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MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERSApril 22, 2012Zeljko FranulovicMONTE CARLO, MONACO ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: Ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to this press conference for the end of the tournament. It is a good opportunity for me, on behalf of the tournament management, to thank you once again for being faithful to our tournament and to give you the general results of this 106th edition of the Monte‑Carlo Rolex Masters. A few words first about the new infrastructure: As I had announced during our press conferences in Monaco and Paris, our team really wanted to improve substantially our infrastructure, mainly for the players and the younger public. We had to face a more and more enthusiastic crowd. We were aware that it was getting more and more difficult for the players to move around the facilities of the tournament. So we wanted to have their restaurant be in the same building as their locker rooms. So now all the services dedicated to the players are all together in the same area. This is much more comfortable for them. For the younger ones, the future players, the fans, the supporters of our tournament, we created a large area for special events on Courts 19 and 20. The spectators really enjoyed it. There were many watching here on the first Saturday of the first weekend, in spite of the rain. The success of this new space is a real satisfaction because this corresponds to our desire to play an active role in the education and promotion of our sport. We also had many emotions during this week. First the emotions of Ivan Ljubicic. He's an example for everyone on the tour. Everybody likes him. He chose our tournament to announce his retirement. We also saw the generosity of Jo‑Wilfried Tsonga who came and wanted to give a check to the World Food Program of the United Nations and was always available for everybody and he answered favorably all the requests that were made to him. We also felt nostalgia with Bjorn Borg, Ilie Nastase and Ivan Lendl being brought together here. We also can't forget the awards given to the members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in the presence of His Serene Highness the Sovereign Prince, who is a member of the association. This ceremony took place during the Grand Night of Tennis that was celebrating it 20th edition this year. Another highlight of this tournament was the award given to Novak Djokovic, the Vermeil Medal of Physical Education and Sports of the Principality of Monaco. It was given to him in the beginning of the tournament by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene. Now a word about the players' participation. The success was confirmed. We have this final with the two best players in the world. Once again, we were able to have a very high‑quality draw, an exceptional level of game was offered to the crowd by all the players of this 106th edition in singles and in doubles. The success has also been confirmed by the record attendance this year that went over 127,000 spectators compared with 125,000 in 2011. We are extremely satisfied with this result, although that record will be difficult to break in future editions. All the more so, 270 boxes we have here were entirely booked in February. As I was saying last year here our attendants are becoming more and more international. Spectators and the media are coming from everywhere in the world. I don't want to forget the main thing, the press tournament, organized with the cooperation of Sergio Tacchini. I would like to think Patrizia Bolzoni and Cristina Clerici for being with us. Grazie. This year you were 28 players. This is also a record attendance. We are awaiting the results of the final that is taking place right now on the Court of the Prince and after that we will give the awards in a few minutes. Once again I would like to thank you very warmly, all of you, and I would like to make an appointment with you for our next edition of the Monte‑Carlo Rolex Masters which will take place from the 13th to the 21st of April, 2013. I will give the floor to Mr. Alain Manigley for giving the presents to the winners of the photo competition of 2012. I would like to thank Stéphane and Maxim, our two referees, for organizing this press tournament. I am here available for your questions that I will answer individually, and then we'll all have a drink together. Thank you. Q. As a tournament director, it would be better if Nadal wins for the eighth time, or if Djokovic beats Nadal for the first time here? In terms of marketing, what do you think would be better? ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: You've become a specialist for the questions (laughter). Seriously, now, for a tournament director, it's an official role, and as a former player, or a friend, too. Exceptional personalities. I mean, the answer is either one, the better one to win. It's impossible to pick one to win. It has nothing to do with the last part of your question, marketing or not marketing. I mean, who in this room, television or the newspapers, I don't think anybody has specific preference for any of these two players unless it's a personal affinity or friendship. In general terms, really, first of all, I would not know who to put any money on these two guys. They are 1 and 2 in the world. There's such a small gap in between. Maybe Rafa is a little bit better on clay at the beginning of the year. We could open up a debate, but I'll concentrate and focus on your question. It's really the same. The best one will win, I would say. Q. I believe you can't really improve the attendance record because, of course, you have problems of capacity in this stadium. What can you do maybe to improve the number of spectators? Also, the press room. What can you do for the photographers who are opening the windows all the time because we all have a sore throat? ZELJKO FRANULOVIC: The answer for the first part of the question, I think it's going to be difficult to make the site available because it's a matter of space available. Every year we are being more and more creative. For example this year we with Court No.19 and Court No. 20, this was really a bit of a relief and more breathing room for us. I also believe if this tournament were to become too much bigger, it would be a disadvantage because the tournament would lose its soul and its specificity. I think having children running in the alleys, the crowd not being able to move around, I think all this is part of what is typical of this tournament. It's very specific to our tournament, and it has become an advantage with the years and we would like to keep it that way. In the press room, if you have problems, just mention it and we'll try to do something about it. We'll try to sort of gain a bit more square meters and try to have the windows a bit more closed. We'll try to solve the problem, if we can. Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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