Indian Wells 2016. - BNP Paribas Masters 1000

[miloolja]

O rodnoj (ne)ravnopravnosti, menstruacijama, rađanju, vojsci, sportskoj izdržljivosti, svestskim nepravdama, novcima...etc... u TADBASu!!!!!

Ako je još neko napisao nešto o IW, tenisu, Novakovom finalu i sl u onom moru od 120 postova, koji su prebačeni, nek se javi.

[cssr]

Fin teniski vikend.

stigao viljasa u atp titulama (62), nadala na tronu po mastersima (27), kao i federera u prajzmaniju ($97mil) .....

[miloolja]

[Vladan]

Ko je ova skroz desno?

[miloolja]

Vandevege/Matek-Sands

[Vladan]

Sto se upristojila, nema boje po obrazima, lude odjevne kombinacije, ljubicaste kose.

[Sandugp]

Sto se upristojila, nema boje po obrazima, lude odjevne kombinacije, ljubicaste kose.

To se tebi samo cini ... pogledaj joj pundju, pogledaj joj rajf, pogledaj joj ovo cime se ogrnula - greota mi da to nazovem duksom.

[miloolja]

Čini mi se da je već duže vreme smirenija po tom pitanju, da ne kažem smerna.

[Maxx-a]

To se tebi samo cini ... pogledaj joj pundju, pogledaj joj rajf, pogledaj joj ovo cime se ogrnula - greota mi da to nazovem duksom.

Bas je cool lik

[Stefan-kobe]

Sto se upristojila, nema boje po obrazima, lude odjevne kombinacije, ljubicaste kose.

Apsolutno, normalnija i nije bila.

[bojanaBG]

Raymond Moore dao ostavku

[ClayWarrior]

Ne mogu da verujem da je ovo sebi dozvolio i otisao zbog dugackog jezika a ne neke krupnije greske ostatak konferencije je bio savrseno normalan, sa novim planovima za ovaj ionako nenormalno dobar kompleks

Breakfast with Raymond

MATT VAN TUINEN: Welcome to breakfast with Raymond. Tables for 20.

Anyway, obviously you guys just got the release that I sent through e-mail and passed around the room about site improvements. Feel free to ask Raymond about those and any other topics that are of interest.

I will let him take it away.

RAYMOND MOORE: Good morning, everybody. One more day. Maybe some sleep tonight. That would be nice. (Laughter.)

So we've really come down the stretch here. I think a really, really successful tournament. Very, very happy with just about everything except maybe the pullouts at the beginning, losing Roger and Maria. I mean, I think the game has six genuine superstars, and to lose two before the tournament begins, it was a bit of a setback.

But the spectators and fans have responded, and just fantastic numbers. The site is looking great. It's looking better and better. Again, a product of being in the desert where the formula is just water and sunshine, and we seem to get that. The site flourishes.

So really very happy with the way this event has gone this year. Great finals today. We've got Azarenka and Serena. I think Azarenka is one of the very few lady players that's not intimidated by Serena. If you look at her record and their matches, they have been very close. She's got three victories over Serena. Serena, you know, arguably the greatest woman player of all time. Certainly must be included in the conversation. That final is going to look great.

And in my opinion, people have been asking me this all year. I said this way before the tournament began. I think the two players in the men's field who are capable of beating Djokovic, one is Stan Wawrinka who beat him in the French final, and the other is Raonic, because I think what I see, the only way that you can beat Djokovic is you have to overpower him.

It's not just power. It has to be nuclear power. I think Raonic has that. Wawrinka has that. People that are going to engage Djokovic in baseline rallies are pushing water uphill.

Wawrinka goes for broke every single shot, backhand, forehand, and serve; did it at the French.

And Raonic can do it. I'm not going to say he is going to do it. He has the capability of doing it today. What I have seen with Raonic, he was a bit of a disappointment to me a couple of years ago. I was watching him very closely, and I thought, He has all these weapons but doesn't really use them.

I said, He has to improve his movement and he should serve/volley. Lo and behold, suddenly the guy has improved his movement, he's serving volleying. He's got a great volley, and one of the few guys on the tour that's coming in quite a lot.

