If Frances Tiafoe has his way, every player lounge at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament will have table tennis and video games. There will be top-shelf food, “Not some dry chicken, but quality stuff that doesn’t taste like cardboard,” Tiafoe said in an interview in September, and tournament directors will loan players luxury cars for the week rather than forcing them to rely on tournament transportation.
Most important, Tiafoe, a U.S. Open semifinalist this year, wants the scheduling of matches to be fair and equitable for all, not just the game’s stars.
Casper Ruud, the eighth-ranked player in the world, agrees with Tiafoe about the food, but he cares more about having a spacious gym on site for the players to warm up and cool down.
“Some players like to eat pasta, others like more meat, and some like to eat rice, so having good chefs who can cook fresh food that’s something the players really appreciate,” Ruud said during the Laver Cup in Berlin last month.
Masters 1000s are the highest-level tournaments on the ATP Tour, offering the most prize money and ranking points outside of Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Opens. There are nine such events, including the Rolex Paris Masters, which begins Monday. More than half of those tournaments — Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome and the Rolex Paris Masters — are run by former touring pros who have become tournament directors.
Two former female world No. 1s, Amélie Mauresmo and Garbiñe Muguruza, also are tournament directors, Mauresmo for the French Open and Muguruza at the WTA Finals, which begin Nov. 2. All offer a unique perspective on players’ wants and needs.
“Being a player and then a tournament director is completely different,” Paolo Lorenzi, a former top-ranked Italian player and now the tournament director for the Italian Open, said by phone from Rome this month. “A player has a lot of pressure. Now I have the pressure from the players. Everyone has different requests. As a player you know you’re trying your best. But as tournament director you know that not everyone is going to be happy.”
Being a tournament director means trying to please everyone, especially athletes who are used to getting what they want. Satisfying disparate parties is the hardest aspect for Cédric Pioline, the Paris Masters tournament director.
“Scheduling is a very sensitive part,” said Pioline, who was runner-up at the 1993 U.S. Open and at Wimbledon in 1997. “You have to consider both sides. The players are selfish and want to organize their day. As a tournament director I have to think about the fans, coaches, agents, media and TV, often with different time zones. In the end, the tournament has to have the last word.”
Last year, Pioline found himself in a player’s cross hairs when Jannik Sinner finished his second-round match at 2:37 a.m. and was scheduled to play his third-rounder the next afternoon. Sinner withdrew from the tournament, complaining that he didn’t have sufficient time to rest, and Pioline faced a backlash from fans and players. Pioline said he tried to please everyone.
“We have to make it work,” Pioline said. “We do have some bonuses with hotels and transportation and practice courts and times. When it’s [Novak] Djokovic requesting it that’s different from someone who is not as good. We have respect for all the players, they are all champions. But then there are super champions.”
Daniil Medvedev knows that it takes a special talent to deal with top-ranked players.
“I think you have to have good organizing skills and that’s what sometimes tennis players can have trouble with when we are playing,” Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, said during the Laver Cup. “When you stop playing you can start developing those skills.”
Tommy Haas admits that he was in the right place at the right time when he became the tournament director of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif. Haas, a silver medalist at the 2002 Olympics before injuries derailed his career, played in Indian Wells 14 times and said he developed a close relationship with Larry Ellison, the Oracle co-founder who bought the tournament in 2009. Ellison chose him to become tournament director in 2016.
“This was a perfect fit,” Haas said by phone earlier this month. “I knew I wanted to stay involved with tennis, but I really wasn’t interested in coaching or commentary.
“It helps to have connections through all my years of playing,” added Haas, who sprung into action in 2019 when Rafael Nadal hurt his knee and was forced to withdraw from his semifinal against Roger Federer. Haas reached out to his friends Djokovic, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe and arranged an exhibition match for the fans that included him.
Transitioning from the role of player to director isn’t always easy.
“It took me some time to adapt until I found the right balance between being an active player and also a tournament director,” said Feliciano Lopez, who has been the Madrid Open tournament director since 2019. “The No. 1 lesson I’ve learned is the incredible work the tournaments are doing. As a tennis player you tend to take things for granted.”
Location and time of year can also have a big impact on a tournament and the director’s role. James Blake, ranked a career-high No. 4 in 2006 and now the tournament director of the Miami Open, knows that one big benefit he can provide to players is sun and sand in South Florida in March. Because his tournament is played at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the N.F.L.’s Miami Dolphins, he can offer his top eight seeds luxury suites to relax in, among other perks. But that doesn’t mean that Blake has it easy.
“Every year there are fires to put out,” he said by phone earlier this month. In 2019 Blake said he had to contend with Federer and his agent who were unhappy at having to play a nighttime match after they had requested he play during the day. Blake went to the locker room, explained the complex scheduling and Federer agreed to the change. He went on to win the tournament.
This year Blake had to deal with the media attention after Aryna Sabalenka’s former boyfriend died by what the police said was an apparent suicide in Miami before the event.
“You can’t prepare for that kind of craziness,” Blake said. “I definitely have more gray hairs in my beard now.”
Pioline directs the final Masters 1000 of the season in Paris. For some players it is their last tournament of the year, and it can be hard to remain motivated.
“It’s indoors, it’s the beginning of winter in Europe, it’s dark at 5 or 5:30, rainy a lot and that impacts your mood,” Pioline said. “For some, they are concerned about [the ATP Finals in] Turin and the Davis Cup and for others they are thinking about vacation. As an organization we have to take into consideration the fatigue everyone is facing.”
Players are accustomed to receiving lavish gifts from tournament directors almost every week, including branded clothing and tech items.
Ben Shelton has a wish list for the perks he would most like from current tournament directors.
“I would say my realistic one is to have a private security guy with you all week, especially being overseas when you hear about players having their watches stolen or guys messing with them,” said Shelton, referring to recent burglaries involving Nadal, Grigor Dimitrov and Sebastian Korda.
“But then,” Shelton added, “I would say my one extreme wish would be for them to fly us private from city to city. That would be pretty insane.”
Lorenzi laughed when told of what Shelton desired. Instead he offered homemade gelato and an espresso station in the player lounge. As for additional perks?
“We give them Rome,” Lorenzi said. “We hope that is enough.”
<
