20. 02. 2011. ·
Tournament in Belgrade is still young, but everything is organised at the highest level and standards are met – said Adam Helfant, Executive Chairman and President of ATP, in interview for “Vecernje Novosti”.
Serbia has an important place in the system of ATP. The success of Serbian tennis players in the last couple of years has absolutely impressed the whole world, including people in the ATP tour. It was all rounded up with historic triumph in the Davis Cup last December. Novak Djokovic has been one of the best players in the world for years, and also the leader of the Serbian Davis Cup team. Mr. Helfant said it was very good that Serbia had other high quality players besides him, like Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic, who are climbing the rankings in their own way, and also Nenad Zimonjic, the doubles specialist, who is one of the best players in men’s doubles tennis nowadays. After all, he finished the 2010 season winning The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.
The ATP President said ATP was proud to have an ATP World Tour 250 tournament held in Serbia. The event is still young, but the organisation team has done everything in the best possible way in a short period of time so the standards would be met.
Mr.Helfant hopes the organisers will continue doing the great job and the Serbia Open will set new standards in the ATP Series 250.
Adam Helfant was at the inaugural Serbia Open in 2009, and was extremely pleased with what he saw in Belgrade. He said, depending on his schedule, if there was a possibility, it would be great to come back and be a guest of the competition again.
He has met Novak several times. Nole’s achievements on the court speak for itself, but Helfant is also impressed with his behavior off the court. The best Serbian tennis player has been actively involved in the development of tennis by being a member of the ATP Player Council from 2008 to 2010. The ATP is proud of him having contributed to the positive image of tennis worldwide.