I actually thought he was going to beat Murray in the Australian semifinals. He led two sets to one in the semifinal and then lost in five. He's definitely a factor. In my opinion, Raonic will be a perennial member of the top 4 very, very soon. He's knocking on the door.

I think it bodes well for the day. A hot day today, but very little wind. Ideal conditions. Conditions are great for the players. It's not too hot. You have to remember we are playing two out of three sets, not three out of five for the men like they do in Australia where Australia is much hotter. I don't think the heat is a factor.

Looking forward to the matches today. So I will open it for any questions.

Q. You just made mention of two out of three sets in the final. Do you think when we get to Masters 1000s and the World Tour Finals maybe the final should go to five sets, five tiebreaker sets, to distinguish them even more from the rest of the tour?
RAYMOND MOORE: You know, I go back and forth on that one. And the reason is, you know, a lot of what we do is dictated by television. TV won't allow you that many hours to fill.

You know, unless we change the TV ingredient. For example, we have four hours today, prime time on ESPN, and often if you have a three-out-of-five-set match with the men it goes beyond four hours just on its own.

You know, I'm still looking at it. I haven't made up my mind. I'm just thinking, you know, the world has changed so much. We have become a society of -- what's the word that they use? You know, these little bites that you have, you know, quick bites on TV.

I just wonder if, you know, four or five hours of a tennis match really does it, you know; whereas I think two out of three sets, it's exciting. You can capture the attention. People don't get bored.

But I know me. Listen, I'm a tennis fanatic. Watching the guys play five sets down in Australia sometimes I leave in the fourth set and I come back in the fifth.

So I'm just not sure. I'm not sure exactly what the right formula is for tennis itself. Never mind The Masters Series. I think The Masters Series have separated themselves from the other tournaments. I think that's been a success for both the ATP and the WTA.

So, you know, I'm sitting on the fence, you know, whether five sets or not.

Q. Talk about your comments that were reported that you want to take this tournament to a special designation, a Grand Masters, I think, was the phrase. I could be wrong. Talk about your thinking there. Why you would not want it to become a legitimate fifth slam?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, you know, there have been some reports -- and I have discussed this with the ATP. You know, we have got this Masters Series 1000 designation right now. Nine tournaments are in there, but they are not all the same. They are not even close to being the same.

The Paris tournament at the end of the year is 48 draw with a single court. We pay three times as much prize money as them. They are seven days, but they get exactly the same points as us and the same designation.

I just think that within The Masters Series is a natural divide. That's what I have said. I haven't said just us. I think Miami and Madrid should be in the same bailiwick. We pay way more prize money than those. We are 10-, 11-, 12-day events, much bigger draws. We have a 96 draw.

So I said to Chris Kermode, Why can't be we a Masters 2000? We are prepared to pay the financial entry point to be in that, which means increased prize money. We're ready to do that.

I don't know about Miami, Madrid. I hope they would do the same. But I think within The Masters Series is a natural divide. Let's do it. Why not?

Q. So you now have a champions box, mixed doubles. Your fabulous tournament. Conventional wisdom is it's just a great fan experience. Why wouldn't you go for the whole thing and just say, Hey, look, let's make this a fifth Grand Slam? I know there is a world of history there, but the world is changing, as you say.
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, you know, that's not really our decision. In my opinion -- I think I'm a purist, a traditionalist in that way. I am a rebel in every other.

But in that way, you know, the Grand Slams have such a history. You know, well over 120 years of history, every one of those tournaments. In my opinion, I just cannot see the ITF, International Tennis Federation, giving the United States two slams. It's a political football for them.

You know, everyone is always taking the U.S. down because we're No. 1 in most things. I'd like to see the French sit in that ITF meeting and say, Oh, yeah, let's give another slam to the United States, you know. I'm just not sure that's on the cards.

So, I mean, would we like it? Of course we would. And I think we have the facilities. We have everything. But a lot of things have to change for that to happen. For example, the Davis Cup. Where the Davis Cup is positioned now in the calendar and the format, it's crazy. It's totally crazy.

