Hopman Cup tournament director, Paul Kilderry has lauded 19-time Major winner Roger Federer for popularizing the event held in Perth every year.
Kilderry is eager to host the former World No. 1 once again at the start of 2018. Last year’s tournament turned out to be a runaway success after Federer made it the launch pad of his remarkable comeback in 2017. The other participants at the competition were home favorite Nick Kyrgios and present ATP No. 4 Alexander Zverev.
“You have this vision of what it could be — last summer was probably everything and more to be honest. There was just such a buzz around the event,” Kilderry said.
“Roger transformed the Brisbane event a few years earlier. To see him come to Perth and the whirlwind was pretty special. I played against Roger 16 years ago when he was starting out so you’ve known these people a long time.
“The players love playing the Hopman Cup. Even the former players still come up to me and rave about how much they loved the Hopman Cup. It’s a real credit to the people who ran the event for a long time. We’re just following in on what they started, trying to do our best.”
“We do a lot more than a lot of events would. We have only 16 players so we are able to make an incredible fuss of them,” Kilderry added.
“Last year we probably chose three or four nights where we’d leave a present on their bed. Maybe an iPad one night, casino chips another night. Just little things that make you remember the event.”
