The man in charge of the Mexican Open says it is wrong for players to have a lifetime contract with tournaments as he singles out 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as an example.
Raul Zurutuza has hit out at the Swiss Maestro over his contract with the Dubai Tennis Championships which takes place during the same time as his. Both events are classed as ATP 500 events on the Tour. Federer has played in Dubai 14 times so far in his career and has won eight titles. The latest contract he signed was in 2019 to come back the following year to defend his title. Although he wasn’t able to due to injury and skipped the 2021 edition to focus on his training ahead of the clay season.
“That story of Roger who never came to Mexico because of the Dubai issue, I hope it will never be repeated with another player,” Zurutuza told reporters. “It is important that each player can be in as many tournaments.”
Federer last played a match in Mexico back in 2019 when he took on Alexander Zverev in an exhibition match. Held in Mexico City’s Bullring an estimated 42,000 spectators turned up to watch him play in what was a world record at the time. He has never played a professional tournament in the country during his career to date.
Zurutuza isn’t entirely critical of Dubai who he describes as having a ‘good team.’ Besides their rivalry in getting the best players in the world to play at their tournaments, the Mexican official believes they will both ‘do very well.’
Despite the absence of Federer, this year’s Mexican Open does feature top 10 players Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman. However, Rafael Nadal is not defending his title at the tournament after withdrawing due to a back injury. An issue which has been troubling the Spaniard since the start of his season.
“He is a fixed asset of the tournament, the desire to have him is always there but we have great names and the public will be able to enjoy it, the tournament is going well and on Saturday we will deliver very good results,” Zurutuza commented on Nadal’s absence.
It has been reported that Tsitsipas was persuaded to play in Mexico by his agent Patricio Apey who is said to have a ‘close bond’ with Mextennis.
“There are many players that one as a director would like to have, the truth is we talk a lot with his (Tsitsipas’) representative and we have a great relationship. I think it was good, I saw him happy and I greeted him at the airport,’ Zurutuza commented.
“He is a super relaxed guy, very light and I hope he falls in love with Mexico.”
The Mexican Open was originally a clay court event before switching surface to hard court’s in 2014. Thomas Muster and David Ferrer holds the record for most titles won at the tournament with four each.