You know, they put the Davis Cup right the week before us. Just so some of you guys know - I can say it now - Djokovic almost didn't come because of Davis Cup. He got an eye infection. We had to wait two days after the Davis Cup match for him to be cleared to fly from Serbia.

On Tuesday, tournament starting Wednesday, I didn't know if Djokovic was going to make it. I think that the ITF really need to look at this competition and just the whole competition. You know, they play the final in the first week of December. They have already made the draw for the following year.

It really just makes no sense to me. They've got to change that. And the biggest thing is they've got to change where it's played. If they did that, they may get all the top players to play. Because it is a great competition. You know, if they make it a two- or three-year competition, the ideal place in the calendar to put Davis Cup weeks is the week after a slam.

Why don't they do it? Because the slams are owned by the national associations and they don't want to. But it really impacts the rest of the circuit throughout the year.

What I keep telling them is you have the Davis Cup week the week after a slam, who does it affect? Two players maybe. Everyone else is out. 126 players have tried and they're gone, most of them in the first week, more than 50%.

They've got time to travel to these far-off places to play Davis Cup. If they put it the week after, it helps the rest of tennis. It's a very selfish thing the ITF do in the way they schedule Davis Cup.

So, long-winded answer, but for us to be considered for 128 draw, we couldn't do that right now with the Davis Cup playing the Sunday before. Players won't get here. You know, they just won't. Djokovic arrived here Wednesday night. The men were starting the next day.

So if it was 128 draw, first round would have been played already. There are a lot of things that have to fall in place. But, you know, as I have always said, we are like Marlon Brando said, we're a contender. We're a contender.

Yeah, we'd like that, but we're not lobbying for it. It has to come from the ITF and the players. I mean, the players I know are very supportive. I have had conversations with them. They want us to be bigger and better, and so do we. We will continue to push the envelope in the Masters Series. We will continue to raise the bar. We will increase the prize money.

Because our owner doesn't want the money from the profits that we make from this event. He says to me every year, Reinvest; put it back in the site. That's where we're lucky. We're lucky that we have such an owner. He's not, you know, taking the money off the table. He says to me, Put it back in the tournament.

So he gives me the freedom to make those kind of decisions, which is fantastic. I mean, it's such an easy job to do when you have an owner like that.

Q. On those two points you made, what is the reluctance from the tour to not create, let's call them super-duper Masters Series? Because Shanghai certainly wants that, and now they have gone into association with the Australian Open because they couldn't get that. The second part of it is on Davis Cup, next year it is the week after the Australian.
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, you know, thank heavens. The reason for it is by contract. The contract that currently exists between the ATP and the tournaments is that this system that they have expires in 2018. So I think from very soon they will begin to discuss a new format for 2019.

So all of these ideas will come forward. I know, having talked with some of the ATP board members and the WTA, a lot of ideas are floating around. I think there will be a different format in 2019. Hopefully they will do some of the things we are suggesting: create a Masters 1500 or Masters 2000, and maybe there will be an increased draw.

So they certainly are upping the financial commitment. The players have been successful in that. That's okay. They deserve it.

So that's where we are.

Q. How about the WTA side? Now you are one of the four premier mandatory. Would you like to be set apart from the other tournaments, as well, or are you happy...
RAYMOND MOORE: No, I think the WTA -- you know, in my next life when I come back I want to be someone in the WTA, (laughter) because they ride on the coattails of the men. They don't make any decisions and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky.

If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born, because they have carried this sport. They really have.

And now the mantle is being handed over to Djokovic and Murray and some others. You know, that's good. We have no complaints. You know, we pay equal prize money. Do all those things. We don't have any complaints.

But we are one of the four premier mandatory events. They haven't said anything about changing that system.

Q. This used to be a three-man show. Now it's a one-man show. Does that mean you never needed those two other guys (Laughter)? How have you reengineered this whole thing?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, you know, Bill, to answer that, I think last year I had my 35th birthday, and now look what I look like. Steve leaving me here has contributed to my aging.

