ATP Marseille: Andy Murray is more economical than Roger Federer

An unusually strong field has been announced for next year’s edition of the Marseille Open that will take place in February. In an interview to L'Equipe, the Tournament Director Jean-Francois Caujolle analyzed Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka headline. Asked how he managed to successfully negotiate with Murray, Caujolle said: 'It's relatively simple. He asked to play. With such player calibre, it's never the organizer who goes to the player. It happens rarely. It's about the player and his schedule. I was not very surprised or getting this kind of call. I would have not been surprised last year if "Djokovic" wanted to play, either.' Top players get high appearance fees and so a financial agreement needs to be reached. 'When the request comes from the player, it's a little easier. If I have to take a Big Four, I have to break the money saver. The year where Federer wanted to play, if I had brought him in, I could not take the Frenchmen or other players. Murray is a little bit more economical than Federer and the organisers could afford to meet his terms.' Earlier this year the Vienna tournament director Herwig Straka had said that Alexander Zverev was too costly for them. And Caujolle agrees: 'I invest a lot of young guys, except (Alexander) Zverev because he is too costly than the performance he can get. I took Coric, Edmund, Shapovalov, Khachanov, Chung, Tsitsipas and the Frenchmen.' Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will get a wild card.

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