Some insight into the Federer-Brennwald-Basel fiasco

[DragonBlaze]

So this has been a much discussed recent topic on these boards (since tennis has been a bit slow at times....), and I found some interesting information that might provide some clarity into what in the world is actually going on (apologies for starting yet another thread on the same issue but I think there's some new information that was posted by some posters but lost in the Fed-bash-fest going on in the other threads).

Here is a blog post addressing this issue (Brennwald is the Tournament Director of Basel btw)

http://www.perfect-tennis.co.uk/brennwald-causing-more-drama-nadal-announces-hes-playing-basel/#comment-22980

Brennwald Baits Federer

I wrote a post last year about the Basel situation where Roger left it out of his schedule due to not being able to reach an agreement and negotiations grinding to a halt. Since then Roger has come out and said he will be playing Basel without a contract, this means no appearance fees will be paid to him, and he’s playing simply because it’s his home town tournament. Again, proving Brennwald wrong and proving his past claims have absolutely no substance.

I had some skepticism about Brennwald’s character last year as I didn’t think Roger was the sort of guy to argue heavily over money or try and throw his weight around. It was the very fact that Brennwald brought the negotiations into the public eye when there was no need that made me raise an eyebrow. Why would he try to alter public perception of Roger and portray him as greedy?
Tournament negotiations should be done behind closed doors; surely a veteran business man like Brennwald knows this but his reaction is what I’d describe as immature.

Anyway this week he pretty much proved he has something against Roger and has his own personal agenda to fulfill as he began comparing Federer to the rest of the top 4 and passing him off as arrogant.

He basically said he can call any Nadal, Djokovic and Murray any time but he can’t get hold of Roger instead he has to deal with Tony Godsick. He then went onto get his phone out and ring Federer’s number in front of the journalists to prove a point. It’s at that point you have to hand him the Sad Little Man trophy.

"We can not talk anymore. Federer no longer answer the phone. I have spoken personally with Nadal. Murray and Djokovic can call me any time."

....

Fortunately this stunt went down like a sack of **** with the Swiss Media who thought it was distasteful to say the least. Reading some of the comments on the Swiss newspaper websites here and here; it’s obvious the Swiss public didn’t like it either and think Brennwald is behaving like a whiny little girl.

Concerning why this mess started in the first place.

Apparently in 2009 the Swiss Indoors lost Davidoff as one of their sponsors and Brennwald asked Federer to take a 50% cut of his appearance fees so the tournament could get new sponsors. Roger of course agreed and signed up for the next 4 years.

Then it’s rumoured last year Brennwald decided to go on holiday during Basel and only came back to attend the final leaving Roger to deal with the sponsors himself and confirm he’d be playing Basel in the future to secure further investment.

This apparently annoyed Roger as he was focused on playing tennis, not sorting out sponsorship deals which wasn’t part of his remit, from that moment on he left Godsick to deal with Brennwald. Since then Brennwald has decided to paint Federer as the bad guy – perhaps Brennwald has a bad relationship with Godsick since IMG tried to buy the tournament off him a few years back.

Furthermore, from some of the comments on the site

- (At last year’s Basel final), (former Swiss player & tennis commentator) Marc Rosset said on-air that he was disgusted with Brennwald’s attitude, leaving & going on vacation at the moment of re-negotiating contracts, and that Roger is furious and justly so.

The funny thing is Federer has already said he will play Basel without ANY appearance fee or contract, his site has also been updated to include Basel. Basically showing that money is not the issue (which sounded ridiculous in the first place). What's more, some Swiss sites were suggesting that because of Federer's lack of appearance fee, Brennwald was then allowed to get Rafa to play as well, since that money freed up.

And YET even after that, Brennwald pulled his stunt with the phone and bad mouthing Federerl. No kidding Fed doesn't want to talk with this guy, he seems like an absolute tool.

Ofcourse Federer has always maintained that any business dealings should be kept private and won't discuss it with the media. Same thing happened last year where he wouldn't discuss matters of the ATP/player meetings with media, so I expect nothing will come out of this either.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

The arrogance, playing for free.

 

[Tanya]

The arrogance, playing for free.

What's funny is that you think you're joking.

 

[BeHappy]

If Federer asked for 2 million then the tournament director didn't lie and has done nothing wrong.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

What's funny is that you think you're joking.

What is funny is, that you think that you know what you are talking about.

8)

 

[Jeffrey573639]

I don't get this guy. He was talking crap about Fed- portraying him as greedy. Now even after Fed's rejected an appearance fee saying he'll gladly play for free, he's trying to portray him as some kind of cold alienating man. What does he want exactly? Makes no sense....

 

[FD3S]

Anyone read all that and picture Fed thinking "I love Basel, I'm going to play Basel, but I'm going to make it as hard as I can on you, Brennwald, because you just **** me off."

Man's only human, after all, and the director's coming off as a little petty. Turnabout is fair play

 

[DragonBlaze]

If Federer asked for 2 million then the tournament director didn't lie and has done nothing wrong.

