ATP Trial Continues With Dispute Over Tour Schedule, Player Reps

Hamburg Organizers Seeking To Undo Relegation To Second Tier Status On ATP Schedule

EVENT DIRECTOR TESTIFIES: The early part of the day was taken up by testimony from Walter Knapper, the Hamburg event tournament director. While he described the deleterious affects of a downgrade, under cross examination from the ATP attorney Brad Ruskin, Knapper conceded that prior to the Hamburg downgrade, he had urged many of the same moves the ATP has undertaken. In a videotaped deposition, ATP CEO of the Americas Mark Young testified the circuit had ignored the advice of its consultant, Dan Jones of Deloitte & Touche, to establish an objective scorecard of criteria to choose the top events. The ATP instead chose a subjective system. Also, ATP board member Graeme Pearce testified in a videotaped deposition that the ATP approved in '07 the largest executive bonuses in its history to the tune of $718,250 (Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).

REAX: SI.com's Jon Wertheim wrote of the trial, "If a governing body doesn't have the right to demote and promote events based on financial viability, what power does it really have?" Wertheim: "How did the ATP not foresee this eventuality? Going forward there has to be some mechanism: 'By granting you ATP sanction, we reserve the right to demote your status if you fail to meet certain criteria.'" Wertheim added, "Let's consider this a cautionary tale" (SI.com, 7/23). 

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