The governing body of men’s tennis has been forced to apologise following widespread condemnation of a draw ceremony in which one player was asked to pull off a female model’s glove with his teeth and other stars discovered their group by choosing the woman they liked most.
Sunday’s draw for the inaugural Next Gen tournament in Milan, an eight-man event for the best players between 18-21, was labelled a “disgrace” by the former world No1 Amélie Mauresmo and “awful” by Great Britain’s former Fed Cup captain Judy Murray – while others on social media accused it of being sexist and objectifying women.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, the Association of Tennis Professionals and the tournament sponsor, Red Bull, admitted the draw had been “in poor taste and unacceptable”, saying it had been a misguided attempt to draw on Milan’s reputation for fashion and design.
“ATP and Red Bull apologise for the offence caused by the draw ceremony for the Next Gen ATP Finals,” it said. “The intention was to integrate Milan’s rich heritage as one of the fashion capitals of the world. However, our execution of the proceedings was in poor taste and unacceptable. We deeply regret this and will ensure that there is no repeat of anything like it in the future.”
The official tagline for the tournament is “The future is now” but the ceremony suggested a sport that is not as forward thinking as it would like to believe.The evening started with two female models carrying the letters A and B – representing the two groups in the round-robin tournament – down a catwalk, accompanied by the top two seeds, the Russians Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov.
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Quick Guide
NextGen ATP Finals
Eight young players will meet in Milan from 7-11 November, including the world’s top-ranked under-21 players – save for Alexander Zverev, who qualified for the main ATP finals – and wildcard Gianluigi Quinzi.
Group A: Andrey Rublev (Rus), Denis Shapovalov (Can), Hyeon Chung (Kor), Gianluigi Quinzi (Ita).
Group B: Karen Khachanov (Rus), Borna Coric (Cro), Jared Donaldson (US), Daniil Medvedev (Rus).
The players will compete in two round-robin groups, with the top two in each group advancing to the semi-finals. Matches will comprise five best-of-four sets, with a tie-break at three games all
Innovation: aside from shorter sets, there will be no lets, sudden-death points at deuce, a shot clock, and electronic line-calling. Players will also be allowed to communicate with coaches between sets
The other players, many of whom looked bemused, were then given a choice of models, who had the letter “A” or “B” hidden on their body. The player was then escorted down the catwalk arm in arm with the model, who would provocatively reveal the letter to the audience and cameras. One revealed the letter A marked on her thigh by lifting up her dress, designating the player that group.
When a reporter asked the players for their reaction on Monday, the head of the ATP, Chris Kermode, stepped in to make a complete apology. “I’m going to answer that,” he added. “They were put in an impossible position.”
The event had been hoping to make headlines by showcasing new names and trialling new approaches to the sport – including sudden-death deuce and electric line calls – but that was quickly overshadowed by the row that ensued.