Out of court : 2005


Madrid decides to have the doubles competition as the ATP and players return to the negotiations

Next week the ATP will meet with representatives of the doubles players to settle the dispute


The organisers of the Masters Series Madrid announced today that they will host the doubles competition at this year’s tournament. The ATP has confirmed that discussions with the representatives of the 45 player’s that filed an anti trust lawsuit will take place in the coming days in an aim to resolve the conflict.

“We fully support the ATP on the reforms that have been approved to better showcase the doubles game. We have received confirmation from the ATP that discussions to solve the conflict away from the tribunals will take place shortly. In view of this information we have decided to restore the doubles competition this year in Madrid. However, we do not believe that it is acceptable that a small group of doubles players should attempt to influence by use of legal action the decision of the ATP Board as the governing body of men’s professional tennis. The ATP board has a duty to make decisions in the best interests of the sport which includes both tournaments and players. We expect the doubles reforms passed by the ATP Board at the US Open to be implemented”, said Gerard Tsobanian, General Manager of the Masters Series Madrid.

On September 1st the best tennis doubles players in the world led by Bob & Mike Bryan, Mark Knowles, Daniel Nestor, Mahesh Bhupathi, Graydon Oliver and Richard Barrer, filed, in a Texas federal court, a lawsuit against the ATP and it’s seven Board Members declaring that the proposed new ATP rules to aid doubles circuit would actually rig tournaments in favour of singles players, turning the doubles matches into marketing tools to promote the star-studded singles circuit.

The Masters Series Madrid is part of the ATP Masters Series, the elite group constituted by the nine most important tournaments of the professional calendar. This category corresponds to the prizes and points to be distributed and that assures listing of the best players of the world. Three number ones of the world are included in the list of champions: Andre Agassi (2002), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003) and Marat Safin (2004).



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