COMPAQ GRAND SLAM CUP

December 10, 1995

Andreas Barth

Daniel Beauvois

Axel Meyer-Wolden

Brian Tobin

ROBERT LUBENOFF: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for being here this early and for understanding our news conference had to take place at a somewhat earlier point of times being the final is starting at 2:00 and not at 3:00 as it would last year; otherwise we would have time to do this closing news conference. I most cordially welcome Dr. Axel Meyer-Woelden - I don't have to introduce him; ITF President, Brian Tobin. Second to the right, Mr. Les Snyder, President of the USTA, the American Tennis Federation. Mr. Daniel Beauvois, Managing Director of the marketing company of this tournament, the organizer ISPR and last, but not least, Mr. Andreas Barth, European, CEO of the title sponsor, Compaq Computers. Dr. Meyer-Woelden.

DR. AXEL MEYER-WOELDEN: Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you. I would first like to apologize for calling you at such an early time which is rather unusual for me too. I only learned about this yesterday and nothing could be changed. We couldn't postpone the news conference yesterday because the tournament -- the starting of the final has been fixed for 2 o'clock and there is an official lunch at half past 12:00. This is the reason why we had to invite you at such an early time this morning. I beg your understanding for this. Could I take the opportunity to say my highest respect to Daniel Beauvois for the splendid organization of this tournament, of this year's addition of this tournament. You know that he was in charge as the managing director of the ISPR. For me personally, after five years, it was the first time that I had the pleasure to watch a couple of matches in a quite relaxed state of mind and not being officially responsible of this tournament. At a point in time where there were problems I was, of course, with the managing team. This does not have to be mentioned. And I gave my advice and my experience every time I felt people needed it. I would like to thank Andreas Barth, Mr. Pfeiffer, and representatives of the title sponsor. Without them, this tournament would not be in existence and wouldn't exist as it does today. Their commitment is tremendous and the trust we place in each other is something rather unique. At the same time, I would like to thank the four Grand Slam tournaments represented today by Les Snyder and the ITF, whose president is representing the organization today, Brian Tobin. Over the years this tournament and those involved into organizing it have been trusted upon in a most extraordinary way and your personal presence has shown how you are committed to this tournament. You may have realized that the chairmen of all four Grand Slam tournaments have been here, Christian Bimes, John Curry, Les Snyder, and Geoff Pollard. They have all been here during this week and a couple of others. Without this commitment; without this linking the Grand Slam Cup to the four tournaments, the outstanding success of this tournament would have been an illusion. I have kept explaining how open I feel to any kind of criticism. Still, by way of introduction, I would like to say one thing. It would appear that the population of the city of Munich and its surroundings, as far as Germany is concerned, and other countries are concerned, has fully accepted this tournament at a time where many tournaments, and especially indoor tournaments, would face major problems. This tournament has a unique record to show in that it has been fully booked from the first day last Tuesday until the final day. I think this is really something rather extraordinary and unique and I should like to recall that in a country where tennis is very, very greatly considered, where great players come from - I am talking about Sweden - Stockholm will not be in existence anymore as a single week tournament. The city of Amsterdam couldn't take over for financial difficulties. And when this tournament then came to Munich and took place for the first time -- came to Germany and took place for the first time in Essen, as you recall a couple of weeks ago, wouldn't we have -- to show a very positive record and I could give you examples on end talking about Sydney, or Geneva and so on and so forth. There are major problems. And as I mentioned, this leads me to saying that this tournament, its format; the way it is organized, its link to the four Grand Slam tournaments and the ITF has never had to face these problems. Not only has it never had these problems, there have never been any reasons for this tournament facing problems. There has been great tennis here in Munich over the years and if players are injured towards the end of a long season, players facing an extraordinary strain during these many tournaments, this is certainly something we have got to deplore. But this is not something hitting this tournament, specifically. You take the case of Michael Stich. There have been many tournaments after Vienna. You take Andre Agassi, and he couldn't play Paris, Bercy and the ATP Final and the Davis Cup and I have always kept saying that if a tournament cannot do without one or two of these players, then obviously it doesn't have the quality it requires in order to survive in success. This tournament goes to show this and I have been approached during the tournament and I feel it relatively easy being the counselor of Boris Becker, people said this tournament may face problems the day where Boris Becker is not going to play this tournament anymore. Boris Becker's facination in any tournament is a great help for any organizer, but I should like to remind you that this tournament started off for three years without Boris Becker at a time where people said there is no tournament possible in Germany without Boris Becker, and every year we sold increasing numbers of tickets and the first time he was here, he lost in the first round and again we sold more tickets the following year and he lost the second round and again we increased our ticket sales and this year, Boris Becker lost in the semifinal match and I truly hope that there will be the fulfillment next year if Boris can qualify on the final and break the rule and win the final. But as far as dependence of this tournament is concerned, from a player and especially Boris Becker, this does not exist and I can say this more easily than anybody else given my function with Boris Becker. Before ending on my behalf, I'd like to thank you again, the journalists, because you are those who have been following this tournament in part overall these six years, these six additions of the tournament. You gave me a hard time in the beginning, I must say, a couple of problems I had to face, but then I feel that over the years a very good kind of relationship has been built between us and you know that I am not the kind of fellow asking for favors. I have never did so in my life. And I am not going to do so today. And given the function I am in, not immediately involved into the organizing, this is very easy for me to say. Thank you very much.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: Thank you, Dr. Meyer-Woelden. ITF President Mr. Brian Tobin, please.

