Absurd conditions at Chile Open Santiago leads to player falls, balls stopping dead on court and complaints aplenty

This week sees the Chile Open take place and like in the past, the Santiago tournament has come under heavy fire for having poor conditions as player complaints have rained in for the tournament.

Several players have had nasty falls on the clay including rising star, Joao Fonseca who tumbled while chasing a ball on the baseline against Thiago Tirante. He caught his right foot in a sticky patch of clay which caused him to roll and lose the point. Many on social media have quizzed why the tournament is an ATP 250 and that it looks worse than some Challenger Tournaments.

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A video has also been circling of a rally which was won simply because the ball died on the clay and highlights the absurd conditions on display in Santiago.

“I don’t understand how Santiago got to have an ATP tournament when their conditions are worse than most Challenger tournaments and that’s not even exaggerating," one user wrote on X. Roberto Carballes Baena is another who has complained with the Spaniard who failed to make it past the first round venting both in post match press and social media.

"What do you want me to tell you, that the tournament is sh*t? That on the court you can’t play? I think it’s a shame that an ATP is played on this court, I think it’s dangerous for the players. Hopefully this tournament will never be held again," Baena told CLAY.

Top seed this week is Nicolas Jarry who opens up his campaign this evening against Facundo Coria. But with previous issues not only this year in Santiago, it puts the tournament under continued pressure either to make their conditions better or the tournament could be no more especially with players putting the pressure on. When it is potentially set to cause major injuries, the point in which it is stopped and evaluated perhaps is needed.

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The Tennis Letter

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Players have been complaining about the conditions at the ATP 250 event in Santiago this week. The ball literally dies the second it hits the clay. Making players compete in conditions like this at the professional level is absurd.

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José Morgado

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Terrible fall from Fonseca, who is like the 5th or 6th player to fall on this centre court in Santiago all week. Court just doesn't look good. Too much clay.

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