Maybe the late-night clarity of thought which I place so much trust in is deceiving me or perhaps my nasty winter virus has made me somewhat foggy in my notions but I've been ruminating of the link between the Cold War and the Masters Cup. Forgive me for the rather suspect and circuitous route I take to connect the two - think of it as a "degrees of separation" exercise.
The Cold War has been front and center in my mind of late. The morbidly fascinating and truly bizarre Russian spy-poisoning case ongoing in Great Britain and Russia is straight out of Graham Greene or John Le Carre. In an odd way there is almost something nostalgic about this puzzle - with so many random acts of violence and government aggressiveness resulting in unspeakable casualties these days, this "old fashioned" intrigue regarding the tragic death of Alexander Litvinenko is a reminder of days when enemies were supposedly more clearly defined.
Also, not needing any prodding to absorb myself in music (or tennis) from the 1970's, I recently saw Lou Reed in concert, performing his 1972 masterpiece album Berlin in its entirety. Reed's harrowing excursion into decadence and personal despair in the divided German city furthered my engrossment with Cold War themes.
So what does any of this have to do with the season-ending championships? Well, the last time the ATP held their year-ending tournament in New York was 1989, the year which also marked the end of the Cold War when the Berlin Wall was torn down late that year.
However dubious a connection this is, it nonetheless serves as the segue to discuss the location of future Masters Cups.
As I wrote in my article in the December issue of Tennis Week - enclosed above - magazine, I believe the Masters Cup should return to Madison Square Garden in New York. It has been far too long since the world's most important and greatest city hosted the Masters.
When the tennis powers that be shifted the Masters Cup to Germany in 1990 - coincidence with the end of the Cold War or perhaps more validly due to the sport's popularity there as Boris Becker and Steffi Graf were on top of the tennis world at the time - it seemed like a somewhat logical place for it as New York had had a monopoly on the event for nearly fifteen years.
But when the ATP began shifting the event to various cities - notably Sydney and Shanghai- in an attempt to showcase the event in "developing" tennis markets, it robbed the tennis fan of a consistency that is so key to keeping one's interest in the sport current.
Most importantly the time difference made it nearly impossible for most fans in the West - where the overwhelming majority of tournament tennis is played - to view the tournament live this year. In addition there wasn't the built-in hype machine that New York offers to generate further interest in what should be a showcase event for the ATP.
ATP President Etienne de Villiers has publicly stated that he wants to bring the Masters Cup to London when the current agreement with Shanghai runs out in 2008. Though not the NYC locale I advocate for, it would at least be more time-friendly for most fans and Europe is the locus of most tennis activity. (the ATP is shifting the majority of its operations to Europe over the next year as well)
I think the fairest way to conduct the Masters Cup is to rotate it between MSG and either London or Paris. These are three of the cities which host Grand Slams and if fans knew it'd always be in one of two places then interest, and especially media attention, would follow.
And how about rotating the surface for the event? Just because hard-courts serve as a type of equalizer doesn't mean you can't vary the surface once in a while. And what about having two surfaces during one event? Some will say injury risks will be too great but if clay and grass were used, the two surfaces viewed as the easiest on the body, than that risk may be minimized. I doubt it'd happen but food for thought nonetheless.
The Cold War has been front and center in my mind of late. The morbidly fascinating and truly bizarre Russian spy-poisoning case ongoing in Great Britain and Russia is straight out of Graham Greene or John Le Carre. In an odd way there is almost something nostalgic about this puzzle - with so many random acts of violence and government aggressiveness resulting in unspeakable casualties these days, this "old fashioned" intrigue regarding the tragic death of Alexander Litvinenko is a reminder of days when enemies were supposedly more clearly defined.
Also, not needing any prodding to absorb myself in music (or tennis) from the 1970's, I recently saw Lou Reed in concert, performing his 1972 masterpiece album Berlin in its entirety. Reed's harrowing excursion into decadence and personal despair in the divided German city furthered my engrossment with Cold War themes.
So what does any of this have to do with the season-ending championships? Well, the last time the ATP held their year-ending tournament in New York was 1989, the year which also marked the end of the Cold War when the Berlin Wall was torn down late that year.
However dubious a connection this is, it nonetheless serves as the segue to discuss the location of future Masters Cups.
As I wrote in my article in the December issue of Tennis Week - enclosed above - magazine, I believe the Masters Cup should return to Madison Square Garden in New York. It has been far too long since the world's most important and greatest city hosted the Masters.
When the tennis powers that be shifted the Masters Cup to Germany in 1990 - coincidence with the end of the Cold War or perhaps more validly due to the sport's popularity there as Boris Becker and Steffi Graf were on top of the tennis world at the time - it seemed like a somewhat logical place for it as New York had had a monopoly on the event for nearly fifteen years.
But when the ATP began shifting the event to various cities - notably Sydney and Shanghai- in an attempt to showcase the event in "developing" tennis markets, it robbed the tennis fan of a consistency that is so key to keeping one's interest in the sport current.
Most importantly the time difference made it nearly impossible for most fans in the West - where the overwhelming majority of tournament tennis is played - to view the tournament live this year. In addition there wasn't the built-in hype machine that New York offers to generate further interest in what should be a showcase event for the ATP.
ATP President Etienne de Villiers has publicly stated that he wants to bring the Masters Cup to London when the current agreement with Shanghai runs out in 2008. Though not the NYC locale I advocate for, it would at least be more time-friendly for most fans and Europe is the locus of most tennis activity. (the ATP is shifting the majority of its operations to Europe over the next year as well)
I think the fairest way to conduct the Masters Cup is to rotate it between MSG and either London or Paris. These are three of the cities which host Grand Slams and if fans knew it'd always be in one of two places then interest, and especially media attention, would follow.
And how about rotating the surface for the event? Just because hard-courts serve as a type of equalizer doesn't mean you can't vary the surface once in a while. And what about having two surfaces during one event? Some will say injury risks will be too great but if clay and grass were used, the two surfaces viewed as the easiest on the body, than that risk may be minimized. I doubt it'd happen but food for thought nonetheless.
