Catalina Fillol, director of the Chile Open: “We have written to Rafael Nadal, but he is not clear on his calendar”

The Chile Open is entering the definition phase of its fifth edition. Its director Catalina Fillol anticipates some news from the ATP 250 in the capital, whose current champion is Nicolás Jarry, and which will finally be held in San Carlos de Apoquindo, between February 26 and March 3. Tickets will go on sale through the system Live tickets this Thursday 30, starting with subscriptions, which will benefit from a special discount for a limited time.

How do you see this new version?

We start the first two months or so after the event to look at the positives, the spaces where there is improvement and we make a list of the results from the previous event. More or less as early as June, we started planning for 2024. And one of the big issues that we saw was infrastructure improvements. One of our pillars as SACS is to grow and be able to organize the best tournament in South America in the future. And that means expanding and improving spaces. We invested 25% more in our budget in creating the event. This means, for example, changes in the stands. Mechanical structures are not ideal for creating a stadium and that is why this year it will be 100% seats. There will be numbered seats for the entire audience.

This year, there was the possibility of going to the National Stadium. Why didn’t this happen?

Yes indeed. It was timing that led us to make the decision to return to San Carlos de Apoquindo. This is divided into several topics. The main one is that the ATP must come and approve any change of location. And this approval must exist with the infrastructure already completed, assembled and unoccupied. If we had asked them to come during the Pan American Games, they would see a product that would not really be the event. Because? Because there are structural stands that were made for the Pan American Games. The flow of people is also different. This is why, when they come in February, we want to take them to see the National Stadium and give them a proper tour. We add to this that, at the end of time, we as SACS have been planning the event since June. There are many areas to consider: things like people flow, how the wind works, access. And having four years of knowledge about San Carlos de Apoquindo is very useful for planning. And as a third step, it’s size. We really made a big jump this year from a 3,500 to 5,000 seat stadium, where we saw that people really enjoyed the sport. And right now the capacity of the National Stadium is much lower than the 5,000 capacity that we are looking to get at the Chile Open.

Bringing people from the ATP to the National is a sign for 2025…

We are not ruling out at all the possibility of going to the National Stadium, I think one of the great lessons that comes from the Pan American Games is that the infrastructure is of very good quality and that people really appreciated this sport. The number of participants was really very nice and it’s really nice for us, as Chilean Open, to feel that we are contributing to this sporting entertainment that Chileans crave so much.

What are the conversations like with the personalities on the tournament circuit?

We have been talking for several months. But the exact confirmation of how they want to achieve the calendar has not yet reached me. They usually asked me for a little more time. I will anticipate the question from Alcaraz and Wawrinka, that they have confirmed their schedule with Buenos Aires and Rio. They told us no, quite simply because they preferred this week of rest and preparation for Indian Wells. I have sent all invitations to all friendly players present.

Including Rafa Nadal?

Rafa replied. He is still recovering. A bit of the answers that many have told me in general, it depends on how their ranking will go, their physical condition and the way they want to do things. But as I said, the request, the invitation is there. We have written to him, but he is not clear about his schedule, not even starting with the Australian Open.

This year they fought to become an ATP 500, but it ultimately did not prosper.

We made the verbal requests first, then the more formal requests, where we provided all the information. Close to the US Open, we were told Santiago had made the last seven. From there, the ATP announced the remaining three. Ultimately what we’re lacking, so to speak, is in infrastructure and, potentially, prize money, in how we compete with the other propositions on the table. The ATP is looking for a stadium for 7,000 people, with an infrastructure that is not assembled, but actually built, and in this sense, both in Buenos Aires and in Santiago, we are not succeeding. In reality, to dream of having an ATP 500, as we have the illusion, requires a much greater infrastructure than we currently have here in Chile.

Is it possible to start organizing a tournament outside of the Chile Open?

We started our story with the challenger that we did for three years, then we arrived at the ATP 250, always with this vision of being able to contribute to the growth of the sport. And by pooling our passion and experience, we want to attack the beginner part of the player a little. We are in discussions with the federation and private sponsors, to be able to organize Futures tournaments (today M) during the year. We believe this is an important part of the growth of tennis. Because? Because Chilean players who don’t have ATP points need a platform to be able to start, to be able to start again, to take the first step. What we are looking for is that, for example, the Chilean tennis player who scores the most points in this future round, or future circuit, wins the joker for the quality. It’s much more of a full-year view and what we’re looking for is to be able to create, in five more years, the replacement of the great tennis players who are also in this group.

Is it envisaged that this circuit will take place at the National Stadium?

It would really be perfect there. The National Stadium, as I said before, went very well and part of the learning that the National Stadium gave us was the condition of the pitches, which went really well. In fact, we asked the Kinsa company, which built them, to build from scratch the central court of San Carlos de Apoquindo, which we are paying for with the Católica.

What other innovations will the tournament bring?

We will have 400 square meters of LED screen and we are also investing in graphic improvement and interaction with the public. We’re looking at introducing Challenge, Electronic Line Calling, which is this technology that marks the ball and the player can raise their hand and say ‘I want to claim’. And our bet is to anticipate a little what the ATP will ask us in 2025. In 2025, the ATP asked that all tournaments on the entire calendar have the ELC, which until now can be seen a lot on the courts are made of cement, and in 2024 the idea is to test it more on clay so that in 2025 the complete circuit will be like this.