Australian tennis legend Paul McNamee gave an exclusive interview to the Sofia Open website. The former world number one and four time Grand Slam doubles champion, who in recent years has been a special consultant to the sports department of the Bulgarian Tennis Federation and a mentor to some of the leading Bulgarian tennis players, shared his impressions and expectations for the eighth edition of the tournament. McNamee, 68, is the former tournament director of the Sofia Open (2017, 2018), and this year he is part of the organizing team and ambassador for the event.
– In such dramatic and tragic moment because of the war in the Gaza Strip, Bulgaria was chosen to replace Israel as the host for the ATP 250. Why do you think that particular choice was made?
– I haven’t spoken to the ATP since the decision. I’d say it’s because of the many highly professional tournaments that had been ran at our venue. That must have been the deciding factor against the strong opposition in Spain. It was up to the track record that Sofia has both with the ATP 250 and also with the elite Trophy of the WTA. There are already ten years of highly professional tournaments held in Bulgaria.
– Thanks to the incredible efforts of the Bulgarian Tennis Federation, ATP awarded the tournament rights to Sofia with less than three weeks before the opening. Now what’s the main challenge for the organisers with less than ten days to go?
– Well that’s a massive challenge itself. In fact I’ve never seen anything as challenging as this. This is off the scale. To put such tournament together, a global event, in less than three weeks is unprecedented. So it’s a huge effort for the Bulgarian Tennis Federation and its President Stefan Tzvetkov. Everybody, the whole team – myself included because I feel pretty much part of the team – we’re all trying to do everything we can to make sure that we’re gonna have as good an event as we can possibly have. It’s not gonna be perfect, that’s for sure. But I’m just taking my hat off to everyone who is helping make this happen. I’ve never seen anything as difficult logistically as this, especially given the elections. The fact that the hall is gonna be used until Monday afternoon. I’ll give that simple example: the lines are gonna be painted on the court after the election crews move out. So we just hope that they move out as quickly as possible.
– Sofia Open will be part of the ATP calendar for eighth consecutive year. Does it deserve a constant spot in it anyways?
– Well, it doesn’t work like that. To get a license is a vary difficult process. So I think that we should just be grateful that this can happen and not have any expectations that it’s gonna happen again. But given the way the world is, and if something happens, Bulgaria puts itself in a position to be a great standby for the future.
– Some of the top players will come to Sofia once again, including five of the seven best Americans at this time. Through your eyes, how strong is the entry list this season?
– Let’s be honest, in the old days America and Australia dominated tennis. But that’s a long, long topic. I’m old enough to remember that. But I think this is the best year of American players since the times of Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Chang. I mean not at their level, but it’s amazing to have the group that is coming here led by Taylor Fritz, with Frances Tiafoe, Seb Korda and of course one of the most exciting young players in the world, that’s for sure Ben Shelton. So that’s a very, very, very strong field. And being in the week before the ATP Finals in Turin is always a possibility – especially for Taylor Fritz who is on the edge – to gain enough points to make the Finals. Sometimes you can get lucky, too.
– Last year we saw a surprise winner in Marc-Andrea Huesler who beat Holger Rune in the final. Who do you see as a favorite for the title in 2023 and who might run against the odds now?
– It’s hard to say. It’s obviously a stronger field this year than last year. I suspect one of the Americans will take the trophy. In my opinion Ben Shelton is playing the best there of anybody. So probably he’s gonna be the one to watch.
– It’s still unknown to whom the wild cards will be given, but what does that opportunity mean for the Bulgarian players who might get one?
– That’s the great thing when you have a home tournament, the national players get a chance to play. Obviously the Davis Cup players are first and foremost and that’s logical. Hopefully there will be a chance for another younger players getting one as well. So let’s just see how that plays out.
– As a former tournament director of Sofia Open do you have any advice to Orlin Stanoychev who is taking the service this year?
– We communicate four or five times everyday. It’s a team effort. He’s doing a terrific job and he is backed up by an amazing team. I wouldn’t underline anybody. Orlin knows tennis and he is a very open person.
– What would you tell to Bulgarian tennis fans who still don’t have tickets for Arena Sofia?
– Well, we thought last year was gonna be the last time we had that chance. And now it’s once again such a great opportunity to see a world class tennis. And also to see some of the best Bulgarian players playing on their home court, it’s part of their development. If you love tennis, please go down to the arena. The tennis will be great and you never know if you’ll get another chance. So I appeal to everybody to get on board and support this tournament.
