Madrid and Rome Masters: How likely is it to take place?
The Italian tennis portal Ubitennis.com published a report yesterday Sunday, in which plans of the organizers of the Rome and Madrid Masters are discussed. We have summarized the findings for you.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jun 01, 2020, 04:39 pm
While there were hardly any positive things to report in the first weeks of the COVID-19 interruption of the ATP and WTA tour, there have been increasing voices in the past few days that holding the US Open this year would become more realistic again. The postponement of the French Open should also have landed a coup - provided, of course, that all requirements for such international events can be met in autumn.
At the same time, however, the question arises as to how it could look with any preparation tournaments for the Grand Slam in Roland Garros. The ATP Masters 1000 events in Rome and Madrid, which hope to be staged in the two weeks between the US Open and the French Open, are in the first row. Of course, these tournaments live from the participation of the very big athletes in the sport. Athletes who are therefore very likely to hit Flushing Meadows well into the second week.
Alternative plans for Rome and Madrid
For this reason, the organizers of the two Masters events have come up with an alternative plan, which is to be fleshed out these days. As Ubitennis.com is said to have learned from its own sources, Madrid are planning to reduce the main draw from 56 to 48 places and only play the final on Tuesday of the following week. This would allow the US Open finalists to have their first round match until Friday. A fact that makes this at least somewhat more likely.
The event in Rome is scheduled to start on the same day with the final in Spain - so as not to provoke a conflict over TV rights without broadcasting this first day of the tournament. In Rome, too, the field is to be reduced by eight places, which would allow the same planning flexibility as in Madrid. The Rome Masters final is now scheduled to take place on Monday, September 28th. A very problematic approach, since the French Open would have started the day before - provided that the organizers in Paris carried out the planned postponement by one week.
Most likely to host only one tournament
While these plans are purely mental games at the moment, it is certain that even with a successful event, the prize money of the two events would experience a massive decline. In terms of viewers, however, rumors indicate that there could be a staging with 50 percent of the spectator capacity in Madrid. A concept that would be much more difficult to implement in Rome.
The staging of both events clearly describes an absolute best case scenario, it is much more likely that only one of the two classic sand courts will get a place between the two Grand Slams. In this case, it can be assumed that Madrid would be awarded the contract. This would be the most logical decision, especially for the WTA, if the tournament in the Spanish capital is one of the few combined events with "non-discriminatory" prize money on the calendar. And the entire prize money clearly speaks for Madrid. Hosting the Rome Masters after the French Open could be an alternative for the organizers in the Italian capital.
A lot of uncertainties
Another option is, of course, that the entire North America tour could be canceled. In this case, there would be a huge space in front of the French Open, a space that could make it possible to host almost the entire European clay court tour.
However, all of these options are naturally subject to the number of cases in the event countries, the legal restrictions in the home countries of the players and the decisions of ATP, WTA and Grand Slams. The Masters Events in Rome and Madrid are currently working on these plans. On plans that tennis fans would guarantee an autumn filled with highlights to the brim.