Former Wimbledon champion vows to keep ATP 500s 'special' amid Saudi Arabia exhibitions

Rotterdam Open tournament director Richard Krajicek is wary of the pending exhibitions in Saudi Arabia

Transcript

00:00 I think what makes the tournament special is we are a 500 event, so you can earn 500 points.

00:03 It's one of the 13 elite tournaments.

00:06 And yeah, you see it in our draw.

00:09 We have six top ten players.

00:10 We've had many legends win our event.

00:13 I think on top of that, we are an indoor event,

00:17 but I think with very, very good facilities for the players.

00:23 We keep investing in making the tournament better and better

00:28 and trying to be a trendsetter and not a trend follower.

00:32 It's an exhibition, so exhibitions can be held.

00:35 You know, they're in off-season sometimes,

00:37 and with 250 tournaments, they can happen in those weeks.

00:40 So I feel for those tournaments.

00:42 The 1000 tournaments, the Grand Slams and the 500 events are protected there.

00:48 So it doesn't affect those tournaments as much.

00:51 There is some influence, but mainly on the 250 events.

00:55 And for them, yeah, hopefully there can be some kind of solution,

00:58 because we're ashamed if exhibitions take over too much or hurt the 250 events too much.