TMS MONTE CARLO

April 24, 2004

Patrice Dominguez

Francis Truchi

FRANCIS TRUCHI: Good morning. We are here to answer your questions. Patrice, having many kinds of functions, can also give you a more international and broad presentation of the situation; he can say even more than I can. So you might have questions about the number of spectators, the number of boxes that have been sold, or else he will go directly to the international.

FRANCIS TRUCHI: For the time being, as we stand, minus 2,500 compared to the past two years. We still have today and tomorrow to sell more tickets. Therefore, I believe maybe we will not go beyond the figures of the past years, but we will be about equally the same.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: I think we will reach 100,000, like the past two years, given the players we have in the semis and the finals. I think apart from Ferrero, we have the best players in the world on this surface - the four best players. So it's a beautiful program we offer to the public this year. It's not often in tournaments other than the Grand Slams that you get the best players on the last day. This year we were lucky enough to have first in the quarters the six players - because we consider Safin a Top 10 player - to have six players out of eight among the Top 10. So this is the reason why we have such a beautiful program for this weekend.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Yes, I had something in my pocket. Because if you had asked me the question at that time, I would have answered. I was, myself, practically sure he wouldn't come - not even practically, I was sure he was not coming, but the rule is the rule. You can't change the regulations. As long as a player is involved in a tournament, he cannot withdraw from the next tournament, so we had to abide by the law and wait. We were very happy when he finished Houston. Indeed, we would have been able to fix the draw in order not to have Clement and Grosjean playing each other in the first round, for example. So after that we had a meeting with some members of the ATP board in order to try to change that rule, because this rule is completely unfair and not adapted to the reality of tennis. Because, in fact, the result is that we lied to ourselves, and we lied to everybody else.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: "Forbidding," what a word. It's forbidden to forbid (smiling). But in tennis today there are regulations with principles, and there are many ways to get around those rules and not have a penalty. So we believe the rule that obliges the players to register in a Masters Series six weeks before automatically should be changed. We will have a meeting with the Players Council at the French Open in June, but we know beforehand that the Masters Series and the ATP are okay. We don't want to wait too long, because the position of Houston in the calendar is unacceptable for our tournaments. Although it might remain at that same date in 2005, it will not remain at that same date in 2006. All the European tournaments on clay are trying very hard and agree to change the date of Houston. The place it is now is a bother; I mean, it's not the right place for Houston. Each one is entitled to his own season.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: He would be right to be angry. I think we are on the same line. We are trying to achieve one goal. You know that we had a study for Mackenzie two years ago, showing at the end of the story, after a six-month study, that we should have the best players supporting the best events, the best weeks of the calendar. We have failed, so far, convincing all the players to support first the best events. I think we still have a lot to do. But as I said to one of you during the week who asked me the same question, I think at one stage we will have to react, and the reaction would be, "We are producers. We are entertainment producers." If I do the rock and roll festival in Woodstock and I pay for - I'm supposed to have ten bands of rock and roll, and only five are coming - I will pay only five. I won't pay the ten. Tomorrow, my proposal would be, "Okay, Top 10 are missing? We will reduce the prize money." We will reduce the prize money. So let's make a deal - how many Top 10 should play Masters Series? Eight? Nine? Ten out of ten is difficult. You can have a real injury, and I respect that. But let's say you have seven; okay. If the agreement was eight or nine, we pay the 100,000 less money. We always commit ourselves to put the prize money on the table; the players don't commit themselves. All right. But if there are ten, we are increasing the prize money. But today, we are in an economic world, and we cannot afford to pay what we don't get. In any kind of business, you buy three shirts, you pay three shirts. You get two shirts, why you paying three shirts? This is as simple as this. We have to find a fair balance to the calendar. I think we really have to work on the new format. Just for you to know, we created, now, in the new appointment of Klosterkemper, we have created a group, a working group in Europe, along with Jean Marc Piacentille, with Thomas Carbonell, the players rep, myself, and the new appointment of Richard Davies who is going to be the head of ATP Properties, to find new ways and to create a real good format to please the players and to please the tournament directors. But we really have to work together to balance the game the proper way and the best way.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Yes, but you can have all the rules. I explained to Philippe the other day that the rule could be, "Okay, for any reason you are missing three tournaments during the year, Masters Series, you're not eligible to play the Masters Cup," which is supposed to be the best event of the year at the end of the year. The player will think differently. They will support - they will support - the best events. The problem is the ATP could be compared to the Communist party because we have more small tournaments than rich tournaments. You have always the base trying to protect their own interests, compared to the best tournaments. But we will find a balance. But they all know. Nicola is sad for us when we're missing... We're all working in the same direction. We would like to have the best players supporting the best events.

