体坛英语新闻：Rotterdam ATP director frustrated with Djokovic's pullout

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The director of the Rotterdam ATP named the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament, Richard Krajicek, leads the ATP World Tour event since 2004, but the latest pullout from big name Novak Djokovic frustrated him.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the Wimbledon winner of 1996 explained the pleasures and mainly difficulties of being a tournament director, the current status and future of the event, the importance of sports for society, his social-political plans, his personal ambitions, veterans coming back and more.

Top player's pullout eclipsed the tournament, but Krajicek managed to secure title defender Robin Soderling, Andy Murray, the winner of 2009, David Ferrer, Toma Berdych and Jurgen Melzer as the top five seeds to Rotterdam.

Australian open newly crowned winner Novak Djokovic was also supposed to appear, but had to withdraw. "He had to pull out after a tough two weeks at the Australian Open," Krajicek said. "Of course I was a little bit disappointed about that. When he won the Australian open last Sunday I saw him go to his family to be congratulated and then he took off his shirt and threw it into the crowd.

"I saw the tape on his shoulder. At that moment I already thought that it could be bad news. He already had tape around his knee and I thought that might still be OK, not too serious. He experienced two long weeks, also emotionally. After the final I was hoping every day I would not get a call, but then on Friday he did phone me.

"It's nice he did not call straight away on Sunday. It proves at least he thought about it, he tried to get better or healthy. He waited for the last moment and I really like it that he called me personally to tell me. And of course it is not mandatory, but when someone does that it shows you take the responsibility. He felt bad about it."

The withdrawal of Djokovic shows the setbacks a tournament director can encounter. The spot in the ATP calendar has also been an issue for some time. "For years we were scheduled one week later, the week before Dubai," Krajicek explained.

"A lot of players like to play in Dubai too. They go there four or five days earlier because it's good weather over there. Now we are scheduled one week earlier, which is good. We only have a week in between with the Australian Open. It is hard to say, what's better, the Australian Open the week before or Dubai the week after. That is difficult," said Krajicek.

"Two years ago it was the first time we were only a week after the Australian Open. Nadal came after winning in Melbourne and he made it to the final here. We've had some good fields, but pullouts are just part of the game. We only had three pullouts this year. Of course there was some extra tension because Djokovic pulled out. I'm satisfied, for the last five years we had very few pullouts every year. Two years ago only one and in general two to four pullouts."

"We have high expectations of this year's tournament with five players from the top ten," Krajicek continued. "We can enjoy a renewed stadium this edition. It looks beautiful. I hope that the best players will be winning, so we can give the crowd good matches and have big names in the next round. I am looking forward to everyday."

Besides Soderling and Murray, former winners Michael Llodra, the winner of 2008, and Mikhail Youzhny, the winner of 2007, are also present in Rotterdam. "What I always really try to do is to get the winner of the year before. I want the title defender to come, because it's always nice to see someone defend his title. It gives something extra. When other former winners come back it means that they like the tournament and it fits well in their schedule. That's nice to know."