Australia losing its grip?

AN apocalyptic scenario where Australia would lose its grip on the country’s annual grand slam every January was the precursor to Adelaide regaining a first class tournament after 12 years in the tennis wilderness.

A threat by money rich countries such as Dubai and Singapore plus the cash heavy Kosmos Group to take the best players in the world out of Australia immediately before the Australian Open caused the country’s govering body to take action to save its summer of tennis.

“There was a significant threat here. We turned that threat into an opportunity,” Tennis Australia chief executive officer Craig Tiley said on the eve of the combined $2 million ATP and WTA Adealide International which kicks off at Memorial Drive on Saturday January 11.

The necessity to make the Australian summer watertight and fend off international interest has resulted in the ATP Cup - which debuted yesterday - and followed by South Australain’s very own top flight offering led by 14 time grand slam winner Novak Djokovic and world number one player Ash Barty.

The astonishing depth of the Adelaide tournament which features six women who have the won the Wimbledon singles crown - including current champion Simona Halep - ....

“We needed to bring a new event to Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide and to be competitive    

Two years ago we were awarded a licence  on 10-0 player vote by the player council and by the ATP board. It was a great decision at the time,” Tiley said.

“Every city has had a big transformation, every city has a different event apart from Melbourne. It was not an easy thing to pull off.

We have got upgrades in Sydney and Brisbane and a new venue in Perth. A great coup for us to get that. Taken the lead in .. we will have the best players in Australai for 5/6 weeks.”

Adelaide would not have been a candidate for the new era had its Memorial Drive centrepiece not been updated. Within the shadow of the Adelaide Oval, the 1950s built facilty has long looked worn and unfit for purpose, a relic only of Australia’s golden era of the 1950s through to the ‘70s.

2020 will herald a new dawn. The new $10 million canopy is more than a guarantee the tounrament will start and finish on time Tiley said.

“We are going to continue an upgrade to the north stand and link it to the Adelaide Oval. We have made a submission to the state government.”

Intriguingly, and as outsider to SA, Tiley refers to the Drive area as “Adelaide’s sporting precinct”. By stealth, the sporting ... is growing along the banks of the river Torrens, the Oval, MD, Next Gen and the clay courts

The Oval will be an integral part of the Adelaide Internaional, hosting changing rooms, media facilities, players lounges and more.

It has been a long time in the making, federal minister Christopher Pyne playing his part buy ushering in a $10 million contribution in contributon which upgraded the surrounding Next Gen courts and resulted in a new clay court complex on the corner of War Memorial Drive and Montefiore Rd.

Christoper Pyne’s great vision and then when Steven Marshall became Premier they committed another $10 million to put a roof over Memorial Drive, fantastic.

We are going to continue an upgarde to the north stand and link it to the Adelaide Oval

“This is an opportunity for the city in general. We got lucky with the first commitment and satte government. Took Sydney tournament to Adelaide.”

“Adelaide was considered for the ATP Cup as well... to all cities in the future. Destinations are not forever , there is a 3-5 yeat commitment. We were very happy to move Sydney to Adelaide. 

Already the tournament is proving a hit, ticket sales have exceeded targets

“The move is about bringing more and better players here 

Every city gets an opportunity, Adelaide gets a significant upgrade, comgin from a low base

For the tennis fans and sports fans in SA they will have a week of the best players in the world and..

“The roof takes away the weather risk. Much is about gettig the players here but a full stadium is our KPI always.

Free to air televsion is an imperative to grow the tournament Tiley said with the live feed expected to go out to 30 countries, including Channel Nine in Australia.

“This is a global event now, its going to be beamed across Australia, premier opportunities. It takes Adelaide to the rest of the world.”

The Australian Open has long been known as the players’ favourite grand slam, Tiley’s attention to detail when it comes to accommodating the players becoming almost as legendary as the....

“All our leaders know my number one position on this. The players are our assets, they take the event home, that’s why we have led the way in player compentation 

It remains Australia’s point of difference. I think the Adelaide event will help us grow that

once we fix the stands. 

“We have spent a lot of time with the Premier, he knows the benefit this will bring to SA

Objectives - to use it as a vehicle

1. People to come and watch

2. People to become consumers by buying merchandise

3. Participation

It has a been a very... relationship discussion with SA government. 

Power - innovation hub to use tennis to help communities is to come whiel secruing the loyalty of the players has enabled TA to lead trade missions to China.