NICOLA ARZANI: Maybe if they only miss two Masters Series, they don't pay the fine. But the third Masters Series, they pay the fine.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: They pay the fine. But what is the fine? $60,000 for each tournament, then an appearance fee for Top 10 players? It's $200,000.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: What for?

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Yes.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Okay. We've been told that already, that there are too many Masters Series in Europe in the spring. Now, let's say this one is the best of the three. We should keep the one in Monaco. Let's say we take one of the three out. Let's assume it is Monaco, which is not going to be the case. What are we going to do? We're going to reduce in the lower category, then become International Gold Series tournament, $1 million instead of 2.2 million. What are we going to do with the 1.2 million? We will pay the Top 10. They will all come here. They will say, "It is not a reason for not playing." The reason is their agents, their mentality, is, "We play wherever we want." That's not professional. As we said before, Mr. Schumacher is World Champion in August. But then September and October, he is racing. He has a commitment. He has a commitment. At one stage, for the money we're putting on, I think the commitment must be accepted by everyone. They have to support the four Grand Slams. They're all playing - except three Spanish guys who are not playing Wimbledon - they're all playing the Grand Slams and supporting the Grand Slams, because it's good for their image. It's good for them. We have 54 televisions this afternoon. We have live television in Europe everywhere. We cannot accept that the players don't commit themselves. I mean, it's important. We are lucky; we have the best we could have today.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: That would be terrible for them.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Yes, but that's the old system - fighting, attracting. We have built a system with the money on the table - clear, clear understanding from everyone - it's a question of dedication. I think the players, okay, you can say Federer did not come here, but he played a lot the first three months of the year. With the new ranking and everything, the players, you can watch the stats; they're playing much more at the beginning of the season, trying to get the points so at the end of the season they can pick up the tournaments they want. But the system is clear for them. They just do whatever they want because there is no penalty. We don't have any penalty for the International Gold Series tournament anymore. No commitments. They can do whatever they want, and that's a pity because we should protect the best events. For TV, this is crucial. This is crucial. TV is asking the best with the best. Women's events - so much difference between the Top 6 and the others, you always have Top 4 at the end of the week. Four out of six are always in the semifinal.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: (Smiling).

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Do I think we should what?

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Last year, the only reason why Mr. Roddick and Mr. Agassi - which I respect them for what they have achieved - are not coming here, it's simply because they don't think they can win the tournament. When Mr. Roddick has Mr. Benhabiles as a coach, he was coming. With Mr. Brad Gilbert, who never won a match on clay, he is not coming. It has to be said one time. And the day he will think he can win Roland Garros, he will play here. Because to win Paris, you've got to play here. Because the closest tournament, clay-wise, on the surface to Paris is here. You can win Rome, you can win Hamburg, but that's always been here where you build the victory in Paris in six weeks. You can watch the stats, and everywhere - we know that. But Roddick doesn't think -- Brad Gilbert doesn't think he can win Paris, and I think he's right.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: I'm wrong?

