Scotland could be ace in ATP's pack

Published on Tuesday 28 November 2006 00:41

ANDY Murray will next month spend his first Christmas at home in Dunblane since he began his dizzying ascent of the tennis rankings. Included on his gift wish-list are a place in the world's top ten for himself and the scheduling of an ATP Tour event for Scotland.

It is the former desire that is more likely to be satisfied in the coming months although that didn't stop Murray expressing a hope that the possibility of staging a major tournament might at least be looked into by the authorities. Lawn Tennis Association Chief Executive Roger Draper has already made a pledge to bring high-profile tennis events to Britain but Murray is keen for Scotland to make a bid to host a an ATP Tour event.

He referenced last weekend's Aberdeen Cup contest as proof that there is an appetite for the sport north of the border. Although far fewer watched this year's win for Scotland over England than last year, Murray still paid tribute to the public's appetite for what was in the end a rather one-sided victory. "It was a really successful weekend," he said. "If you'd said two years ago that 3,200 people would come to watch a tennis match in Aberdeen that was really just an exhibition then you'd have been laughed at."

Murray was speaking after he returned to his roots to open a 1.3million extension to the Scottish National Tennis Centre at the University of Stirling. It is where he and brother Jamie first developed their love for the game. The world No17 cited the rise in popularity of tennis in his home country as reason to make a bid to stage an ATP Tour event. Earlier this year the Davis Cup tie between Great Britain and Serbia & Montenegro was held at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, the first time in 35 years that such a fixture had been brought north of the border. Now Murray is supporting a far bolder bid, with the lack of venues a very obvious obstacle to an ATP Tour event coming to Scotland. Only Craiglockhart in Edinburgh stands anywhere near being ready to host an outdoor tournament on clay, while Scotstoun in Glasgow currently suffers from its roof not being high enough to host an indoor event.

"It would take a lot of time and hard planning," acknowledged Murray. A 5,000 capacity National Indoor Arena is being built in the east end of Glasgow in preparation for the bid to host the Commonwealth Games and this arena will offer another option. Murray is more concerned about developing interest in the sport, and letting public demand convince the ATP Tour Board that Scotland is a country that deserves to be recognised as a place where a passion for tennis breeds.

"It's not so much the venue that's the most important thing," he said. "I think promoting the sport is the most important thing so people know there is a tournament on, whether it be Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen or Stirling. The most vital thing is to get people to come and watch. If you have a 5,000-seater stadium and only 1,000 people in it there is not much point, is there?"

There are 64 annual ATP Tour competitions already scheduled in 30 countries, from Mexico to Croatia. But Phil Anderton, chief marketing officer for the ATP, yesterday provided some optimism having learned of Murray's comments. While making an addition to an already hectic calendar is unlikely, there is always scope for a bid to buy-out an existing tournament franchise.

"There are always opportunities for entrepreneurs, governing bodies or even governments to bid to host a tournament," said Anderton. "For example, if somebody went to one of these existing tournaments, and said: 'we want to replace you in the calendar, and we'll pay you for your spot'. That is allowed, and then what happens is that they would then apply to the board of the ATP and try to get that through. The board would then base their decision on whether they think it is in the best interests of the game, and its commercial viability."

Anderton, the former Hearts chief executive, is fully behind such a Scottish bid, but stresses that it must be a water-tight proposition if it is to meet with success: "Is it possible? Yes. Obviously as a Scotsman I have quite biased view on it, but the board would have to look at it in a very objective way. I'd love to see a situation where the Scottish Executive or some bodies got together to make this a reality."