No, listen, you know, Charlie and Steve and myself and other people, everyone is passionate about this event. We sat and discussed concepts, where we wanted to go, and we are all at one.

If Charlie, Steve, and I were in here there would be no disagreements on concept and what we want to do with the sport.

Q. You said that there were six superstars in this game. I presume that's four top men.
RAYMOND MOORE: Yes.

Q. And Serena?
RAYMOND MOORE: And Maria.

Q. Now Maria is out of the picture for...
RAYMOND MOORE: For a while.

Q. For a while. What's that say about a sport that has one superstar?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, I don't think you can look at it that way. I mean, Maria is a superstar. She's an incredible superstar. Well-known throughout the world, everywhere. She may be sidelined for a while. She made a huge mistake and hopefully she doesn't pay that price, you know, the ultimate price, career-ending suspension or anything like that.

So we sit and wait for a while or to make a decision and give their judgment.

But Serena and Maria are superstars. In the world, they are by far the two best-known female athletes, no question.

Q. What does it say that there isn't enough competition for them?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, you know, it's just one of those things where one lady has come in and dominated. You know, you can't provide for that. Serena, as I said earlier, is arguably the best female player of all time. Certainly has always been in the conversation for maybe the top three. Some people may say Steffi Graf, Margaret Court, Chrissie, Martina. I think those are the five.

But she's in there. If she stays healthy and interested, I think she's going to beat Steffi Graf's Grand Slam take.

But you know what? I think the WTA have a handful - not just one or two - but they have a handful of very attractive prospects that can assume the mantle. You know, Muguruza, Genie Bouchard. They have a lot of very attractive players. And the standard in ladies tennis has improved unbelievably.

Q. By attractive, you mean physically attractive or competitively attractive?
RAYMOND MOORE: No, no, no, I don't -- I mean both. They are physically attractive and competitively attractive. They can assume the mantle of leadership once Serena decides to stop.

I think they've got -- they really have quite a few very, very attractive players.

Q. Your attendance is probably not going to go above last year.
RAYMOND MOORE: Right.

Q. Why is that? Is it obvious it's Federer and Sharapova? How do you take an event like this and continue to grow it when that number gets so big?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, it's always hard when you get a huge number to increase on it.

This year our number is not quite as big as last year, but it's very, very close. There are a number of factors. You know, we lost two days at the beginning. We lost Monday, the first Monday when it was cold, and we had 5,000 less people that day.

Big night, the Salute to Heros night when Serena was playing. We had rain at a terrible time; 5:00 to 7:00 it rained. That's when people would be coming out to see the matches.

The afternoon session had to be extended. Serena, instead of playing at 7:00 was playing at 9:00. Walkup crowd wasn't what we expected. We thought we would have a sellout crowd that night. All indications were we would have.

So we lose those two sessions. Then, you know, there's no doubt about it, Roger and Maria not being there, I mean, to improve on that number we need walkup crowd to support us. Walkup is dependent on the matchups, who can play.

And, you know, as a tournament director when you're doing the schedule and you've got two superstars at your disposal, I could put Roger one night and Maria another night. It changes the attendance equation.

And then there are a whole bunch of other factors. We don't know how much they weigh into the stock market crash; the Canadian dollar is so low. You go through all these factors. They are all one spoke in the wheel of reaching major attendance records.

But having said all of that, I think we're gonna be roundabout 40,000 people, which is right on the heels of last year's.

So the way I look at it, this is the second-highest attendance we have ever had in 41 years of the tournament. So I'm very, very happy with the attendance numbers.

Q. Last year Steve talked a little about it with the USTA. You've done a remarkable job the last couple of years without a top American. You know, if you interviewed half the people, they would think Andre Agassi was playing down the street. Do you think that finally we may see young kids come up and maybe jump up there? Because if you had an American player, an American player who had a personality dating a Kardashian, you could print money if he was in the top 10. What do you say to that?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, firstly, I have to separate what you said, because you said American tennis. The women are there. We have more women in the top 100 than any other nation. Certainly Madison Keys and all the other young players that we have, Serena, I mean. So on the women's side we have them in American tennis.

