ATP apologizes after 'awful' draw ceremony in Milan
ATP and Red Bull have apologized for the offensive nature of the NextGen ATP Final draw in Milan, which was met with widespread condemnation on the social media. The ceremony was labelled a “disgrace” by the former World No.1 Amélie Mauresmo and “awful” by Great Britain’s Judy Murray.
Controversy arose in the draw ceremony for the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan, in which one player was asked to pull off a female model’s glove with his teeth and other stars discovered their group by choosing the woman they liked most. One model revealed her letter A by lifting up her dress to flash her thigh, while another took off her jacket to expose the letter B on her back.
But, that didn’t go down well with some of the former Tennis stars and the ceremony was termed as a “disgrace” by Mauresmo, while Great Britain’s former Fed Cup captain Judy Murray labelled it as “awful”. People on social media didn’t take the issue lightly either and accused it of being sexist and objectifying women. The incessant criticism forced ATP to apologize to the tennis fraternity.
In a statement on Monday, the Association of Tennis Professionals and the tournament sponsor, Red Bull, admitted that the draw had been “in poor taste and unacceptable”.
It read, “ATP and Red Bull apologize for the offence caused by the draw ceremony for the Next Gen ATP Finals. The intention was to integrate Milan’s 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,” reported the Guardian.
The flagship tournament for ATP players aged 21 and under begins on Tuesday.
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