune, India for 25 years now. Because the ATP Cup was held for the first time in 2020, the ATP 250 event takes place one week after the Australian Open. The quality of the field of participants and the number of spectators now seem to suffer.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Feb 04, 2020, 06:33 am
Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Kevin Anderson. Many big names can call themselves title holders at the ATP 250 event in Pune. The Swiss Wawrinka triumphed four times in Pune. Sometimes the tournament - which was traditionally held in the first days of January - was used by many top players to prepare for the Australian Open. As a new format was introduced in 2020 with the ATP Cup, the organizers now had to switch to an appointment directly after the Australian Open.
This is now reflected in the quality of the field of participants. Bernoit Paire is still a top 20 player, but his first pursuer, Ricardas Berankis, is only number 73 in the world rankings. In total there are only eight top 100 players at the start. This, in turn, resulted in a dreary picture on the spectator stands on the first day of the tournament.
Competition also through tournaments in Montpellier and Cordoba
In addition to the unattractive appointment right after a Grand Slam tournament, the competition from the other tournaments is also great for the organizers in Pune. The ATP event in Montpellier has been very popular for years and will continue to attract an attractive number of participants in 2020. Gael Monfils and David Goffin are two top 10 players. And the event in Cordoba is also used by many players as the start of the South America tour. Diego Schwartzman and Guido Pella lead the field here.
For the ATP 250 event in Pune, this change in dates caused by the ATP Cup had hardly any positive consequences. The top players stay away, as do the spectators. However, this increases the chance for higher ranked players to collect valuable points at an ATP 250 event. So also for the three Germans Peter Gojowczyk, Yannick Maden and Cedric-Marcel Strebe. The latter has already got off to a good start and taken last year's finalist Ivo Karlovic out of the tournament.