The Napoli Cup in Naples ends today and it's been a week of bad headlines for the event and the ATP as it had so many issues.
The event began its headlines cycles even before it officially began with news circulating of players complaining about the courts. It soon became apparent why because they truly were in appaling condition. The qualifying matches were moved to another location and courts reworked and while tennis continued, issues kept coming up.
Players had issues with the hotel, the courts were once again in the picture, some players retired in order to avoid having to play on them and all of it has just been one big mess. Organizer Cosimo Napolitano is not taking any blame:
"I have nothing to reproach myself with, nothing. And to those who make controversy, I reply that we are proving enormously reliable. I challenge anyone, any tournament in the world, to find, get there and set up the fields from scratch in record time as we did with the help of Fit."
He added:
"Mapei is a world leader company. When it is all over, we will meet and talk about it. I would like to resolve it without dispute, but it is clear that I will ask for satisfaction. Because what happened in the first two days caused everything else to cascade."
Finishing off:
"But again: we worked like crazy to immediately find solutions that allowed us to hold the tournament here in Naples. The ATP could have taken the tournament elsewhere. Anyone who makes a controversy on social media is an imbecile. It's easy to get confused, without knowing the work behind it. I'm here, I put my face to it and answer everyone."