MR. TOBIN: Thank you, Axel. I wasn't expecting to actually say anything - only to answer questions. But it is, of course, important that we at the ITF again congratulate Axel and Daniel for the way they have put this tournament together and made it such, again, a huge success and a bigger success each year. I think the whole organization of the tournament has, as we discussed yesterday, become a sort of almost a family operation, and our relationship with Compaq and with Andreas and with Axel; with Daniel, I think has been a very personal one as well as, obviously, a successfully commercial one. I can only say that speaking for tennis around the world; I have said it, I guess, for five years now and I will say it again, the game of tennis has benefited enormously from this event. I have said to you before that the Grand Slams do receive a payment of $2 million from this tournament, which goes towards the development of the game in underdeveloped countries. I wish that perhaps more of you had been here earlier in the week. We shared a short video on some of the things that have been achieved through the Grand Slam Development Fund. And I think you, like us, would have been very pleased to have seen the growth of tennis as a result of what happens here each year in Munich. As I think Axel has pointed out in the program, one of our early players, Byron Black, finally turned the clock around and became a competitor in the Grand Slam Cup here, the Compaq Grand Slam Cup in Munich. And that sort of gave the whole program a kick alone. So the ITF has been delighted with its involvement with the tournament and continues to benefit and the game continues to benefit from what happens here in Munich and I'd like to again pass on our thanks to all of the people concerned here for what we achieved. Whether this is the time, but I did speak to a couple of people here a couple of days ago, I was asked about the Grand Slam Cup for women. And maybe the translation was a little mixed, but I just wanted to clarify again that from our point of view, the offer of a Grand Slam Cup for women has been taken off the table. It has been there for a number of years. And so far the council of the Women's Tour has not seen fit to accept it or to put it into the calendar mainly due to opposition, I would say, from the other tournaments on the Women's Tour, but it is not off the table for ever and a day. It is off until somebody believes that they really need one and I think the Grand Slams would be happy to reconsider it if and when that ever occurs. It had nothing to do with equal prize money. I read that it was because the women didn't get equal prize money that they didn't want a Grand Slam Cup. That is not the case. It hasn't been the case for a couple of years. They would be happy to accept an event of whatever size. But they don't see their way clear at this time. They want to support the tournaments on the Tour - that is fine. I just wanted to make sure it is not off the table forever. It is off the table at this time. Thank you.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: Thank you, Brian Tobin. Could I ask Mr. Andreas Barth, European Head of the Compaq Corporation.

