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MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERSApril 17, 2016Zeljko FranulovicMonte Carlo, Monaco ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to this press conference for the end of the tournament, where we are going to quite quickly assess this 110th edition of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. On behalf of all the organizing team for this tournament, I would like to thank you once again for being present with us and for your loyalty. The 110th anniversary of this tournament was launched in the 100-year-old Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, founded by Prince Albert I, where the draw ceremony was organized in the presence of Novak Djokovic, the titleholder. This was a week of celebrations which started with the launch party. That was a very successful party where the players played the game 'Walking on the Red Carpet' at Zelo's Restaurant Lounge. There were also many of them participating in the private party that is a tradition for the players here that took place on Wednesday evening at the Monte-Carlo Bay. Also I hope you, the media, were able to enjoy the Grand Night of Tennis in the Salle des Etoiles. This week was also exceptional from a sports point of view. I would really like to thank the players for their loyal participation and their enthusiasm for our tournament. Thanks to them, this 2016 edition benefited once again from an exceptional draw with the presence of nine out of ten top players in the world. I'm now going to give you some figures concerning ticketing. We had a record this year again. It was a very good year for us, a beautiful success, with the total number of spectators reaching 135,652. To be noted, in particular, the reservations and anticipated purchases, even for the Court des Princes, was totally sold out from Tuesday on to the end of the week. Of course, I would like to thank you, the media. Every year there are always more of you covering our tournament. You were this year 462 accredited journalists for this tournament, representing 21 different countries. This is a record. Our sponsors and partners are very committed also. I would like to take advantage of this press conference to thank all our sponsors. Some of them have been with us for the first year. It is our major satisfaction is to see the commitment of our very loyal partners is always renewed. This is a guarantee of continuity for this tournament, which has to face the requirements and challenges for the future. As you maybe read in the tournament daily magazine, which showed a photo of me with a smile, I am very pleased to announce to you that our sponsor contract, our partnership with Rolex, has been renewed. It started in 2006. At the initiative of this very famous watchmaker, starting in 2017 we will have a new logo and new graphics which will highlight the very close links we have between the tournament and our title sponsor. Let's now talk about this final that will start at 2:30 on Court Rainier III. This final is very promising between our eight-time champion, Rafael Nadal, who I need to say is going to play the hundredth final of his career, and the tenth one in Monte-Carlo. I remember with a lot of emotions his first victory in 2005 because it was my first victory as the director of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament. He will play for the first time since 16 years a French player, Gael Monfils, who will try to follow Cedric Pioline, who was the last French winner of this title in 2000. I believe those two players have a very high fighting spirit and I believe the match will be exceptional. Before giving the floor to Stephane and Yann, our two referees, I would like to thank the organization of the press tennis tournament that was sponsored by Sergio Tacchini, who offered very kindly to all 32 participants complete tennis gear. This tournament also witnessed the elimination in the first round of doubles the titleholder Eric Salliot. I would like to give you an appointment for the next edition of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters which will take place from the 15th to the 23rd of April, 2017. I am now ready for your questions. Q. The concept to have a format that would be bigger than a Masters 1000, what does this tournament think about it? ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: Well, I heard rumors, yes, of course, about this. I go to all the meetings. It's true that Indian Wells and Shanghai have invested heavy amounts, hundreds of millions. It's a big investment, so I can understand in 2018 or 2019 when things will be redistributed, they will want to make sure they have a good position. I understand that. We here are aware of our value as a Masters 1000. You must understand that if things do change, it means it's not just because one tournament asks for it. It has implications, in particular, over the calendar. So this is a wish that is expressed by some tournaments, but this is not a final decision to a new format. The Masters 1000 format has proven successful for all these years. We know the value of this format. Q. The Rolex partnership, for how long has it been renewed? ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: For five years. Q. What about the other sponsors? Do we have any news? ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: The other sponsors? We just renewed BNP Paribas, Façonnable. We have a new sponsor, Emirates. Peugeot is a new sponsor, but we had other car sponsors before. The other sponsors are still running. We hope when it comes time for renewal, they all extend their partnership. Sergio Tacchini also renewed. Q. Did you notice a difference in the demographics of the public? Did you have more or less Italians? Did it change? ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: In terms of the Italian public, there is a great consistency. Every year it is between 35% to 40%. I don't know the exact figure this year, but it shows there is a constant interest from our Italian friends. I always say they are not only loyal, but they are also passionate, even if this year we only had Fognini. To answer your question more directly, we saw that there were more Europeans: Swiss, Germans, British. They understood the system. They bought their tickets earlier because before they were only starting to buy their tickets in February, and nothing was left. We had an increase of the European public, but also eastern countries like Russia and Asia also. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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