The ATP and Red Bull have issued an apology following the NextGen Finals Draw Party on Sunday night in Milan, that featured proceedings deemed sexist and inappropriate by many in the tennis community.
At the party, sponsored by Red Bull and organised by the ATP, players were asked to choose between two female models to find out their fate in the draw, which was revealed by uncovering part of the women’s bodies donning the letters ‘A’ or ‘B’ to indicate the group they landed in.
Former world No.1 Amelia Mauresmo described a video from the party as a “disgrace” while Judy Murray, the mother of ex-world No.1 Andy Murray, called it “awful”.
French player Alize Cornet tweeted: “Good job @ATPWorldTour ๐๐๐ Supposed to be a futurist event right ๐คค? #backtozero”.
โATP and Red Bull apologise for the offence caused by the draw ceremony for the Next Gen ATP Finals,” read a statement released by the ATP on Monday.
“The intention was to integrate Milanโs rich heritage as one of the fashion capitals of the world. However, our execution of the proceedings was in poor taste and unacceptable. We deeply regret this and will ensure that there is no repeat of anything like it in the future.โ
The tournament takes place at Fiera Milan from November 7-11, with Russian Andrey Rublev as the top seed.