ANDREAS BARTH: Thank you very much. A very good tennis week will end today for us too and I must say that this tournament, that I have been following for six years now and where I have been involved in organizing it, building it up for my professional career; for my personal experience is a very important event. Being a tennis fan, I watched virtually every match with my guests down in one of the stands and every time this was not possible I profited from our on-line system "Baseline." I watched the latest and most recent score. Well, as you know, for the first time, we are on the Internet as I told you before. Virtually potentially 40 million users worldwide, and on average everyday, we had 40,000 people taking advantage of this. Well, as compared to the potential number of users, it is not that much, but since we didn't do any advertising for it and it was the first time, we are very satisfied indeed. This goes to show to what extent we have been committing ourselves to this tournament - our name, our brand name, our company image, is -- so that we owe this to the public and to create customer satisfaction and this, in this case, in this week means great tennis, worldwide media coverage, which was excellent, and a perfect organization. And although this tournament right from the beginning has been a top class event right from its start, it has still taken a most positive development over the years and this thanks amongst others to this very good corporation of Dr. Meyer-Woelden and Daniel Beauvois, ISPR; Grand Slam Committee; ITF, and as the other gentleman just stated, is really true over the years, we have really become part of this Compaq Grand Slam Cup family. We appreciate this most greatly and this is the reason why we decided to commit ourselves to the future of this tournament. We signed the second sponsor period last year which will make sure this relationship goes on until the end of this century and we do not want to be an ordinary sponsor paying money for the tournament, but we want to be people bringing the technical and marketing know-how into this tournament and making this tournament and tennis, at large, even more successful. Tennis sport and techniques cannot be separated anymore because it is the technical side that helps to make sport even more attractive for the crowd, for the audience, and if tennis wants to remain at the forefront of professional sport, the sponsors; the organizers have to be most innovative indeed. This is what we are trying through this commitment and through our know-how. Now, thank you very much, the journalists, for having been with us most successfully over the week and covering the tournament. I wish you all the best and hope to see you again next year in order to provide an even better service to the journalists.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: Thank you very much, Mr. Barth. Could I ask Mr. Les Snyder, representative of the Grand Slam Committee, to say a few words about the tournament from the point of view of the Grand Slam Committee.

LES SNYDER: Thank you very much. It is my pleasure to be here as the unofficial monitor of the Grand Slam chairman. I have been fortunate enough to be at this tournament for every year since the inception and I would say that each year the tournament has grown in stature within the tennis community and we think that we are offering a great benefit to the growth of tennis. I want to thank Compaq. I want to thank the tournament organizers. It has just been very, very good to see this grow in the manner that it has. I would also like to say to you, the press, if you recall when we had the first Grand Slam Cup, why, there was a lot of speculation that took place in the press about the nature of the event. I think that the events of this week certainly indicate that this is a tournament of great stature within the tennis community and the Grand Slam chairmen are very pleased with the way that this has progressed. The four Grand Slams represent major events within the tennis events throughout the year. For us to have this as a cap stone event at the end of the year, makes a lot of sense and it helps to bring together the outstanding players that have participated in our tournament. So I, again, want to thank you all for what you have helped in terms of getting the message out regarding the strength of this tournament and regarding the high quality of the event. Thank you very much.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: Thank you very much, Mr. Snyder. Before ending the statements, could I ask Mr. Daniel Beauvois to take the floor.

DANIEL BEAUVOIS: You heard a lot of talking, ladies and gentlemen and so I will be quite brief and just give you our impression as the marketing and managing organization - we are most satisfied. I suppose we are entitled to be satisfied with a few hundred tickets on Thursday, except these, the hall has been fully booked over the week and this means that there is still some minor room for improvement next year, just a couple of hundreds of tickets. On behalf of the ISPR and the whole staff of the ISPR, I should like to thank Dr. Meyer-Woelden, ITF and Grand Slam Committee for the trust they placed into our organization, which was a major challenge, hard work, for each and every one of us. We are very glad we succeeded to keep that high level Mr. Meyer-Woelden created for this event, and it goes without saying, that we are going to do our utmost in order to make sure there will still be headway and improvement. I shall be glad to welcome you again next year and I, on behalf of the ISPR, wish you a very Merry Christmas and excellent year, 1996. Thank you very much.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: Thank you very much, Daniel Beauvois for these statements. It is up to you. You may have questions to ask.

