Monte Carlo Masters boss David Massey says the tournament organizers are open to bringing a women's event to the Principality again, possibly staging an ATP and WTA tournament simultaneously as some other 1000-category events do.
A long ago, Monte Carlo regularly hosted a WTA tournament. Also, the Principality simultaneously hosted men's and women's events during one period. In 1982, Monte Carlo hosted a 32-player draw women's tournament and former Romanian tennis star Virginia Ruzici triumphed. There hasn't been an official women's tennis tournament in Monaco ever since.
The Principaplity may not have had a WTA event for 44 years, but that could soon change. However, for that to happen, Massey underlined that certain things would first need to fall into the puzzle.
Massey: Monte Carlo is open to having a women's tournament, but it is still a project
“A women’s draw? We are open to it. It’s still a project, perhaps in the future. We have not advanced anything," Massey told L'Equipe.
“It has been discussed, perhaps holding a WTA and ATP tournament simultaneously. For that, we need more days. We remain open to it, but it is not the plan for now. It depends on the calendar. We need more weeks between Miami (March 17–28) and our tournament, and adding more days. It will be a long-term project.”
Because of the Monacan Masters, ATP players have three Masters tournaments during the clay season. On the other side, the lone WTA 1000 clay events are Madrid and Rome.
Meanwhile, Massey also addressed Monte Carlo being one of the two remaining one-week Masters tournaments that have a 56-player draw.
“We are happy with the current format, with a 56-player draw. Paris and we are the only two Masters 1000 tournaments organized this way. It gives an extremely competitive first round, more than a Grand Slam or other tournaments where you can progress slowly," Massey said.
This year's clay Masters tournament in the Principality is scheduled to take place between April 5-12.
