Tournament director does not rule out adopting a quick court even if it means separating from South American cute
Ensured by the absence of a top 20 in its final, the Open River is more emphatic about a possible moving from clay to the fast court in the near future.
Although the subject is common behind the scenes and often debated by the media and fans of tennis, the floor change gained more evidence after the 2025 edition. And before Sunday’s final, Lui Carvalho, director of the tournament, was exhaustive about a possible change: “The hard court would give us a cartel of more options. Not equal to a key like Doha, but with more options, contributing to the growth of the event. ”
The Open River reached its final on Sunday with Sebastian Baez as the best ranked ranked among the remnants of the tournament. Before the game, the Argentine occupied position 31 in the ranking of, the 5th best considering the 8 best classified athletes in Rio de Janeiro throughout the week.
Played this same week, the ATP of Doha took 8 tennis players classified between the 3rd and 15th position of the ranking. Five of them – Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur, Novak Djokovic, Danil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev – Figure on the Top 10.
The elimination of Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals ascended discussions about the need for the river to be able to have more stars. The German, according to the world, was the only top 20 present – Lozenro Musetti (16) gave up on injury.
Aware of the pressure, the organization of the Open River is not intimidated by the possibility of breaking the sequence of clay in South America, composed of 250 tournaments in Buenos Aires (ARG) and Santiago (CHA).
“This does not block the river to go to (court) hard. We are (ATP) 500, there is a hierarchy, and we have the preference. Or it won’t just be a South American circuit. They may have two: Buenos Aires and Santiago in one moment, and the river in another. Nothing prevents us from going to opposite directions ”said Carvalho.
Argentines have an untouched stance on clay, and will not give up the favorite floor of their tennis players. In Rio, there were 3 semifinalist Argentines, and this Sunday, Baez became two-time champion in full Brazil.
“I am very critical about this floor issue. South American tennis would not lose. There is this narrative. Today, I think the Latin American players are hard court. João Fonseca is a hard court player. No longer has this distinction because the floors are more similar ”commented the director.
Last year, IMM, holding the tournament, renewed the contract with the Jockey Club until 2027, ensuring South American Gira where the Open River has taken place since 2014, and is traditionally known for its clay complex.
If the tournament itself recognizes that clay is a difficult factor to convince the stars to throw into the river, do not discard changes the moment the tournament expands.
This year, the total average of 50 to 60,000 people present in Jockey was maintained, the organization said.