So you think the TD going to a vacation during the tournament itself was ok? Furthermore you think airing all of this out in public is also ok? Especially after Federer has already said he's going to play regardless (and also keeping in mind Federer NEVER discusses these matters in public and Brennwald in doing so is not helping his case).

Nevermind, Federer himself has never said he asked for 2 million, I believe his only response was "Money is not the issue". The only "proof" there is of that is Brennwald's statements and going by his recent actions it's becoming easier and easier to doubt the truth in his words.

NOT saying Fed is perfect or whatever. Let's say the 2 mill thing is true, it is clearly just a big F U to Brennwald, since Federer seems to be pissed off at him.

 

[BeHappy]

So you think the TD going to a vacation during the tournament itself was ok? Furthermore you think airing all of this out in public is also ok? Especially after Federer has already said he's going to play regardless (and also keeping in mind Federer NEVER discusses these matters in public and Brennwald in doing so is not helping his case).

Nevermind, Federer himself has never said he asked for 2 million, I believe his only response was "Money is not the issue". The only "proof" there is of that is Brennwald's statements and going by his recent actions it's becoming easier and easier to doubt the truth in his words.

NOT saying Fed is perfect or whatever. Let's say the 2 mill thing is true, it is clearly just a big F U to Brennwald, since Federer seems to be pissed off at him.

Yeah who knows? I think Brennwald might have been trying to show the press that Federer is being "fake" here, saying he'll play the tournament for free to pretend he isn't greedy, but the other interpretation could be true as well.

 

[mandy01]

I don't get this guy. He was talking crap about Fed- portraying him as greedy. Now even after Fed's rejected an appearance fee saying he'll gladly play for free, he's trying to portray him as some kind of cold alienating man. What does he want exactly? Makes no sense....

He wants Roger to enter into a long-term contract on his, Brennwald's terms, because Roger is the biggest cash cow for Basel right now. No contract, means, Brennwald doesn't have to pay appearence fee but he will NOT be allowed to promote the event in Roger's name, by expecting him to show up at promotional events, or having posters of his all over the place. In short, he cannot use Roger's name to promote his tournament and make big cash out of it.

 

[Jeffrey573639]

He wants Roger to enter into a long-term contract on his, Brennwald's terms, because Roger is the biggest cash cow for Basel right now. No contract, means, Brennwald doesn't have to pay appearence fee but he will NOT be allowed to promote the event in Roger's name, by expecting him to show up at promotional events, or having posters of his all over the place. In short, he cannot use Roger's name to promote his tournament and make big cash out of it.

Good point. But here's the thing- if he wants Rog in for the long term, why on Earth would he talk sh*t about him. Basically saying he's greedy and antisocial- doubt it makes Rog wanna help his cause....Guy is making no sense......

 

[bluetrain4]

I don't even think it's a fiasco. It's all manufactured drama, and we fall for it, because we like gossip and talking about controversy. They'll work it out and Fed will play, or they won't and Fed won't play. Nothing more. To read so much into this about Fed's or the tournament director's personality, character, etc. is ridiculous. They're both doing their jobs, maneuvering as they see fit.

 

[mandy01]

Good point. But here's the thing- if he wants Rog in for the long term, why on Earth would he talk sh*t about him. Basically saying he's greedy and antisocial- doubt it makes Rog wanna help his cause....Guy is making no sense......

IMO he thinks he can get Roger to enter into a contract by going public. A form of blackmail. He thinks by putting Roger's image at stake temporarily, he can get Roger to submit because it's clearly not working out for him behind closed doors.

 

[Tennis_Hands]

I don't even think it's a fiasco. It's all manufactured drama, and we fall for it, because we like gossip and talking about controversy. They'll work it out and Fed will play, or they won't and Fed won't play. Nothing more. To read so much into this about Fed's or the tournament director's personality, character, etc. is ridiculous. They're both doing their jobs, maneuvering as they see fit.

I really don't think, that Federer has any intentional part in this.

Of course, in the end there are only two possible outcomes.

 

[CMM]

Wow, that's a really great "article". I especially enjoyed these parts..

One thing that’s confusing though is why is Nadal playing an indoor hard court tournament when he’s constantly telling the media there are too many hard court events? Yet again a confusing move.
I didn’t understand his motives but now I’ve seen Roger Brennwald back in the media slating Federer then it makes perfect sense and clearly the motive for Nadal is monetary gain and to allows Brennwald to get a new poster boy in town. You can bet your bottom dollar that Uncle Tony, aka the Mafia man who runs the ATP is behind it.
Brennwald will be offering a huge appearance fee for Nadal in the tax haven that is Switzerland so it’s a clear win for Nadal. I’ve always thought tennis was a means to an end for Nadal and even more so for Uncle Tony who treats Nadal and Tennis as his pet project so I guess this just proves it.
If he was interested in just tennis, then he’d probably play Valencia instead which is run by Juan Carlos Ferrero and is the only indoor tournament in Spain.
Obviously there are no loyalties in tennis and because Uncle Tony has $ signs tattooed onto the back of his eyelids then Basel was the choice. It also presents him plenty of opportunities for more sly digs at Roger in the media.
Don’t be surprised if Roger gets a ridiculously tough draw in this one having to meet all the good indoor players to even make the final whilst Nadal gets his clay buddies.

