'Roger Federer comes to Stuttgart with his own car' – Weindorfer
For , the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart is a special tournament. Why? It was the Tournament Director Edwin Weindorfer himself to explain it in an exclusive interview with Tennis World USA. Its the only tournament where Roger comes with his own car, said Weindorfer on the Stuttgart defending champion.
He comes with his Mercedes Benz car from Zurich, he enjoys that, he comes here with his friends, coaches and his physio. Stuttgart is not far from Switzerland, so a lot of Swiss people come. He enjoys several things. Its a very family atmosphere.
Packed crowds always show up in the tournament in June, and Weindorfer wishes they had room for more: We have a centre court for 6,000 spectators that we have filled with Roger and Rafa (Nadal). Unfortunately its only 6,000, we cannot build a bigger stadium.
They are a well-worth investment for televisions, spectators and sponsorship. About top players like Federer and Nadal taking huge appearance fees to play ATP 250s and 500s, Weindorfer concluded: Every player has to be happy.
The prize money has developed a lot in the last years, and these people like Roger and Rafa lead the sport and because of them the sport gives them a good living to other players. Many non top 10 ranked players earn a lot of money.
Until 2014 the tournament was played on clay in mid-July, and basically no top players were committed. Then in 2015 the event moved to grass in June, and the consequences could be seen straightaway. I knew it was a chance for us to become better, Weindorfer recognized.
Because Mercedes Benz has a lot of times criticized me for not bringing in top players, and then when the grass-court season got longer we switched from clay to grass. It was the right decision, it was a big investment but a worth one.
2015 was already a great year with Rafa playing. I did not expect such a lot of success so far. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title
