Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal SLAMMED by Rotterdam Open chief
RICHARD KRAJICEK has revealed that the organisers behind the Rotterdam Open do not want to rely on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal anymore.
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The pair were both absent from this month’s tournament in Holland.
Federer did not take up the chance to defend his title, at the age of 37 he now needs extra time to aid rest and recovery.
He made his impending return to the top of the world rankings this time last year when he dispatched Grigor Dimitrov to win the tournament.
This time around his fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka reached the final but was beaten by Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Tournament director Richard Krajicek has explained how events back in 2016 caused the event organisers to change their approach.
Federer withdraw from the competition which meant there were no top ten competitors left, a real turn off for fans.
"From that moment we changed our strategy," Krajicek told ND.
"We did not want to remain without top ten players. We do not want to depend on a player like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
“Now we bring several world class players and you already saw this year that this strategy pays off.”
This year’s tournament featured a few of the next batch of tennis stars including Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“We are happy to have handled it this way,” the former Wimbledon champion continued.
“We approach players early and we constantly try to make the tournament as interesting as possible for these guys.
“We pay them well and we clearly have some entertainment at Ahoy.
“There is a lot of atmospheres, the crowd is excited and guys feel they are in the centre of attention.
“Also, they have a lot of room to practice, while in other tournaments you have to go training on other courts.
“Players like it a lot, they have the facilities near to them."
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Latest ATP World Rankings
1 - Novak Djokovic
2 - Rafael Nadal
3 - Alexander Zverev
4 - Juan Martin del Potro
5 - Kevin Anderson
6 - Roger Federer
7 - Kei Nishikori
8 - Dominic Thiem
9 - John Isner
10 - Marin Cilic