The Qatar Open will be part of the ATP 500 series beginning in 2025, and their tournament director is already eyeing a number of big names to headline the event.
Last year, the ATP announced that it was going to strengthen the calendar. And one way of doing so is to reform it. It upgraded three ATP 250s to become part of the ATP 500 category. These tournaments were the Qatar Open, the Dallas Open, and the BMW Open in Munich.
For the Qatar Open, this upgrade was anticipated. It has been part of the main tour since 1993, which ushered in a new era of tennis penetrating the Arab peninsula. As an ATP 250, it was voted the best in that category five times in the past decade by the players.
With world-class facilities and wonderful hospitality, the Qatar Open is a player magnet. Several of the greatest tennis players of all time have graced their presence at the tournament, with the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray each featuring on the roll of honor list.
And now, according to former World No. 26 Karim Alami, who has been the tournament director for many years, he hopes the tournament will become a Masters sooner rather than later, stating that they have the "will and means" to get there.
In an interview with Il Tennis Italiano, the Moroccan spoke on a number of topics, including the emergence of Saudi Arabia as a potential force in tennis. Alami has admitted that he tried to bring Jannik Sinner to this year's tournament, but it became complicated because of scheduling.
But he is not losing hope and is in regular contact with top-ranked ATP stars like Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. His persistence landed Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev on this year's entry list before the pair withdrew from the tournament due to injury and fatigue, respectively.
"We are in contact with him (Sinner), as with all the best, from Alcaraz to Djokovic. This year, Nadal and Medvedev were supposed to play, but unfortunately, they withdrew, but we always have the doors open."
"Jannik would also like to play here, but for calendar reasons it's not easy to fit everything in, for now he preferred to play elsewhere or rest, but we hope to have him in the future."
0 Comments