And what is very, very encouraging is we've got five or six young kids now. When I say young kids, 18 to 20, 21, who are showing great prospects. Jack Sock is a great prospect, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe. We have a number of young players now who can assume that mantle. Finally.

You know, it's like Fred Perry always said, talk about a great character of the game, he used to say, Tennis players are like buses. Another one will be along in 15 minutes.

And I think that's true. You know, if you look at history, you know, you'll see the U.S. had great players and then there is a falloff and great players and a falloff. We had great players, and who stepped into the breach? Two guys called, you know, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer.

They've transgressed the nationalities. They are global superstars, and it's been great for the game. But I do take the point that for us to have some male players that can compete at the higher echelon, of course, that's going to be great for us.

I think that's going to happen within the next two years, because I see those players developing. It's very encouraging.

Q. If a couple years ago we were sitting at this wonderful breakfast and chat and someone said, Well, Steve will be gone in a couple of years, and the tournament's not going to have Maria and it's not going to have Roger; Serena and Venus will be playing. What would you say and just talk about the change of life.
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, you know, things change. You have to adapt. And just now that you just jogged my memory, another thing that happened with us with attendance, we lost 15 seeded lady players in the first round, including Caroline Wozniacki and other like superstars that could have helped us.

But that happens. Venus. Venus lost in the first round. You know, would have helped us greatly if Venus had gone deep in the tournament. When we did the draw I saw she was in the same section as Serena, so if she had won through the two of them would have played in the 16s, I think.

Think if we put Serena against Venus at night that we wouldn't have had a sellout? Sure we would have.

That's what I'm saying. That's what happens. We've got a really solid fan base. To get to those little extra numbers, you need to have the matchups with the players. That's unpredictable.

Q. The site improvements, I know it's unlikely but not impossible with the owner you have, do you, in your mind or have you even discussed, that maybe you could get the site as a possible host for the tennis if LA hosts the Olympics? Has that ever been discussed?
RAYMOND MOORE: Yeah, no one has discussed it, but certainly that's in our minds. If LA got the Olympics, this is a natural. The only problem is the Olympics are usually played in July and August, (laughter) and I'm not so sure that -- you know, it's like World Cup soccer going to Qatar. I mean, amazing. That was just an amazing thing for me to see that they will play World Cup soccer in Qatar in July.

But, yeah. Of course we would. It depends when the Olympics are in that year.

Q. Some of these improvements here, there was discussion of building a Stadium 3. Where does that stand?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, my instructions from the Big Man about two weeks ago or three weeks ago was that I have to present to him a five-year development plan.

So the first thing is I told my wife no vacations for another five years. (Laughter.) Which went down like a lead balloon. You know, we've got a lot of plans on the drawing board, including the building of Stadium 3 and the building of a tennis museum and a total upgrading of the site.

In the next year, the immediate thing is we are really going to upgrade Stadium 1. Stadium 1 now is 17 years of age. There are things there that need improvement. We need more bathrooms and more concession stands. So there are a lot of things that can be done and will be done in the next year for Stadium 1.

But, yeah, we're going to look at a whole bunch of things. We have talked about a hotel on-site. You know, another factor in our attendance is the lack of hotel rooms in the desert. You know, someone wants to come down from LA or San Diego, they see that, Oh, the tournament is on, the weather is great, there's going to be some great matches.

They can't get a hotel room. That's a problem. We take every single hotel room that we can get our hands on. We capture and package them with tickets to sell to our fans. All different tickets, menus. The menu of do you want night tennis only? The first weekend? The second weekend? You want a three-star hotel? Four-star hotel? It's a menu that we create.

But if we had more hotel rooms, that would help.

Q. So in your plan you say to Larry Ellison, Put in more hotels?
RAYMOND MOORE: In our plans we do have a hotel.

Q. On the premise?
RAYMOND MOORE: On the premise.

Q. What do you think the timetable for that would be?
RAYMOND MOORE: You know, just as quickly as we can get to it. I mean, we have built stuff in record time here. I mean, you know, record time. So that will be part of the five-year development. Does it come in the fifth year or third year? I couldn't tell you right now.