DR. AXEL MEYER-WOELDEN: Well, you know that many things come up and are said and stated and printed and sometimes things are written that seem to lack the research required from a journalist. I have been asked the type of vision I would have for this tournament and then I said that the Grand Slam tournament would also comprise the ladies participation in the tournament would be really fully complete the day where the ladies are in such a tournament and then I declared that I could not consider this for the remaining part of this -- not in the remaining part of this period towards the end of the century. I thought it was realistic. I am not the one to trigger off for this. It is a matter of policy, as you know, and the only thing I can do is having the visions.

JOHN PARSONS: First of all, it is not so much a question, just an observation. Dr. Meyer-Woelden did, more or less, apologize earlier the fact that this press conference was having to be held at this time. I think you should be aware that a lot of my colleagues from different parts of the world who are here were very cross that this press conference was being called at this time because it really is an impossible time for them to get here. They don't need to get here as early as this for the work they have to do today. I just think that point should be made and that at another time, if you are going to hold a press conference like this, which, after all, is a means of selling the tournament - it is a public relations exercise, for the tournament to expect the journalists to come here with three hours to wait between this and the actual play starting, is not really on. I just thought I would make that point. Again, I think all of you know I am a great supporter of this event. I think the concept is terrific. If anyone had come up with the idea of a Grand Slam Cup before you had the Grand Prix years and years ago, people would have said what a wonderful idea and it would have taken off wonderfully well. It has been a success this week. It has got better here year by year - there is no question about it, but I think there are still issues that need to be addressed and one in particular is the date. I'd like to know what you feel about this. I mean, there is a general feeling, certainly among the journalists, that if this tournament was able to be staged in, say, early October, a month after the U.S. Open, it would be a natural progression of the Grand Slams. It probably wouldn't cut into Super Series events on the ATP Tour and, in any case, if you gave the ATP Tour enough warning of this before they start their new calendar again in 1997 or 1998, they wouldn't really be able to complain that you would be taking one of their weeks away. Not only that, it might ease the problem of players being exhausted at the very end of the season. There are so many ways in which I think this tournament could be even better, much, much better than it is now, successful though it is, if you changed the date and had it earlier.

DR. AXEL MEYER-WOELDEN: Before you start, Brian. John, I said this at the beginning, you know, we apologize and be sure, next year you don't have to wait three hours for the press conference and starting time. So I just can apologize. It happens sometimes - sorry.

MR. TOBIN: John, I think it is fair to say that all of us have been thinking about this very problem and the questions of the bottleneck, I guess, at the end of the year where you have got the women's finals, the ATP doubles finals, singles finals, Davis Cup, Grand Slam Cup, and there has got to be a way of easing that a little bit by spreading it. You are also correct in saying that we have got time between the U.S. Open and the end of the year to play this event given a little time to get it ready. And so, there has got to be some room to move. You know, we are not that happy about the Davis Cup final, either, falling right in the middle of this end-of-year rush to finish. We discussed it a little at the Grand Slam Committee meeting yesterday -- yesterday? Friday. Axel raised it. We have also had been talking about it. I can only say that I have been in touch with the ATP some six or seven weeks ago now to talk about dates, so far, actually, I haven't had a response, but I know that we are talking about 1997. They are still in the process of getting 1997 preliminary fixed in their minds and it is one of my priorities next week to make some contact again to initiate some discussions. We haven't got any conclusions on it, but you are right, it is something we need to avoid, if we can, and we will be trying to initiate some discussions mainly with the ATP Tour to try and alleviate that a little. Looking at the calendar for next year, for reasons that they have, I think the doubles and the singles have been flip-flopped and so next year we have the ATP doubles; we have the ATP singles and the women's finals both the same week and then the Grand Slam Cup immediately after, and that really doesn't make sense either. So whether anything can be done in 1996, I don't know. I doubt it. But we are going to talk about it.

MR. TOBIN: They are still fixing the calendar for 1997.

MR. TOBIN: Noted.

