Rio Open director Luiz Carvalho has revealed that the tournament is hoping to switch venues. The tournament currently takes place at the Jockey Club, but there are hopes to move it to the Olympic Tennis Centre.
It is hoped that moving the tournament would address some of the issues the event has in attracting the very biggest names in tennis.
Marin Cilic, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Dominic Thiem are all confirmed for 2018. However, whilst Rafael Nadal has occasionally taken part, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray have consistently declined to play the event. Carvalho: “‘We tried (to get) Juan Martin del Potro, but unfortunately he won’t come in 2018. He plays on hard (court) during that time of the year. If the surface changes, he said that he will play Rio Open.”
The move to the Olympic Tennis Centre would allow the tournament to move from clay courts to hard courts. Carvalho: “We have been trying to do it for a while.” The final decision rests with the ATP.
The Rio Open also suffered a blow in its attempts to be accredited as South America’s first Masters 1000 rated tournament. A few weeks ago ATP chief executive Chris Kermode confirmed that there will be no additional Masters 1000 tournaments in 2019.
Carvalho: “Miami has a lot of tradition. They are very busy with changing the venue (from Key Biscayne to Hard Rock Stadium). From our side, we are focused on ourselves, on how to make our tournament grow with better athletes and structure.’
