Players' union criticise USTA's decision to play men's final on a Monday

Tuesday 18 December 2012

The decision by the United States Tennis Association to extend the 2013 US Open to a third Monday has drawn criticism from the men's govening body, the Association of Tennis Professionals, who have called on Flushing Meadows organisers to fall into line with the three other grand slam tournaments.

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Martyn Herman

Next year's men's singles final will be played on a Monday, allowing the players to have a day's rest after the semi-finals which have traditionally been played on "Super Saturday", along with the women's singles final.

The 2013 women's singles final will take place on the Sunday – the semi-finals will be on Friday as usual – which will bring to an end 30 years of the Super Saturday, although no decision has yet been taken on whether the change will be a permanent one."By modifying the schedule, the US Open has recognised the incredible physical demands of men's tennis," said the ATP in a statement. "However, the ATP and its players have made it clear that we do not support a Monday final. We strongly believe the US Open should keep a similar schedule to the other grand slams."It is unfortunate the US Open response did not reflect our views and the ATP and its players will continue to pursue this matter in discussions with the USTA."Bad weather has wreaked havoc on the US Open schedule in recent years, the men's final, including this year's epic between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, having been pushed back to the Monday for each of the past five years.The ATP also gave a lukewarm response to the USTA's announcement of a $4m rise in prize money for the tournament to a record $29.5m."The prize money increase announced by the US Open for 2013 is appreciated and, together with the 2012 increase, represents the largest increase by the US Open since the ATP Tour began in 1990," it said. "However, the ATP and its players have asked that the US Open fully recognise the fundamental role of the players in driving US Open revenues, which are the largest in our sport."The ATP, therefore, remains committed to continu-ing discussions on this issue, with the objective of ensuring that the players' share of the revenues at the US Open truly reflects the value that they generate for the event."Players have complained about prize money for years, saying purses for the four grand slams were too small in relation to the revenue they brought in and too lop-sided in favour of the top players. The matter came to a head before this year's Australian Open although talk of a possible strike never came to fruition.The decision by the United States Tennis Association to extend the 2013 US Open to a third Monday has drawn criticism from the men's govening body, the Association of Tennis Professionals, who have called on Flushing Meadows organisers to fall into line with the three other grand slam tournaments.Next year's men's singles final will be played on a Monday, allowing the players to have a day's rest after the semi-finals which have traditionally been played on "Super Saturday", along with the women's singles final.The 2013 women's singles final will take place on the Sunday – the semi-finals will be on Friday as usual – which will bring to an end 30 years of the Super Saturday, although no decision has yet been taken on whether the change will be a permanent one."By modifying the schedule, the US Open has recognised the incredible physical demands of men's tennis," said the ATP in a statement. "However, the ATP and its players have made it clear that we do not support a Monday final. We strongly believe the US Open should keep a similar schedule to the other grand slams."It is unfortunate the US Open response did not reflect our views and the ATP and its players will continue to pursue this matter in discussions with the USTA."Bad weather has wreaked havoc on the US Open schedule in recent years, the men's final, including this year's epic between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, having been pushed back to the Monday for each of the past five years.The ATP also gave a lukewarm response to the USTA's announcement of a $4m rise in prize money for the tournament to a record $29.5m."The prize money increase announced by the US Open for 2013 is appreciated and, together with the 2012 increase, represents the largest increase by the US Open since the ATP Tour began in 1990," it said. "However, the ATP and its players have asked that the US Open fully recognise the fundamental role of the players in driving US Open revenues, which are the largest in our sport."The ATP, therefore, remains committed to continu-ing discussions on this issue, with the objective of ensuring that the players' share of the revenues at the US Open truly reflects the value that they generate for the event."Players have complained about prize money for years, saying purses for the four grand slams were too small in relation to the revenue they brought in and too lop-sided in favour of the top players. The matter came to a head before this year's Australian Open although talk of a possible strike never came to fruition.

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Players' union criticise USTA's decision to play men's final on a Monday

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