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‘İstanbul Cup tournament is not only about tennis’
“We tried to show the historical beauties of İstanbul in the previous four tournaments. The first tournament featured the first intercontinental tennis game ever on the Bosporus Bridge and then venues such as the Topkapı and Dolmabahçe palaces hosted the inauguration ceremonies of the following İstanbul Cup tournaments. This time the Archaeology Museum has been selected to host the opening ceremony. All of these events demonstrate that tourism and tennis go hand in hand in the İstanbul Cup,” Turkish Tennis Federation President Mesut Polat told Today's Sports, recalling that around 1.5 million tourists explore Paris and London in addition to watching tennis matches when they go to the Roland Garros and Wimbledon Grand Slam tournaments, respectively.
As to the actual purpose of the tournament, tennis, Polat said the İstanbul Cup satisfies the needs of both the federation and Turkish tennis as it promotes the sport as a profession in a country where tennis has not yet reached the popularity of sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball. “The İstanbul Cup, along with the two other big events we hold [the İzmir Cup and the TED Open], are essential in showing young tennis players that they can play tennis professionally and make a living out of it. The more it is covered by the media, the easier it gets to improve the sport in Turkey,” Polat said.
Changes for this year
Polat also noted that Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan will attend the tournament's opening ceremony, to be held at the Archaeology Museum, and said new features await the audience of this year's İstanbul Cup.
“As well as the matches to be played under the sun, some matches will also take place at night this year. There will be numerous [other] activities throughout the event, too,” Polat explained.
The event was organized by İstanbul Cup A.Ş. in previous years; however, the global economic crisis has hit the tennis world in Turkey, and for this reason the federation is undertaking all responsibilities concerning the tournament rather than leaving them to private companies.
‘İpek will succeed in doubles’
Along with top women tennis players, such as French Aravane Rezai, Swiss Patty Schnyder, Spanish Anabel Medina Garrigues and Russian Vera Zvonareva, Turkey's top tennis player, İpek Şenoğlu, is also participating in the İstanbul Cup. As the most successful Turkish tennis player ever, Şenoğlu has made the top 100 in the WTA doubles rankings, something that once was a dream.
Pointing out the internationally renowned tennis players who are coming to compete in the İstanbul Cup, the federation president said Şenoğlu is unlikely to succeed in the singles matches, noting, however, that her chances are much better when it comes to doubles. “She competes in women's doubles, and she places around 70 in the WTA rankings. I think she will be successful in doubles games. Yet, players such as Schnyder -- who once ranked seventh -- and others who have ranked in the top 20 are coming to the İstanbul Cup. İpek will have difficulty succeeding in singles among such high-level players,” Polat said.
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