It’s not necessarily a dirty little secret, per se, but it’s one the most important low profile, underreported constants in the pro game. The more modest-sized tournaments in tennis regularly pay guarantees (oops, appearance fees) to the top stars. A former Grand Slam champion from South America might pocket more than $400,000 just to show up at a tournament, then get testy when asked to do a smile-and-wave/meet-and-greet corporate appearance, or yet another TV interview, when, in fact, he might not actually generate much more in ticket sales. Yet guarantees have long been part and parcel of the mid-sized tour stops.
But now the Farmers Classic in L.A. is going, according to tournament director Bob Kramer, retro, to a “kinder, gentler time” when no up-front money changed hands. The July 25-31 ATP Tour designation, which returns once again to the L.A. Tennis Center at UCLA, will make a bold statement by offering no guarantees to the Djokovics, Del Potros, Roddicks and Murrays of the world.
“We’re not paying guarantees,” Kramer told Inside Tennis. “We’ll be standing on our own merit.”
The tournament will save hundreds of thousands of dollars. But will it attract a cadre of buzz-generating players? Time will tell. Last year, the Bryan Bros. broke The Woodies record for most career doubles titles, and Sam Querrey won his second straight L.A. title when he topped the favored Andy Murray in the final. There was also a highly popular pre-tournament event – Stars Under the Stars — which pitted Andre Agassi against John McEnroe.