We have led a few trade missions to China with Fed...

Tennis is now a global sport and use players accordingly

Spoke to Rafa, Roger, Novak, Zverev, Kyrgios, de Minaur, McEnroe, Courier, Cahill

They are all members of the ATP, all advocates, it made a lot of sense to them, they thought it should be played in Australia. They saw the benefits it would bring to Australia/Adelaide.

We were competing with pockets of money that we couldn’t compete with. Other people had more money than us.

We had the beginning of the year. We had long standing... players relationships, a history of successful running of events from a standing start, we cna make it work.

580 players arriving in Australia, each with an entourage of 4/5, more or big players.

Like each top player bringing a cricket team with him/her

We accredit 4/5 people per player

There you understand thsi game very well

There are some naysayers - you can’t have enough people

Australia continues to grow, good place to invest, a lot of upside

People saying it’s bigger than we can handle 

Sometimes you have to rest revs...

ATP Cup is new, not sure hwo many matches, you are never going to do a lot of matches

If you get the ATP Cup that week it builds a stronger week

To get to Melbourne form Adeladi eis easier than for Sydney, easier to get about 

You know it will finish with the roof - Auckland not so

NZ does not have a roof. Will really help Adelaide make its mark

We do have submission with the government for the north stand 

Once that is done you commit to the SA build

Will be good for a leg of Davis Cup or Fed Cup

Phillip Robets and Kent Thiele done the work here 

I was there a month ago with th epremier

North satnds needs more than ancilliary work

You can’t have a global stadium until that NS is done, We can’t hold the hospitality when you are sitting next to the Adelaide Oval

That just needs to be fixed, everyone is aware of that. We will do whatever we can to get that up.

Speak to Cam Pearson, Ali Mac and Alison Lee

Ali Mac

I always thought tennis would return here, it was hard to know when

WTC was always something to fill a void

An opportunity arose when th eATP Cup came along. Tha tywas th eomemnt whne it was very evident the summer of tenins would change.

In the pipeline for a couple of years, got going in th epast 18 months.

When I was in Sydney I was aware of all that, got Ken rsoewall Arena upand running 

ATP Cup gave Sydney the opportunity to be at the forefront

Adelaide gave an opotunity - what do you do with Adeladie that week? need a different kind of event.

I think Adelaide is well suited to that week. players will like it, lots of practice, ease of getting about

The good thing about the summer of tennis is that they are different offerings, that wil resonate with people who are not watching the same thing

Very few combined mens and womens events on the calendar.

Prize money breakdown

116 macthes over eight days

Can get day tickets and ground admission

200 staff and 200 volunters

Four qualifiers

three wildcards

Will hold one woildcard back unitl late in the day

Women have four wildcards - two tournametns WCS and one discretionary . Venus has the discretionary.

Asia has long coveted the AO

Dusseldorf started as the ATP World Team Cup in 1978 and was played annually for 34 years before becoming an individual tournament in 2013.

When the Adelaide tounrnament went to Brisbane 12 years ago, Roger Rasheed, Ali MacDonald and DC did a good job in trying to prop it up to keep international tennis in Adelaide.

I was ... needed an upgrade to get an ATP Cup etc 

...

We needed to make sure we had an upgraded faciity 

First conversation was with Christopher Pyne in 2016 to push him to giving $10 million to build extra courts and a number two court

I knew we were ... a charter for chnage

Significant to get the best players the week before the Australian Open, to attract the best players when everyone is available.

ATP in 2016 knew the decision to not run Dusseldorf tounrmaent,. Jack Kramer set it up in 1976. Stopped in 2012, they ... ATP shopped it around gobally

Doha, Qatar, Kosmos group in Singapore, were all interested, there was  lot of competiton

We have ... the ... very late because of a lot of work that had bene happeig beyond the courts

Significant threat here, the male players put the.. AO under threat 

We turned a threat into an opportunity 

To bring a new event to to the Australian Open at SPBA

Need to be cmpetitive

Two years ago we we weere awareded a licence  on 10-0 player vote by the player coucil and by the ATP board

It wa s agreat decision at the time 

We were able to 

Every city has had a big transformation, every city has a different event apart from Melbourne

It was not an easy thing to pull off.

We have got upgrades in Syndey and Brisbane and a new venue in Perth.