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Okay. I have another thing to say on the ATP before we go back. I would like you to understand my points but without asking too many questions, because I won't be able to answer all the questions because it's still under discussion, negotiation, and confidentiality. But you have heard that the US Open has created a "US Open Series" starting this year. The idea was to promote tennis in America in August. To do so, the agreement would be to try to join the US Open along with six other American tournaments in the summer. Having done that, it would be, under the authority of the US Open, to build up a TV package so all the American tournaments would be on ESPN starting summer 2004. The series would be called "US Open Series," not "On the Road to the US Open", but that's, obviously, the idea - to create promotion for the US Open on the road, like it is in basketball, in NHL or NFL. They have a playoff at the end of the season to create kind of a bonus for the top three players of the series who could double the prize money they will earn at the US Open. So you probably read that if it was the case in 2004, the same case in 2003, Mr. Roddick would get, instead of getting one million at the US Open, he would get two, the money put by the US Open. It would increase a little bit of the coverage, of course, on television, so it would be a good package, a good promotion for the American tournament, along with some more money on the promotion between 2 and $3 million. I must say the Board, the ATP board, except the tournament representative from America who knew that project, was shocked. We were shocked. As long as the stuff from the ATP here in Monte-Carlo, we knew it by mail Friday night, to make the decision for Sunday night, to be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, last Tuesday. We refused it. We said to Mr. Miles that he was not entitled to take such a decision. We would have another conference call on Tuesday night with all the members, which was not the case last Sunday; one board member couldn't be available on that phone, so we were only five. Today, the three board members who were here plus the other two we had on the phone said clearly, "We don't want that deal to happen in the terms it was decided and promoted by Mr. Kantarian from the US Open." It is clear that we don't accept the deal. I had, on the phone, maybe 25 out of 32 of the tournament directors, the European tournament directors, for three reasons. I won't go further after that, but this is very important. First of all, to protect the integrity of the clay court tournaments of July in Europe. We have a swing. We want to keep it as strong as possible. We think that that creation could be a threat for the tournaments in Europe in July. The second point is the integrity of the Masters Series has been protected for the two tournaments, Canada and Cincinnati. We have fully agreed that there would be no any other logo than "ATP Masters Series" on the world feed on television. We have the insurance for it, for the Masters Series. But the branding of the ATP has almost disappeared from the promotion of that Tour inside the Tour. We don't accept that type of fragmentation; we don't accept the fact that it could be a confusion between some tournaments who belong to the Tour and the other tournaments. In two words, we don't want the Tour inside the Tour. It is against our rules on the ATP rules. The last point, but not the least, is we don't want - we don't want - the creation of a kind of a bonus inside the Tour necessarily attached to a new ranking. Because if you have that type of bonus for three players, that will mean that we will have another ranking. So I had a lot of people from the German press on the phone yesterday because - I don't know where the information came out - but in Germany they were really on fire yesterday on this, and I have said exactly what I am telling you today - we don't want that bonus to be created, we don't want another ranking. We have enough problems having two rankings today, not to have a third one for six tournaments during the year. We want to have a global vision. We want to have not a regional Tour , one in Asia -- because tomorrow we could create the "Asian Tour"; the "Fall Tour in Europe"; during the clay court season, "On the Road to Roland Garros"; grass, "On the Road to Wimbledon". I mean, we want to have a global vision. So we have asked Mark Miles to react to this and to say to the US Open, "Nothing has been approved by the ATP board, and we will discuss that point Tuesday night," because I didn't want to have that call during this tournament. But that's all I can say today. I think this is a serious , really serious matter concerning the game and concerning the management of the ATP, and we will have to draw the consequences of such decision taken without our approval.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: He went to the table and negotiation without telling us anything, and he...

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: The WTA was informed, WTA board was informed. The USTA board was informed. We were not, and we don't think this is the proper way to manage a company. And the staff knows it. I mean, they know our position, the board's position now. Coming back to the tournament, there was a big change at the request of Mr. Clerici.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: We took off the post we had on the terrace. Now you can see the players serving.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: You want to see the Prince?

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: But you see the server now.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Twenty. We have about 20 percent.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: Yes.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: We're struggling. If we are getting the 2,000 people missing the last two days, I think we'll break almost even. But it is a fact we're struggling. I think all the Masters Series are struggling except Miami. This is reality. We have to face the situation. That's why it is crucial that we find a good commitment with the players, a good balance between their wishes and our problems.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: If you can convince the players.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: We would like to lower the doubles prize money, as you know.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: But it won't affect dramatically the situation, even if we reduce the field, the draw, the money.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: No.

FRANCIS TRUCHI: When a country has nine percent growth per year, then we consider there is a market to be considered. Thank you, please broadcast images and everything you can about the tournament, because you know we have to pay the players and the organization. When a country is going through an economic explosion, like China, it's obviously important.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: For us, it's a very important market. There are many Chinese people who want to come and visit this area, 100 million visitors, and most of them want as a first destination France.

PATRICE DOMINGUEZ: We sell more than 5,000 seats by Internet in the area of Asia - I don't know about China - but it will come, don't worry - especially if the Masters Cup goes back to Shanghai.