Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal holding talks to play in Moscow – Tennis News
World number two, Roger Federer and Spanish number one, Rafael Nadal, are planning to take part in the Kremlin Cup that will be contested in October. They have scheduled meeting with the tournament officials and the president of
Russian Tennis Federation proved the connection on Wednesday in a press conference.
Russian number one tennis star, Maria Sharapova, is also conducting meeting with officials to confirm her place in the tournament and that would be a great addition. It will be a massive achievement for officials if they are able
to have some agreement with these players because the last year’s edition of the tournament featured none of the Top-10 players.
Tournament official, Shamil Tarpishchev said, “The current tournament will be impressive. We’re holding talks with Nadal, Federer and Maria Sharapova. If we didn’t have the Kremlin Cup, there wouldn’t be tennis in Russia.” He is
also the player who handles the Russia’s Federation Cup as well as Davis Cup squad. So, agreement with the Russian tennis icon, Sharapova, should not be a problem with him.
He further added, “Currently, the situation with the tournament in Dusseldorf is unclear. If it goes bankrupt, then we could take its place. We hold good contacts in the International Tennis Federation, which could help us to receive
a higher status.” Russia has an elite status in the world of tennis especially with the women’s category where there are at least five Russian players in the Top-30. So, it is mandatory for the Russian Tennis Federation to hold tournament that can nurture
the younger players and provide them the opportunity to meet the gurus of sport.
However, the problem is that low finances are restricting the tournament officials to call big names to Russia. Tarpishchev stated that they are acquiring bigger sponsorship deals that will enable them to attract top ranked players.
He added, “An upgrade would require higher sponsorship revenue and financial help from the Russian government.”
The tournament started as the men’s event in 1990’s and incorporated the women’s category in 1996. Previous edition of tournament featured hard court surface and was contested in Moscow. Serb’s tennis ace, Janko Tipsarevic, won
the tournament last year in the men’s category and Slovakian superstar, Dominika Cibulkova, bagged the title in women’s sector.
It will be interesting to see if officials of Kremlin Cup are able to generate enough sponsorship that will enable them to feature the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova.
Tags: