2011 ATP World Tour Media Guide

ATP WORLD TOUR TIMELINE
1997: The ATP Senior Tour of Champions is sanctioned.
1998: Players form a new STARS program as the ATP
Tour helps make players more accessible to media,
sponsors and fans. ATP broadcasts extend their reach
to more than 200 countries.
2000: The ATP Tour changes its name to ATP for 2001,
introduces a new logo and rebrands its nine premier
tournaments the Tennis Masters Series.
2001: A newly launched Web site, ATPtennis.com,
highlights the new tournament structure. ATP
Properties forms, instigating a more commercial focus
and new marketing, licensing and broadcasting
opportunities.
2002: Players gain greater visibility with appearances
in television shows and popular magazines, prompting
the ATP to launch its own publication: DEUCE magazine.
The ATP combines with the WTA Tour to create
the “One Game” program, enacting initiatives to better
serve professional tennis fans.
2005: Etienne de Villiers is named ATP Chairman in
June. ATP stars unite behind ATP World No. 1 Roger
Federer to raise funds for tsunami victims, donating
prize money and organizing the “ATP All-Star Rally for
Relief.” At the exhibition, the ATP and UNICEF launch a
global partnership called ACE, Assisting Children
Everywhere.
2006: De Villiers expands his role to become ATP
Executive Chairman and President. The ATP signs several
major new sponsorship agreements, including
the naming of South African Airways as Official
Airline. Stanford Financial Group becomes the Official
Partner of ATP Doubles as doubles stars gain greater
support and exposure through a promotional “ATP
Doubles Revolution” campaign and new match format.
The player challenge, utilizing video review for
close line calls, debuts in Miami and is successfully
implemented at 13 tournaments.
2007: The ATP introduces enhancements to fan,
sponsor, media and player experience at tournaments,
including elimination of best-of-5 set finals;
reduced draw sizes at five ATP Masters Series events,
making them 56-player fields to ensure player health
and enhance TV scheduling; and Sunday starts to
build Opening Weekends at ATP tournaments. The
ATP also increases prize money for the first time since
2000 and creates a new multi-million dollar marketing
fund. A renewed marketing effort encourages
fans to rediscover the tandem game and find out
why ATP “Doubles Rules.” ATP revenues grow by
15%, a record 4 million fans attend ATP tournaments
and broadcast hours grow with record numbers
watching on television.
2008: The top three players, Rafael Nadal, Roger
Federer and Novak Djokovic, take a leadership role
by becoming ATP Player Council members with
Federer as president. It's the first time in the organization's
history the top three players have joined the
council in the same two-year period. All worldwide
tennis organizations (WTA, ITF, ATP & Grand Slam
Committee) formed an integrity unit. The ATP's FEEL
IT player promotion campaign is implemented
throughout the season. Sponsorship deals with
South African Airways, Ricoh and Enel were renewed
while a new agreement was struck with Barclays to
become the sponsor of the Barclays ATP World Tour
Finals in London.
2009: Adam Helfant takes over as ATP Executive
Chairman in January. The organization was rebranded
ATP World Tour, the launch of which included a new
logo. Three new tournament categories were introduced
during the season with ATP World Tour
Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500 and ATP World
Tour 250 level events. The points awarded to the tournament
winner corresponded with the category level.
The year-end championship, the Barclays ATP World
Tour Finals, were held in London for the first time, as
over 250,000 fans jammed The 02 arena during the
eight-day tournament. It was an all-time attendance
record for an indoor tournament.
2010: During the season two major sponsors were
announced with the signing of Corona Extra as a premier
partner, and FedEx as a platinum partner. In
November, ATP Executive Chairman and President
Adam Helfant announced that the 2012 calendar was
approved to include the extension of the off-season
to seven weeks. The increased break, designed to
allow players more time for rest and training between
seasons, was approved for the 2012-13 ATP World Tour
calendars by the ATP Board at its London meetings.
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