Italian tennis player Matteo Berrettini expressed his firm support for the Argentina Open: 'South America deserves a major tour.' According to the Argentine News Agency, during the press conference following his defeat to Czech Vit Kopriva in the second round of the Argentina Open, the Italian and former world number 6 was firm when asked about rumors indicating the end of the South American tour: 'Argentina has to have tournaments. The South American tour is alive; the court was full last night.' Additionally, he expressed surprise at the number of spectators who attended his match on Tuesday against local player Federico Coria: 'It's not easy to find a first-round match as full as yesterday's.' In this way, Berrettini, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2021 and the semi-finals at both the Australian Open (2022) and the US Open (2019), was totally against the possible growth of the Middle Eastern market in the world of tennis. This whole controversy exploded in recent months after it was confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host a Masters 1000 tournament starting from 2028, which would clash in the calendar with the South American tour, composed of the ATP 250 tournaments in Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, in addition to the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro.