Q. And that would be housing a lot of the players which would free up other hotel rooms for other people?
RAYMOND MOORE: Exactly. Exactly.

Q. The changes you made for this year, lowering the court, new chairs, new seating, the champions box, those things were well received. Were there any complications? Benefits that were a result?
RAYMOND MOORE: Well, benefits are that our fans are happier. They have now a nicer seat in Stadium 1. It's wider because we took out all the handrailings, which create a little more space. It didn't reduce or increase the number. We have the exact same number of seats. The seats are wider. They all have cup holders.

We went to British racing green color, which I think is a softer color in the desert. I think the previous seats we had, those blue seats, were shiny, and I think they generated and reflected heat more than the British racing green. I think the stadium looks unbelievable. I mean, since I have been here, the stadium has never looked better than it has this year.

So that was just the first chapter. Now the second chapter, we're going to renovate all the suites; increase the number of concession stands. We only have three concession stands in the inner concourse on the stadium. We are looking at 12 for next year.

That means putting concession stands on the upper level. We have the people up in the nosebleed sections don't have bathrooms and permanent concession stands there. So we are going to do all of those things to, again, increase the fan experience. Those people won't have to go down two flights of stairs to get to a bathroom or concession stand. Those are all things we will do for next year.

We improved the player lounge. The player lounge is fantastic. You guys can go there. The players are very, very happy about that. The last two years we doubled the seating and size of the player dining area. We have done a lot of things. We took all the seats from Stadium 1 and put them on the practice courts. We are the only tournament in the world where you can sit in a permanent seat for practice courts that has a back and armrests. So we continued to do all of those things.

Again, as I have said a thousand times, you know, what we do with our staff at the end of the tournament, the next 90 days we spend reviewing every single aspect of the tournament, what went right and what went wrong.

We are very self-critical. Anything that went remotely wrong we address and try and correct it for the following year.

Q. We had 14 years of conversation and varying degrees controversy in relation to the Williams sisters. Serena came back last year and now Venus had a triumphant return. Now Serena is in the final. No one seems to be blinking. It's just like life goes on. Just talk about that process. Do you think the tournament in some way has been an example of reconciliation, or is it just life and no...
RAYMOND MOORE: No, I think you're right. I think it is an example of reconciliation. It's not a one-way street. It's a two-way street. Serena had a lot to do with it. A lot to do with it. Two-way street. We of course are ecstatic to have them back and to put that terrible controversy to bead. It's gone.

Having Venus here was the final brick in the wall of burying that terrible incident. It's gone.

Q. What was the experience for you to have Venus? She certainly beamed when she came on court. She lost, but...
RAYMOND MOORE: She got a fantastic reception; standing ovation. I think the fans have responded. I think it's let bygones be bygones. It's over.

Q. That reception was one of the highlights for you of the tournament?
RAYMOND MOORE: Absolutely. We embraced Serena and Venus every step of the way. The results have been fantastic. As you said, Serena is here in the final.

When did she last win the tournament here? 2002? 2001. You know, if she wins today she's come full circle, which is great. It really closes that chapter.

Q. You have the art show, which is really getting up there and really well received. Pavarotti coming over here, I remember him saying you have a fantastic event. Any plans -- I know you are working on Stadium 1 -- but are you looking at other events maybe in the fall? The obligatory boxing question. Every time I look at Stadium 2 or Stadium 1 I can see a ring and boxing. What do you have planned?
RAYMOND MOORE: We are looking at other events. We have been handcuffed because of development, our development plans, and so the site becomes a construction zone, which is a safety hazard.

So, you know, the parking and all of those things that we need for those events, we're not able to provide that when we're doing all these new -- when we were doing Stadium 2, I mean, you couldn't come on the site.

So now that we are restricting our development primarily to Stadium 1, Stadium 2 becomes a venue that we can use, and because we have the parking adjacent to that.

So, yes, we are looking at other events.

