Dubai: Men’s tennis boss Chris Kermode has left the door open for a possible ‘Gulf swing’ of events should Abu Dhabi make a move to join the ATP Tour calendar.
ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode refused to rule out the possibility of the UAE capital joining Doha and Dubai in hosting events early in the season, but insisted no approach has yet been made.
Doha opens the season with the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in January, while Dubai has two back-to-back weeks of tennis in mid to late February. Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, stages the exhibition Mubadala World Tennis Championships at at Zayed Sports City over the New Year.
After six editions of the winner-takes-it-all competition, there is talk Abu Dhabi wants to replace the ATP 250 Open Sud de France, which is held in Montpellier in the first week of February.
The ATP has already firmed up its tournament schedule to 2018, but Kermode told Gulf News: “In terms of tournaments buying and selling, that is up to individual events to do that. At the moment, yes I’ve heard rumours of Abu Dhabi, and this is something that happens consistently as tournaments move around the world. But nothing official has reached my desk as yet.
“When this does come to the attention of the ATP Board, there will be an official request [from Abu Dhabi] and we will need to consider it taking into consideration what is best for the game. Ultimately, does having a Gulf swing makes sense? Yes, I think it does.
“At the moment there is nothing and I would not want to comment on rumours. But if it does have substance then we will have a look.”
