World No 1 Rafael Nadal and Britain's Andy Murray today backed calls to hold the Australian Open in February as support for the move gathered pace.
World No 1 Rafael Nadal and Britain's Andy Murray today backed calls to hold the Australian Open in February as support for the move gathered pace.
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The two were speaking after Roger Federer, the World No 2 and ATP Players Council president, said he would raise the suggestion with new tour chief Adam Helfant.
Nadal said he believed most players would prefer a longer build-up to the Open, which starts on Monday just two weeks into the new season.
"It's a very good option, yeah. I would love to have the first Grand Slam of the season a little bit later," he said.
"I can't talk for rest of the players, but I think the feeling for everybody is the same: you start the season and after one week you are playing one of the most important tournaments of the season.
"But this was like this for a long time. If this can change, I think is going to be perfect for us. If not, we will continue to fight like this."
Murray, who practised with Nadal on today, agreed the move had strong backing from other players.
"There's a few things with the calendar that I think all the players would like to see happen," he said.
"I think having the Aussie Open a couple of weeks later, having maybe one of the 500 events in Australia beforehand would make sense."
Federer earlier said the move would accommodate the growing number of Middle East tournaments at the start of the year and allow players to attend more events in Australia.
"Definitely the calendar is always something we do talk about," he said at the Kooyong exhibition this week.
"To fix the Australian Open problem, having more tournaments beforehand ... to move it backwards a couple of weeks so you have more of an Australian swing and maybe also the Middle Eastern tournaments."
However, the idea was rejected by Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley.
"Every year there is a discussion on the dates of the Australian Open. This is nothing new," he told reporters this week.
"The Australian Open is at its most successful in its current position on the calendar ... at this stage we have no plans to move dates."
Federer, Nadal and Murray all played a lucrative Abu Dhabi exhibition event this month as well as the Qatar Open.
Nadal, starting his first season as No 1, is well short of match practice for the Open after crashing out in the Doha quarter-finals.
"I was two months outside of competition, so maybe I need a little bit more matches to get some rhythm," he said.
"But I think I'm okay. I will try my best to be ready for Tuesday."
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