Will Brisbane tennis fans cop reduced format of Brisbane International?

Tennis Australia has assured us elite men’s players will complete in Queensland next summer, but the Brisbane International as we know it will be missed, writes Paul Malone.

Roger Federer.

SOME of us will miss the Brisbane International as it was, as much as Tennis Australia assures us of the quality of elite men’s players set to complete in Brisbane next summer.

You like what you know, right?

The tournament which wrapped up on Sunday night will become a women’s-only event in the first week of January 2020, with the majority of the top men to start at the ATP Cup across three Australian cities, including, Tennis Australia hopes, Brisbane.

When TA CEO Craig Tiley last spoke to The Courier-Mail about plans for the ATP Cup, he enthused about the chances of Roger Federer playing Rafael Nadal at Pat Rafter Arena. Or, you could suggest, next generation stars Alex Zverev and Stefanos Tistsipas.

Do the maths. If the vast majority of the top 30 all play at the ATP Cup, they can’t all play group matches in Sydney, even if the quarter-finals, semis and final are set to be played in the Harbour City.

Will Roger Federer play in Brisbane again?

A $15 million purse, the biggest outside Grand Slam events, is one more reason for the best men to compete in Australia next year.

So, as long as TA puts a compelling case to the State Government about how worthy the men’s content is of financial support for 2020 onwards, there will be strong men’s matches at Pat Rafter Arena, at least early in January.

Organisers of the 11th Brisbane International compressed the schedule this year.

Last year’s attendance was 90,252. Before the final session, which drew 6256 last summer, the 2019 event had drawn 75,594.

Considering the guessing game before Nadal’s deflating withdrawal announcement on Wednesday night, it was a considerable public vote of support for tennis in Brisbane.

If it is down on the 96,107 in 2017 when Nadal played for the first time in Brisbane, or the record 105,730 for Federer’s first visit in 2014, it indicates the value of a sporting celebrity.

What the Brisbane International does, like its Gold Coast WTA tournament predecessor, is give young Australians, like first-round winners Kim Birrell and Destanee Aiava, opportunities at home and shines a light every year on emerging international talent.

Over the years, we have had a first look at Andy Murray, Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens and Naomi Osaka, among others, before they rattled Grand Slam cages.

Only hard-core fans or those who saw Daniil Medvedev beat Alex de Minaur in their 2018 Sydney final know how good the Russian was before his wins over Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.