Date: 29th Sept 2007

Player injury out of ATP control: CEO

Professional tennis players pulling out because of injury is something out of the control of tennis event organizers, ATP International Group CEO Brad Drewett said over the weekend.

Mr Drewett was in Bangkok to watch the finals of the ATP Thailand Open held on Sunday, September 30.

The tournament was plagued by high-profile players’ withdrawals. Top seeds Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick withdrew shortly before the tournament.

Mr. Drewett, also the chairman of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai China in November, said he understood the feelings of Thai fans as he had experienced similar difficulties at the Masters Cup in 2005.

“At that event, big-name players such as Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin all pulled out of the event,” he said.

“It was like a perfect storm because one, two, three players were pulling out at the same time due to injury.”

He said players were not robots, and tennis was a tough sport, so injuries inevitably happened. “We cannot dictate when the players are going to be injured,” he said.

Mr. Drewett praised the Thailand Open, saying that in its fifth year it had already grown to become one of the most important ATP tournaments in Asia.

“I remembered coming here five years ago with empty seats in the stadium, but today there are about 7,000 spectators,” he said.

“It is still a fantastic tournament even without big players.”