London to Host Season-Ending ATP Tennis Tournament From 2009
04/07/2007 |
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The Masters Cup, the season-ending event on the ATP tennis tour, will move to London from 2009 and be renamed the World Tour Final.
The world's top men players will compete for prize money of $4.5 million at the event in the O2 Arena, formerly known as the Millennium Dome. It is an initial four-year contract, taking the event through the year in which London stages the Olympics.
``London is the world's most cosmopolitan city with a vibrancy and energy that makes it ideally suited to hosting this event,'' Etienne de Villiers, executive chairman of the ATP, said in a statement today.
London has never hosted the year-end event, which is set to leave Shanghai after four years in 2008. Sydney and Houston have also staged the cup since it was first held in Lisbon seven years ago.
The eight players who have amassed the most points in the calendar year qualify for the singles competition, though the event has often been marred by withdrawals. Roger Federer beat James Blake in last year's final.
The O2 is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, a U.S. owner of concert halls and sports teams including the Los Angeles Galaxy, which has signed England soccer star David Beckham from Real Madrid.
AEG has revamped the Greenwich, southeast London, venue as a live-music and entertainment complex. The Richard Rogers- designed structure, which reopened in June, has a 20,000-seat arena.
The U.S. company has a 100-year lease on the Dome, which also includes a 2,000-seat live-music club, an 11-screen cinema and 20 restaurants and bars. It will pay a percentage of earnings to the government.
The O2 may host basketball and handball finals at the Olympics in 2012.
(Source: Bloomeberg.com)
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