DR. AXEL MEYER-WOELDEN: Not being worked into the politics, John, I always kept out and as somebody who is independent and running such a tournament, you know, I believe you should not overestimate your influence which you have and your power which you can bring in. But honestly, I agree with you. And for me, there are two very important things on the table. One thing is that I believe that the ATP as well as the ITF and the four Grand Slam, they have to do the best for tennis and with all the competition which is involved, they should not forget that they talk about a sport and they talk about people being involved in the sport and they serve all people being interested in this sport, the format and the system. And instead of fighting against each other, they should come to a conclusion doing the best for tennis, and I tried to mention this in the way as I do, not going against the ATP and talking for the four Grand Slams through being combined with them. So I tried to do it objectively. That is the one statement. The other one is if there should not be an agreement, then I am with you. I believe then the four Grand Slams should use their power and starting already in 1998 and saying, okay, that is the date. And they have a lot of possibilities to get this done and, as everybody knows, that this event, the Compaq Grand Slam Cup has no obligation, so the players have no obligation to play it. They do it because they like to do it, but if this would come in a fight, there are a lot of possibilities to bring it through, by saying who is playing a Grand Slam event has to play the Grand Slam Cup too and other things more and I thank you that you mention this. I believe we should see this very clear. Thank you very much.

CRAIG GABRIEL: Les, representing the four Grand Slams, how would the individual Grand Slams, do you think, feel about that if this event was to just go on its own and stage it in the October timeframe when you consider the ATP at your event at the U.S. Open made the concessions with prize money and points, etcetera, for the Grand Slams, how do you think the approach -- what will be the feeling?

LES SNYDER: Well, I think the feeling would be that the first place to start is that we initiate some active discussions. That decision was made in the last two days that we become quite involved in trying to look at are there other alternatives to where we currently are. There is dissatisfaction and the question becomes trying to get what is a good deal for both parties and if that is not possible, well, then, you know, we have to look at other types of things. But I think the first stance we need to take is really examining what can we do and approach it that we have a common problem.

JOHN PARSONS: Craig mentioned the question of points which, of course, they are not giving for the Grand Slam Cup. I don't know what you feel, but again there is a thought that perhaps it would be best if there were no points for either the Grand Slam Cup or the ATP Tour Championships. Again, from the best point of view of tennis, I don't know, do you feel that this is also an issue worth taking up with the ATP because it gives the impression that the points that they get in Frankfurt are overprotective for certainly the first half or more of the next year which is the top players and it is probably unfair on those who can't get there.

LES SNYDER: Well, I think -- not "think," I know that what we did was went through a rather lengthy and sometimes very painful examination of what are the things and that is the nature of give and take. We are trying something for a period of time and my hope is that we are going to be able to lead to more things that we can do that will be the for the betterment of tennis. You are right that there are some logical inconsistencies in the way that it is put together. But I firmly believe that we got -- we really labored. I mean, that is just the way it is. We labored to get to the point that we are right now. But I think we will be able to approach this and come up with some good ideas for the future.

CRAIG GABRIEL: Would there be any consideration to going back to the original way? Prize money was distributed over here and drop the aspect of $250,000 to each player that wins a Grand Slam event? Some have suggested that Pete Sampras was here to pick up the 500,000 and just play one match. So what are your thoughts on going back to the original format? And Brian, as a follow-up, would the ITF endorse that?

DR. AXEL MEYER-WOELDEN: You know, Pete Sampras was the first winner of the Grand Slam Cup in the first year. Pete Sampras showed up each year. So if there is a sportsman, Pete is one of them. Pete came to me. We talked under full eyes and being honest enough, no doubt at all, that he would be a guy picking up money and leaving the tournament - absolutely not! He even promised that if he is qualified, he would appear next year and he did it each year. So I would ask you not to have such kind of doubts in his case, absolutely not! No, I don't think we should change it because the four Grand Slam winners, they do a lot, you know, they are giving a lot of promotion for this tournament and they are the champions and through the format which we have, we cannot do anything for them because it could be the case that they are losing first round and I wouldn't have a good feeling that a Grand Slam winner is leaving the tournament first round and is exactly handled as a No. 16, respectively, and jumping in the tournament. On this kind of level of tennis, everybody can beat everybody. Muster, you know, he has given some criticism to the tournament and I take it serious. But Muster earned it. He was a winner of the French Open. And his preferred surface is clay court. Of course, he does not have the same chances here at this tournament indoor with the surface. So I feel pretty good that he got his bonus. Whatever he said, I have a good feeling. So I personally don't believe we should make any change.

