27/08/2010 07:32 CEST - Canadian Open
Canada: Montreal vs Toronto
At the end of the Canadian ATP and WTA tournaments let’s compare Quebec and Ontario’s styles in light of 2011 “virtual combined” event. Vanni Gibertini (translation by Nicola Gandolfi)
After two weeks spent covering the ATP and WTA Canadian events, it comes natural to review both experiences in order compare venues and organizations in Toronto and Montreal. Starting from 2011, since Cincytennis will become a combined one-week event, host Tennis Canada will no longer have two weeks to showcase its two tournaments, alternating the venues between Montreal and Quebec, but it will have to make do with only seven days for both the ATP and the WTA competitions. The most efficient and obvious solution would have been to organize another combined event themselves, but this would have entailed having a tournament in each of the two cities only every other year, depriving their economies of the annual boost generated by the event. And let’s also bring into the picture the fact Montreal and Toronto consider each other as bad stepsisters, after the former lost its status of Canada’s economic capital in favor of the latter, mainly because of the pro-French laws introduced in the 70’s by the separatist party Parti Quebecois, inducing many companies to relocate their headquarters from Quebec to Ontario.
Ergo, Tennis Canada has conceived the idea of a “virtually combined” event, as Toronto’s Tournament Directors Karl Hale explained. Next year the ATP Tour tournament will take place in Montreal’s Uniprix Stadium while the WTA players will compete in Toronto’s Rexall Centre. Giant screens in both locations will allow the crowd to follow the matches live from locations 600 kilometers apart: the order of play, especially for the night sessions and the weekends will be structured to maximize TV audience and avoid overlaps as much as possible. Canadian broadcaster CBC will be able to showcase a sort of Super Saturday with both ATP and WTA semi finals aired live across the country. Media will have the option to use digital technology for virtual, remote interviews to the players.
Political and economic factors aside, Tennis Canada had to acknowledge that Parc Jarry in Montreal, including the Uniprix Stadium, does not have enough courts for a combined event and 30 years after its construction, it is starting to show some wrinkles compared to the brand new Rexall Centre in Toronto, opened in 2004. Despite the presence of a second court with permanent seats for the public, the space for visitors and commercial stands in Montreal is not suitable to a major tournament, as it is always very crowded and noisy. On the other hand, Toronto’s Rexall Centre is located in a fairly remote suburb, a 60-to-90-minute drive away downtown and served only by 2 bus lines. Parc Jarry is much more conveniently located: only 20 minutes from downtown and with 2 subway stations at walking distance from the grounds. Furthermore, in Montreal Rogers Cup tickets holders can avail of free public transportation to and from the venue, and free non-stop hourly shuttles from downtown to the gates are available throughout the days of the tournament.
As a journalist, I have enjoyed a very efficient organization in Toronto: the media center was spacious and conveniently located just steps away from the Centre Court, as well as the interview room and the stands reserved to the press in the lower level of the stadium. Transportation service to and from the hotel and the airport was granted to most of the press, including myself. In Montreal, no transportation for the press: we used the shuttles or the metro like the general public, but without the free passes. Dedicated parking spaces were available to VIP, staff, guests and most of the weekly ticket holders, but when we requested a parking space for ourselves, we received a polite rejection. The press area was located right at the top of the Uniprix stadium, next to the TV commentators boxes, with a poor view on the court through the windows, with the main interview room located at the opposite end of the stadium and two levels below us.
No vouchers for free meals in Canada, unlike in the vast majority of the big tournaments, but in both locations it was possible to get our lunch at a “political” price: a $5 bill in Toronto was buying you a starter, an entrée and a dessert, while at the tournament in Quebec the same meal (but, to be fair, of better quality) would have set you back $20, which is not much less than you would pay for a complete meal in any average Montreal restaurant.
But Montreal becomes almost unbeatable when you look at the attendance sheet . In 2010, Toronto established its all-time record with just above 161.000 spectators during the week, while Montreal, with a WTA event without many of the marquee names and awashed by persistent rain during the final weekend, attracted 172.000 people, only 2.000 less than two latest record-setting female tournaments (2006 and 2008). The ATP Masters 1000 event in 2009 for the first time surpassed the 200.000 tickets sold mark, and the final of the last WTA tournament, delayed from Sunday to 1.30pm of a working-day still managed to take place with more than 9.500 cheering fans on the stands, when in many events the only ones attending would have been the line judges and the ball boys.
In conclusion, even if the experiment of the virtual combined represents a complicated solution, well representing a country with strong internal divisions, Tennis Canada’s efforts to turn it in to a success will build a prototype which will certainly be evaluated and dissected by many observers to understand if it can be successfully reproduced in other parts of the world.
Vanni Gibertini
"The majority of the matches I win aren't pretty. But I've made a career out of that."
Andy Roddick on his 1st round victory over finnish Nieminen.
September the 3rd, 2006
Andre Agassi plays the final match of his career, losing to german qualifier Benjamin Becker, 7-5 6-7 6-4 7-5, in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Agassi is given a thunderous ovation before and after the match.
From "On this day in Tennis History" by Randy Walker
