The ATP World Tour’s Golden Swing, the tour’s presence in South America, is the part of the men’s tennis calendar in February that is traditionally reserved for red clay tennis. Taking place after the Australian Open, but before the Sunshine double Masters of ATP Indian Wells and Miami in the United States, the tournaments that take place on clay allow players who perform better on that surface to earn ATP ranking points and prize money that are critical for the rest of their season.
The purpose of these tournaments is also to allow Latin American fans to connect with men’s tennis and witness some of their sporting heroes in action, as countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, to a lesser extent Colombia and Ecuador have produced a number of top 100 and top 50 ATP players, including players who have competed at the highest level’s of men’s tennis including, in more recent history, Juan Martin Del Potro and David Nalbandian from Argentina, Gustavo Kuerten and Thomaz Bellucci from Brazil, Marcelo Rios and Fernando Gonzalez from Chile, and Santiago Giraldo and Alejandro Falla from Colombia.
However, South American players are not a feature in the ATP’s Top 50 as much as they used to be, and new financial interests on the ATP Tour are placing pressure on this part of the calendar, putting the future of the Golden Swing in Peril.
Less South American Success on the ATP Tour
Argentina, which hosts the ATP 250 level Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, is one of two South American nations with at least one player ranked in the top 50. There are four Argentines in the top 50, led by Francisco Cerundolo and Sebastian Baez, both of whom are at their best on clay. Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Mariano Navone round out the Argentine contigent, while Alejandro Tabilo and Nicolas Jarry from Chile round out the list of top 50 players. Brazil has high hopes for their top ranked young gun Joao Fonseca, and they have three players in the top 100 currently, led by Thiago Seyboth Wild at #77.
None of these players have reached a Grand Slam final however or lifted any illustrious titles, with Fonseca considered perhaps the most promising to achieve that. These circumstances have led to South American players featuring less in the most viewed matches on the ATP Tour, despite the historic passion and shotmaking talent they brought to the game in the past.
The retirement of Argentinian Diego Schwartzman this week, a highly respected former top 10 player who maximized his talent and refused to let his physical limits keep him from battling with the great champions of the game, is a huge loss in terms of experienced South American players. The continued presence of national tennis academies, experienced coaching talent, and numerous ITF and ATP Challenger Tour tournaments on the continent ensure that there will continue to be South American players on tour, but the question remains can achieve what players like Kuerten and Del Potro did, and lift a Grand Slam trophy, especially the clay court French Open.
The Saudi Investment in ATP Tennis
Media reports indicate that tournament directors and stakeholders in the Golden Swing view the growing Saudi PIF investment in the ATP World Tour with concern, there are reports that the ATP World Tour will introduce a marquee tournament to Saudi Arabia in January or February, a hard court Masters 1000 tournament would be in concert with two tournaments that take place in the Middle East during this part of the calendar, ATP Doha (Qatar Open) a 250 level event, and ATP Dubai (Dubai Tennis Championships) a 500 level event. The ATP Next Gen Finals took place in Saudi Arabia already, and the Kingdom hosted the Six Kings Slam Exhibition with tennis superstars including Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. The ATP also has a long term sponsorship agreement with Saudi’s PIF, a sovereign wealth fund entity that is heavily invested in global sport, including boxing, golf, and football.
Should these persistent rumors prove to be true, the attraction for top players to participate in the Middle Eastern hard court swing, instead of South America’s clay court Golden Swing will be strong, if the tournaments survive at all.
A Switch to Hard Courts?
The ATP World Tour was once played across four surfaces (hard both indoors and outdoors, clay, grass, and indoor carpet), the tour is now down to three surfaces, and hard courts, which are 2 of the 4 Grand Slams, 6 of the 9 ATP Masters 1000, and the World Tour Finals is the dominant surface. Many South American players grow up learning how to play the game on clay, but this is increasingly a skillset that is less financially lucrative for a professional tennis player, with the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal recently retiring.
There are media reports that the Golden Swing tournaments, which currently consists of ATP Santiago Chile, ATP Buenos Aires, Argentina and ATP Rio, Brazil are considering switching to hard courts. While the ATP World Tour has seen tournaments in Cordoba, Argentina, Quito, Ecuador, and a hard court tournament in Bogota, Colombia all fold or be downsized to Challengers.
This would be in a bid to attract a higher ranked field of players to these tournaments, but it would potentially hamper the success of local talent, as Argentinians won four of the eight Golden Swing tournaments played in the last two years, while Chile Nicolas Jarry also lifted a title. Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez and Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas have been the most successful South American players in these tournaments with four titles each, while Spaniards are unsurprisingly the most successful nation overall in these tournaments, with Rafael Nadal (6 titles), Nicolas Almagro (6 titles), and David Ferrer (7 titles) the top three. Just this week, Joao Fonseca is into the semifinals, and Francisco Cerundolo upset Alexander Zverev for the biggest win of his career, showing the opportunity that these tournaments create for South American players.
Mexico’s two ATP tournaments, Acapulco, and Los Cabos, already take place on hard courts, and Bogota, Colombia previously hosted a hard court event. The Rio Olympics also famously took place on hard courts instead of clay, which was a surprise to Rafael Nadal at the time. However, the men’s tennis at these Olympics wasn’t overly memorable, and failed to live up to the magic that the Golden Swing has produced. The Argentina Open remains a holdout for clay over hard courts.
The Passion of the Fans Shows the Path Forward
The aforementioned Schwartzman, who won two ATP titles in South America during his career, was sent off to raucous cheers that brought him to tears when he lost his second match in Buenos Aires. This moment was just one of many iconic ATP World Tour moments that the Golden Swing has produced, with South American fans known for their enthusiasm, outspokeness, and passion at tennis matches. Argentina’s TYC Sports recently produced a mini documentary about the match between Gaston Gaudio and Guillermo Coria.
Argentinian journeyman Horacio Zeballos famously stunned Rafael Nadal at ATP Vina Del Mar in 2013
and players like Fernando Gonzalez and Gustavo Kuerten famously battled during the Golden Swing
Last year saw Brazil’s hope, Joao Fonseca, secure his first ever ATP win at home in Rio
These great moments, and the shotmaking and physical battles that take place on clay, are enhanced by the fan participation that is synonymous with the Golden Swing as much as Strawberries and Cream is with Wimbledon. They may not be the biggest tournaments, but leaving South America behind for solely financial and commercial reasons, or altering these tournaments away from clay would be a great loss for the true global reach of the ATP World Tour and men’s tennis. In a region where football is far and above the dominant sport, South American tennis fans still bring their passion and knowledge for tennis to the stadiums, and the same energy they bring to the Copa Libertadores, World Cup, and Copa America. If you don’t want to take my word for it, hear directly from Schwartzman, and Andy Murray on this topic last year. The Davis Cup gave up energetic crowds to chase after money, the ATP World Tour shouldn’t do the same.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
