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ROGERS CUP

July 27, 2016

Karl Hale

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

An interview (recorded earlier in the week) with:

KARL HALE

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Anybody else not going to be showing up, or any news on anybody or has the draw been changed?
KARL HALE: Nothing's changed. Everybody is more or less here. At this point there is no indication of anything other than the draw that's out.

Q. The schedule is pretty well tied up for the first three days?
KARL HALE: Yeah. It's on our website. So Denis will be Monday night opening. Then Vasek Tuesday and Milos on Wednesday night, and Novak is on Wednesday during the day.

Q. Any news on doubles? Big names playing the doubles?
KARL HALE: Novak obviously is the biggest name playing doubles. Stan is playing doubles, as well.

Q. When will they be playing?
KARL HALE: We don't know yet. We are just working through that. There are so many ramifications with the singles, as well. We will find out later today.

Q. Aside from putting a roof on the stadium, I mean, not a whole lot you can do in these situations, but I think that you have touched on it a little bit, that it is a bit of a frustrating situation. Maybe there is something that can be done in the future?
KARL HALE: Yeah, it's unfortunate what happened with the injuries and the withdrawals, but we work with the tours. We are already looking at 2020 with the Tokyo Olympics to try to figure out a solution to this.

Over the next few months -- I have already spoke to Chris Kermode. We will all talk as a team and figure out a solution.

Q. You just said for the first three nights, though, you will have a Canadian on the night match. There have been some big withdrawals in terms of the top four guys. From a Canadian perspective, are you happy with the turnout? Are you happy with the draw that has unfolded for you?
KARL HALE: Yeah. I mean, it's actually really exciting matches. You have the Junior Wimbledon champion, Denis, playing Nick Kyrgios, one of the young, up-and-coming stars.

Potentially you will have Milos playing against Zverev, who is a future No. 1, projected to be. So the matchups are really exciting for us.

Q. You have been with this tournament for a long time. For someone like Denis, what would advice be for him to take away from this type of event?
KARL HALE: I mean, it's a learning process for Denis. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. He requested centre court, which is a good sign from a young player that he wants to be on the big stage.

So just go out there, play your match, do your best. That's all you should be thinking about.

Q. I haven't been outside today yet, but it seemed like the crowds yesterday were amazing.
KARL HALE: And today.

Q. Probably today, too. I mean, it's almost like a regular day. It's not like the qualifying weekend with a number of people around the site.
KARL HALE: Yeah. The attendance yesterday and today so far -- I haven't seen it. It's been great. More than anticipated.

You know, this is the one week where tennis fans across Canada can see tennis here live, so they are showing up and watching. Like yesterday with Novak's practice was a huge attendance, the most I've seen on centre. So everything is looking really well right now. And the weather looks good, too.

Q. Any big updates for the big hockey game this afternoon?
KARL HALE: No, just what you know. You know, Connor McDavid is on his way. So is Tyler and Nick Kypreos. All of them are coming. Dwayne De Rosario from TFC heard about it. He wants to get in it. He will be here playing as well. We will have a great hockey game. And also Felix is going to play. We will see if is Montreal Canadien or what.

Q. And who are the other tennis players that are going to be playing?
KARL HALE: Novak is playing. And I'm not sure of the other ones as of yet.

Q. Just putting it into perspective, like five years ago or so, there was a lot of talk about the future is coming, the future is coming. Does it feel like the future is truly here right now? When you see all these young guys coming up now, maybe just to find out from your perspective, how pleased are you with tennis as a whole in Canada today?
KARL HALE: In Canada or internationally?

Q. In Canada.
KARL HALE: Well, I mean, it's the best it's ever been for us. The viewership for the Wimbledon final was the most we have ever had with Milos there. He's the highest-ranked player ever. Genie has done incredibly well in coming back.

You have these two young exciting players in Felix and Denis that are showing great promise. The future is really bright, and the present is amazing.

Q. How much do those guys sort of bolster the chances of the next wave? When you see Milos, Denis having such success, I mean, in terms of drawing the sport for the next wave.
KARL HALE: Yeah, tennis since 2008 frequent players has grown 64% from 1.2 to 2 million players across Canada.

So what Milos and Genie have done have really put it in the social fabric of Canada growing the sport. And also for the young players, it's made them believe.

Denis, like I said, he wants to play on centre court, because he believes he can beat Nick Kyrgios on Monday night. They have belief now, so the younger ones will be the same.

Q. Just to go off that, more internationally, though, we have seen sort of -- I don't want to say a decline of the Big 4, but we have seen other players enter that conversation, right? Just from your perspective, being around the game for so long, what are your thoughts on the international landscape of tennis right now? Are you seeing that shift happening?
KARL HALE: Yeah. I think Cilic started that by winning the US Open, and now Milos is in that, as well, and Nishikori. So you have that wave of young players.

And then you have the younger ones led by Kyrgios, Zverev that are coming up, as well. You have probably the most exciting time in tennis now, because you have the Big 4 that are still present, and then you have three generations of players that are kind of pushing up to the forefront.

So over the next few years, you will probably see a lot of Grand Slams with different winners.

Q. Speaking of Zverev and some of the other teenagers on the tour, there used to be a time in tennis when teenagers could win Grand Slams. Boris won Wimbledon when he was 17, I think. Michael Chang won the French. It seems now, though, it would be almost impossible for a teenager to beat some of these top guys that are in such peak form. Do you get that sense that maybe the game this year and lately has become more physical, harder for teenagers to make a breakthrough?
KARL HALE: I mean, absolutely. You can see like with Novak practicing yesterday, there is four or five trainers, coaches, dieticians, et cetera. The players now are really peaking between 26 and 30.

So I don't think you'll see a teenager win in the near future. It's just a different generation; it's a different time. It's just like hockey, the same thing. You don't see a lot of teens entering the NHL anymore. They let them develop until they mature physically.

Q. Like take these experiences to grow as sort of your rÃ©sumÃ© in tennis as opposed to going out and thinking, I'm going to win the US Open, if you're someone like Zverev?
KARL HALE: Well, I think they actually still think they can win it. That's what they are. They are competitors. But the reality is it's more emotional in developing the mind and tactics than it is actually trying to win the tournament.

Q. It's the mental game that has to develop as opposed to just the pure skill?
KARL HALE: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Q. Do you liken the growth of tennis in this country to what the Raptors did for basketball in this country? When the Raptors came aboard, all of a sudden we started seeing basketball nets in every driveway. And we've seen a growth and explosion of Canadian talent in the NBA. Have Milos, Vasek, Genie kind of spirited this next generation, where we are seeing the young kids starting to pick up tennis racquets now, head to the courts and play?
KARL HALE: Absolutely. There has been a lot -- there is a lot of tennis courts, public courts around the country, but what you have seen in the past is some of them have turned to basketball courts, et cetera. But now you see young kids with the new racquets that are kid friendly, and also the programs that Tennis Canada has put across the country with the provinces. So you see a tremendous growth in the sport.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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