SANTIAGO, Chile — Clay or hard courts for the Golden Swing? That is the question.
The debate over which surface the tournaments in South America should be played on in February continues, and Argentine Federico Coria laid out the reality with his opinion at the Chile Open: “For me, nothing would change, and the crowd would just have to put up with watching South Americans play on hard courts”.
“We compete against Dubai, Doha, Acapulco — we are talking about millions and millions of gold bars! Do you think if this tournament switched to hard courts, the field would change? At best, you’ll get a Bublik,” Coria said in a press conference at the ATP 250 in Santiago, after winning a match played over two days — his first-round encounter was suspended on Tuesday due to Chile’s nationwide blackout. This Thursday, he will face local idol Alejandro Tabilo.
“South America doesn’t have the financial backing that the other tournaments in these weeks have,” added the world No. 136.
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In an interview with CLAY, tournament director Catalina Fillol, revealed that together with the Rio Open, they are working to push for a surface change. Along with Luiz Carvalho, director of the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro, they aim to attract stars who choose not to compete in the South American swing because of the clay.
The three weeks of clay court tennis are squeezed between the hard courts of the Australian Open in January and the fast courts of Indian Wells and Miami in March.
“With Rio, we are the ones pushing for the change. Buenos Aires is not interested in leaving clay behind. We’re proposing to the ATP to change the surface to make it easier for us to attract players and open many doors, although that doesn’t guarantee big stars will come,” Fillol explained.
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Coria, former world No. 49, who reached two ATP finals (Gstaad 2021 and Córdoba 2023) and won six Challenger titles, all on clay, proposed an idea: “The Santiago tournament should be held in the first week of the swing, so players don’t arrive so tired.”
The week following the first Grand Slam of the year, the Davis Cup is held in multiple locations around the world. The following week, this year the Rosario Challenger took place in Argentina as preparation for the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. Until 2024, the ATP 250 in Córdoba was held during that period.
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“They could consider the possibility of playing the week where Córdoba used to be, and then those with a good ranking could also have the chance to play in Acapulco. I don’t know, Nico Jarry could finish in Rio and head to Acapulco,” the Argentine suggested.
Before the current edition of the Chilean tournament began, Jarry himself, Fillol’s nephew, made a blunt statement: “This is the worst week for a tournament all year, there are two 500s before a Masters 1000 on hard courts. There’s no reason to come here unless you’re Chilean or South American.”
