Turin will host the ATP Finals from 2021 through to 2025 as the season-ending competition heads to Italy after 12 years in London.
After a successful bid, Turin is set to become the 15th city to host the tournament of the world’s best players since it began in 1970. The indoor PalaAlpitour stadium will stage the event, replacing London’s O2 Arena.
Chris Kermode, the ATP’s executive chairman president, said: “Italy provides us with one of the strongest and most established tennis markets in Europe and has a proven track record for hosting world class tennis events. We look forward to bringing the ATP’s flagship season-ending event to tennis’s growing fanbase in Italy for the first time.
“The success of the ATP Finals is critical to the health of the ATP and we believe that Turin has all the ingredients to take the event to new heights and to continue the tournament’s growth following a highly successful 12-year stint in London that will come to an end in 2020.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our event partners in London, and all the fans that have made the tournament such a success at the O2 since 2009.”
Novak Djokovic, the world No 1 who is president of the ATP player council, believes the change in location will help the development of the competition, which by 2021 will offer a record purse of £11.45m. “The ATP Finals is the biggest and most prestigious event that we have at the ATP. It’s a tournament that has historically moved around and so I’m very excited to see it move to Turin from 2021,” Djokovic said.
“It is still a few years away, but I know that the players will be very excited to compete there, and I also hope to be part of what will be a very special event.”
The Turin announcement comes days after Fabio Fognini won the Monte Carlo Masters. The Italian government pledged ¤78m in funding for the ATP Finals, the latest in a series of global sporting events it is backing. Italy is also the frontrunner in the race to host the 2026 Winter Olympics with a bid from Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo; and the country has already been assigned the 2022 Ryder Cup to be held at the Marco Simone club just outside Rome.
Angelo Binaghi, the president of the Italian Tennis Federation, said it “would not have been possible” to secure the event without the government’s help. “Now we’ll pass the ball to our technical area, which must do its part within the next three-four years by bringing at least one Italian player to the PalaAlpitour,” Binaghi said. “The results over the last few years, especially the brilliant start to this season, give us hope that the stage is set.”
Turin will become the 15th different host city of the ATP Finals since the tournament’s inception in 1970. New York (13 editions from 1977-89) and London (12 from 2009-20) are the cities that have hosted the tournament the most.