Positie reaction so far

A great coup for us to get that. Taken th elead in .. we will have the best players in Australai for 5/6 weeks 

Christoper Pyne’s great vision and then when Steven Marshall became Premier they committed another $10 million to put a roof over Memorial Drive, fantastic.

We are going to continue an upgarde to the north stand and link it to the Adelaide Oval

Talks about Adelaide sports precinct  (it is happening by stealth...)

An opportunity for the city in general

We got lucky with the first commitment and satte government

Took Sydney tournament to Adelaide.

Adelaide was considered for the ATP Cup as well... to all cities in the future

Destinations are not forever , there is a 3-5 yeat commitment 

We were very happy to move Sydney to Adelaide

We have already hit more than 100 per cent of our targeted ticket sales

move about bringing more and better players here 

Brisbane still has a women’s tournament, Perth has lost the Hopman Cup but this will be bigger and better than Hopman cup ever was 

Every city gets an opportunity, Adelaide gets a significant upgarde, comgin from a low base

For the tennis fans and sports fans in SA they will have a week of the best players in the world and..

Roof takes away the weather risk

KPIs - much is about gettig the players here

Full stadium is our KPI always 

Were realsitci with our targets, want a full stadium

We have surapssed that target

Channel Nine is a new partner of ours

It wa svery claear.  from the begining of the year to our next riht s deal it was all about free to air

Free content is important to us, we were  more focused on eyeballs than money

Adelaide will benefit from that

This is a global event now, its going to be beamed across Australia, oremier opportunities, Takes Adelaide to the rest of the world

All our leaders know my number one position on this, Ali knows this

players are our assets, they take the event home

that’s why we have led the way in player compentation 

It remains Australia’s point of difference

I think the Adelaide vent wil help us grow that

once we fix the stands

We have spent a lot of time with the Premier, he knows the benefit this will bring to SA

Objectives - to use it as a vehicle

1. People to come and watch

2. People to become consumers by buying merchandise

3. Participation

It has a been a very... relationship discussion with SA government

Corey Wingard and Steven Marshal completelyget that benefit from our community from a tourism point of view and exposure

About getting health and community bebenfit

innovation hub in WA, education and wellbeing through tennis that it can provide and bring to the table

Discussion have been more than just and event and the north stand. How do we take this to the next level

How do we use education to go wider than th esport? It’s much deeper than.. tournament

We have great avenues to major governments around the world, China, Sheznzen, Beijing, for all these players.

When we show up with Li Na and Federer they love it

We have led a few trade missions to China with Fed...

Tennis is now a global sport and use players accordingly

Spoke to Rafa, Roger, Novak, Zverev, Kyrgios, de Minaur, McEnroe, Courier, Cahill

They are all members of the ATP, all advocates, it made a lot of sense to them, they thought it should be played in Australia. They saw the benefits it would bring to Australia/Adelaide.

We were competing with pockets of money that we couldn’t compete with. Other people had more money than us.

We had the beginning of the year. We had long standing... players relationships, a history of successful running of events from a standing start, we cna make it work.

Worlks every day now util Feb 2

580 players arriving in Australia, each with an entourage of 4/5, more or big players.

Like each top player bringing a cricket team with him/her

We accredit 4/5 people per player

There you understand thsi game very well

There are some naysayers - you can’t have enough people

Australia continues to grow, good place to invest, a lot of upside

People saying it’s bigger than we can handle 

Sometimes you have to rest revs...

I was captain i Illinois, Ali was in Texas. I was Davis Cup captain at the time 

ATP Cup is new, not sure hwo many matches, you are never going to do a lot of matches

If you get the ATP Cup that week it builds a stronger week

To get to Melbourne form Adeladi eis easier than for Sydney, easier to get about 

You know it will finish with the roof - Auckland not so

NZ does not have a roof. Will really help Adelaide make its mark

We do have submission with the government for the north stand 

Once that is done you commit to the SA build

Will be good for a leg of Davis Cup or Fed Cup

Phillip Robets and Kent Thiele done the work here 

I was there a month ago with th epremier

North satnds needs more than ancilliary work

You can’t have a global stadium until that NS is done, We can’t hold the hospitality when you are sitting next to the Adelaide Oval

That just needs to be fixed, everyone is aware of that. We will do whatever we can to get that up.

Speak to Cam pearson, Ali Mac and Alison Lee