The ATP Tour has come under fire recently after a wave of withdrawals from the Canadian Open.
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner make up just some of the names who pulled out of the event in Toronto, Canada.
The tour was recently told their schedule ‘doesn’t work,’ and various players have hit out at the number of competitions in the calendar, including Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.
Other players, such as Dan Evans, have taken a different view, telling one player to ‘wake up and play.’
Despite this, the tour is set to introduce a new ATP event, scheduled the week before the ATP Tour Finals tournament in Turin.
ATP Tour reveals new event in Athens
As per tennis blogger Mario Boccardi, the ATP Tour have introduced a new event in Athens, Greece.
The event is scheduled to take place from November 2 to 8; the week before the ATP Tour Finals in Turin, Italy.
This new addition will be an ATP 250 event, meaning the maximum number of ATP points a player can win is 250.
The singles competition will consist of a 28-man draw, taking place on hard courts. The doubles competition will feature 16 pairings and is set to take place indoors.
Considering the recent complaints regarding ATP Tour scheduling, the decision to add another tournament so close to a major competition may cause some consternation among the upper echelons of the ATP Tour.
It seems unlikely that players such as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner would jeopardise their preparation for the ATP Tour Finals, which starts on November 9. However, players who don’t qualify may see this as an opportunity to improve their ranking before the season’s end.
The first ATP Tour event in Greece for 31 years
This announcement marks the first time an ATP tournament has been held in Greece for 31 years.
The Athens Open was last held from 1986 to 1994 and was played on outdoor clay courts. The tournament was then re-introduced as an ATP Challenger event in 2008.
However, there has not been an ATP Tour-level event in Greece since the tournament was disbanded in 1994.
The event has reportedly replaced the Belgrade Open, held in Serbia. The reigning champion was Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.
The likes of former US Open champion Marin Cilic and Jiri Lehecka also competed at the 2024 event in Belgrade.
