Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has endorsed the idea of Scotland hosting a high-profile ATP tennis tournament following the success generated in the region with the Davis Cup.
Since 2015, the Emirates Arena in Glasgow has hosted two of Britain’s Davis Cup ties. The most recent was the semi-final clash between Britain and Argentina, which attracted 27,000 spectators over three days. Glasgow has seen a surge in tennis participation in recent years with official figures reporting a 135% increase in the past three years to 71,500 people.
“I think it is a possibility,” Murray said about Scotland potentially hosting a high-profile event.
“It would have to be indoors! But it is definitely possible if you can find the right facility to host it. It can be tricky to have indoor events, you obviously need to have more than one court, and need to have the space to do that.
“But when you see the events we have had here over the last few years, there won’t be many places that can sell out seven or eight nights of 8,000 to 10,000 seats, anywhere really,” he added. “So there is definitely an appetite for it.”
According to the Daily Mail, the proposed event will be hosted at the SSE Hydro Arena. The main court will be located at that venue with additional courts being based at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, which is only a five-minute walk away. Talks have already started with the involvement of Murray’s management, however, there has been no reply from the ATP concerning the idea.
Murray’s comments came during his charity fundraiser event on Wednesday night at the Hydro. In front of a sell-out crowd of 13,000 people, the world No.2 played a singles match against Grigor Dimitrov before participating in a doubles match alongside his brother Jamie. The fun night also featured Tim Henman as well as a series of other special guests. The exhibition event was created to help raise money for Unicef and Glasgow-based charity Young People’s Futures. The proceeds from the night will be split equally between the two charities.
Thanks @AndyMurrayLive for a great evening helping Unicef to provide children with life-saving food, vaccines and safe water. #AMLive16
— Unicef UK (@UNICEF_uk) 21 September 2016
Scotland has never hosted a main event on the ATP Tour, but did host a Challenger tournament last year. Between 1995-1997 Edinburgh hosted the WTA Doubles World Cup, a former competition that ended in 1997.