Q. I'm looking at the things you plan to do on Stadium 1. How extensive is construction involved with that? Sounds like almost as extensive as building Stadium 2. Can you elaborate?
RAYMOND MOORE: It's not as extensive. We have 44 suites. We looked at all the suites. Not all of them have bathrooms. We want to address that, which might mean instead of 44 we might end up with 34 suites. I don't know. The architect is still looking at the drawings.

We will increase the size of some suites and decrease the size of others. Like our big suites, the ones that are 3,000 square foot, we might, you know, subdivide those.

We are looking at all those things right now.

So the fans will see. They will notice the improvements we make. You know, if you're talking about painting and carpeting and new doors, we are going to do all those things for Stadium 1.

Q. Will it affect capacity?
RAYMOND MOORE: No. No, it won't reduce our capacity. I think capacity will remain the same or very close.

Q. Talk, if you could, just briefly about Raonic. Why has he been showing really a big, big breakthrough. Talk about him as a guy. He's a pretty special guy, a thoughtful guy.
RAYMOND MOORE: I think he's a great guy. Terrific for our sport. Great image. Big guy; 6'5". Huge, humongous serve. As I said, the improvement he's made with his new coach and his movement and his strategy, he's now using his game. He's attacking all the time. He's a very dangerous player.

You know, Isner is of the similar ilk, but Isner isn't doing what Raonic is doing. Isner serves, hits his big serve, backs into his backhand corner to hit a forehand. That's his style.

I wish Isner would serve/volley more. I mean, his serve is bigger than Raonic's, but I think Raonic, with his serve and his power, I'm going to be very interested to see what happens today.

Q. Restaurants in Stadium 2, you mentioned last year that you were looking at possibilities of having them operational on a yearly basis.
RAYMOND MOORE: Yes.

Q. Have you made any progress?
RAYMOND MOORE: And we haven't because, again, the construction issues we have. Pedestrian and fan safety, that is something we're looking at. When we can pull the trigger on that, we will.

Q. I just have a question. Obviously this started as stated earlier as a three-man show. Last year two-man show and now it's just you. Have you thought, going forward, how much longer are you planning on doing this? You seem to still enjoy it, but I'm curious to know. You talk about the five-year plan and everything. Do you see yourself being here beyond that?
RAYMOND MOORE: You know, I'm last man standing, just like the show. (Laughter.) You know, I don't think of those things in that way.

Firstly, I love what I'm doing. I'm passionate about it. I enjoy it. I get up in the morning. I like going to work. It's fun.

I've got the most amazing staff in the world. You know, five division leaders. All have more than 15 years of tenure, each one of them. They're experts. I don't have to teach them a single thing. They know their jobs better than I do. They do it well. There is no learning curve.

Steve Simon and I three years ago began putting a succession plan into place, and we are slowly doing that. We have brought in younger people into our operation. You go into the box office, you know, 80% of our box office, the people are under the age of 30. They're all bilingual. In other departments we have done the same.

So Steve and I started that. We talked about it three years ago and we are doing it slowly. You'll see them. You'll see the young people that we now have on staff, and they are contributing in a big way.

So, yeah, hey, who knows? Who knows who the face of the tournament will be down the road. But I don't think that, oh, I'm going to stop next year or three years.

And also there is another man who makes some of those decisions that we will have to talk to.

Q. You're not thinking of making a comeback to the tour?
RAYMOND MOORE: No, I'm not interested. (Laughter.) But thank you, Bob.

MATT VAN TUINEN: Thank you, everybody.

[bojanaBG]

Sam je kriv, sam pao, sam se ubio

[Niki]

Imam utisak da se ovde ne razume koliko je ova izjava pogresna i kakve posledice povlaci. Koliko se polaze na odredejene standarde i sta zapravo znaci koncept covekovih prava, gde nema mesta za nikakve forme seksizma i sovinizma. Pa, je primoran da toliki period uspesnog menadjiranja vakvog turnira, ovako zavrsi. Mislim da se radi o 29 godina direktora turnira zar ne?

[bojanaBG]

Elison je i dalje tu, i dalje ce IW da ulaze pare, doci ce neko drugi na njegovo mesto, ali jedino ispravno posle onakve izjave je bilo da podnese ostavku.