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De Filippis: 'Nadal and Djokovic get more than $ one million to play an exhibition'

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Gatto Luigi - 23-11-2016

Thomas Enqvist's win over John McEnroe in Bari last week closed the fifth year of 'La Grande Sfida', the format created in 2011 by the organizer Ernesto de Filippis, owner of MCA Events. The organization of this event depends a lot on the money. Interviewed by Italian website Alley Oop, de Filippis revealed some interesting things on how it works the negotations with top player.

'In Milan the first two years we had the 12,000 people stadium Assago Forum and it was packed,' De Filippis said. 'In the first years we organized a challenge between Italy and United States: on one side Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone, one the other one Williams Sisters. In the second year we had the most beautiful ones, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, with the best ones, Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani.'

But why they do not bring men's top players? De Filippis had an interesting reply: 'In Milan the tennis elite was missing and the crowd of this city expects a lot, No. 1s are needed. In men's tennis, the appearance fee for Europe are really impossible: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal want more than $one million to play an exhibition.'

While if you ask women to play, by how much does the cachet drop? 'By around 80%. In order to have Williams sisters in Milan, we had to pay $150,000 each, while Maria Sharapova received $300,000.'

Italian players do not almost want anything: 'With them I never had any issue. When they play exhibitions in Italy, they do it for passion and not for money. All them had a reimbursement of expenses of 25-30,000 Euros.'

Asked how much they paid to have the Champions Tour players in Bari (McEnroe, Forget, Enqvist and Leconte), De Filippis said: 'Even today, John McEnroe gets $150,000, you also have to add a private jet from London that costs us $20,000. For others three, $35,000 and two first class airplane tickets. For everyone and their teams, obviously hospitalityand transportation on the spot.'

http://www.tennisworldusa.org/news/news/Rafael_Nadal/38540/de-filippis-nadal-and-djokovic-get-more-than-one-million-to-play-an-exhibition-/

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