Italian Gaudenzi reappointed ATP chairman

ROME: ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi has been re-elected for a second term as the head of the organisation from 2024 through 2026, the governing body of men’s tennis announced on Monday.

Italian Gaudenzi presented an ambitious OneVision strategic plan to revolutionise the sport after taking over in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced sporting bodies into crisis mode.

The ATP said under phase one, which came into effect in 2023, it had already generated the largest single-year increase in player compensation in its history — a $37.5 million year-on-year increase across the ATP Tour and Challenger Tour.

“I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved since 2020, during a particularly challenging time for the world,” Gaudenzi said.

“OneVision has strengthened the ATP’s foundation, fostering a genuine partnership between players and tournaments.

“As we enter the second phase of our strategy, I’m more convinced than ever that our sport has huge upside, and that we are well positioned to take advantage of the digital age.”

Under the OneVision plan, players and tournaments were guaranteed a 50-50 share in profits from this year while the tour also saw the introduction of expanded 12-day Masters 1000 tournaments.

The ATP said other achievements in Gaudenzi’s first term were the establishment of Tennis Data Innovations — set up to manage and commercialise data for the Tour across global markets — as well as the long-term aggregation of media rights.

Gaudenzi was also instrumental in creating a “T7 working group” that included the ATP, the WTA, the four Grand Slams and the International Tennis Federation in a bid to streamline the governance of the sport.

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