MR. TOBIN: Craig asked me. I agree with Axel. One of the criticisms we faced when we initiate this event was that the prize money was too high in Munich. And I don't necessarily agree with that. As Axel says, it tends to be an overall bonus for the year's work at the Grand Slams. We look at it that way. The fact that somebody gets $100,000 for playing in the first round is partly due to the fact that he got here by his performance during the year and as Axel pointed out, the money was divided so that each of the Grand Slam winners really got a bonus for their performance in the Grand Slams during the year, so Muster, being a clay court expert at least got a bonus for winning the French even though he had to play on a faster surface here and wasn't perhaps quite as happy with it. So I don't see any reason to change what we are doing either.

DR. AXEL MEYER-WOELDEN: It is not so new, by the way, the idea go back to the Masters.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: Any further questions, ladies and gentlemen?

DANIEL BEAUVOIS: Look, we must analyze all this and we are going to do so shortly after the tournament with our organization team and every minor detail will be discussed. What has been good and less good and in fact, you are right to say -- this is a point I noted yesterday. I don't know the answer right now, but this is one of the points we are going to analyze. It is difficult with any tournament; given the configuration of this hall, it is almost unavoidable. People would leave and come out. You take the fourth level with the hospitality, it is so close to the court that there is a lot of noise from the cafeterias and so on, and we must study this most seriously. We want to find a solution. We are not going to refurbish the Olympiahalle, I suppose.

DANIEL BEAUVOIS: You know, the stairs and so on, everything is part of the Olympiahalle. We can't bind them to their seats; can we?

CRAIG GABRIEL: A few of the players have commented that the court is too fast. Would you consider slowing it down at all? Even some of the players who prefer a faster surface have suggested that maybe it should be slowed down a little bit.

DR. AXEL MEYER-WOELDEN: Yeah, you know, we are discussing this each year. What we have done this year is, being honest, I would have preferred having the court of Frankfurt here. I gave it in the discussion. ISPR has decided to take again the Supreme Court, but being honest, you know, when we talked about the court, the fabricators of the Green Set explained to us that this Green Set is as fast as the Supreme Court. There is no difference at all. Not at all. The first. Second, what we really have to consider is we have to look to the balls. We have to do something with the balls. I will consult with Bill Dennis. Third, you know, each tournament has its own character. Our character is this, so people talking about the altitude of Munich, they talk about the court is too fast. I don't know if anybody has realized that Boris Becker is playing Todd Martin, two serve and volley players and they have needed three and a half hours for four sets -- four hours and 50 minutes for four sets. The first two sets, one hour 45 minutes. And there were a couple of rallies. Or when you have seen Kafelnikov playing Ivanisevic yesterday I think were pretty nice rallies, you know, so the discussion we had each year one of the most longest matches we had here in Munich, so it is maybe a bit special, I agree with you. I will take care of it with Bill. By the way, Bill, thank you for all what you have done - I see you - I forgot to integrate you. But I will care for it.

DANIEL BEAUVOIS: Maybe I could add concerning the decision of the court, as you notice, this is a new court we have installed. We have indeed spoken with other manufacturers including Green Set. They indeed ensured us they will not be able to deliver us a slower court in Supreme Court and so far, there was no point to change manufacturers, especially when we are pleased with the partner delivering the court to us. The brief we gave to the manufacturer - and this is a new court - that it should be 25% slower than the court that was used in the past. This was the written brief given to the manufacturer.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: If there are no further questions, I should like to thank you again for your early appearance and we meet again after the finals for the news conference. Thank you very much.

JOHN PARSONS: I complained at the start of this meeting, you may be wondering then why so few of us came and supported your meeting about the Grand Slam Development Fund which was half past 3:00 and a perfect time before play started. It was because we should have known, Munich, like the rest of the world, the traffic is impossible on Friday afternoon. There were a lot of us trying to get here, but we couldn't. (LAUGHTER) We will know to start earlier next year.

ROBERT LUBENOFF: John, this morning there was no traffic on Sunday. (LAUGHTER).

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