Quick Thoughts on Barcelona

Obviously Roger wasn’t playing here, he never does and its clear to see why as I could organise a better tournament in my back garden. I thought Mickey Carlo was bad but Barcelona is just the ultimate bore fest.
None of the top guys turn up other than Nadal and all he had to do to win the title was beat a Serve Bot who has no place in a clay semi final and then watch his friend Almagro bend over and hand it to him on a plate after blowing a 3-0 lead in the first set. Painful.

 

[Jeffrey573639]

Wow, that's a really great "article". I especially enjoyed these parts..

Agreed we ought to take this 'article' with a grain of salt as it is clearly objective and unbiased but he did have more genuine links to Swiss newspaper articles that do validate some of his points

 

[adil1972]

why cant we wait until basel starts in october (i think) and see what happens

 

[DragonBlaze]

Wow, that's a really great "article". I especially enjoyed these parts..

Agreed we ought to take this 'article' with a grain of salt as it is clearly objective and unbiased but he did have more genuine links to Swiss newspaper articles that do validate some of his points

Yea article was poor choice of words on my part - it's a blog and I've corrected that in my original post.

However the only reason I bothered posting that here is precisely because of the other links to the Swiss newspaper websites which give some context to the one-sided story we have been hearing so far (that is, only from Brennwald's side).

Moreover it also provides some tidbits of information such as the sponsorship issue in 2009 and the vacation bit. While I have no idea if the sponsorship issue is true or not (that Fed took a paycut etc) since I've only come across it as comments on another websites section, the bit about the vacations atleast seems to hold somewhat true since many people have commented on Marc Rosset saying that on-air.

The contents of the rest of that blog aren't really the topic of this thread.

 

[Flash O'Groove]

Brennwald had trouble with Wawrinka a few years ago too, which led Stan to play Valencia instead. I don't know more about it though.

 

[NEW_BORN]

^^
Imagine if Fed comes out next wk and says he's withdrawing from Basel to play Valencia.
I bet that'll be a hot topic

 

[batz]

So you think the TD going to a vacation during the tournament itself was ok? Furthermore you think airing all of this out in public is also ok? Especially after Federer has already said he's going to play regardless (and also keeping in mind Federer NEVER discusses these matters in public and Brennwald in doing so is not helping his case).

Nevermind, Federer himself has never said he asked for 2 million, I believe his only response was "Money is not the issue". The only "proof" there is of that is Brennwald's statements and going by his recent actions it's becoming easier and easier to doubt the truth in his words.

NOT saying Fed is perfect or whatever. Let's say the 2 mill thing is true, it is clearly just a big F U to Brennwald, since Federer seems to be pissed off at him.

I don't have a dog in this fight or a strong view either way mate - but you seem to have made a leap from the TD going on holiday being a rumour in your OP to it being a fact by the time you made this post.

I'm struggling to get my head round why a TD would choose to take a vacation during the one week of the year that his tournament is on.

 

[xan]

I don't get this guy. He was talking crap about Fed- portraying him as greedy. Now even after Fed's rejected an appearance fee saying he'll gladly play for free, he's trying to portray him as some kind of cold alienating man. What does he want exactly? Makes no sense....

maybe he wants Federer to pay them?

The arrogance, playing for free.

haha xd

 

[Emet74]

There's no way Brennewald went on vacation during his own tournament; the poster must have misunderstood Rosset.

Fans who attended the tourney remember seeing the TD there at the opening ceremony.

 

[Clarky21]

Wow, that's a really great "article". I especially enjoyed these parts..

The person who wrote that is such a butthurt Fedt*rd I bet they can't even sit down because of it. This article is complete garbage.

 

[Underhand]

Brennwald should be dipped into hot chocolate.

 

[West Coast Ace]

So this has been a much discussed recent topic...

Thanks for posting.

I know there are people who will rip Fed regardless, and no amount of logic will help, but.... there would have to be 3 or 4 other cases of this for me not to buy Fed's side and believe the TD is a nut. Fed has done more to promote the game and ATP Tour in his time than most of the previous long-term #1's combined.

 

[mistik]

The tournament director wants to go on vacation and only wants to be in the final. This is even too much for fedarts.

 

[beast of mallorca]

The tournament director wants to go on vacation and only wants to be in the final.This is even too much for fedarts.

Fed****s will believe anything that will disparage the TD reputation. Saying that, he probably is at fault too nonetheless, him and Fed or his camp. Hopefully, these can be ironed out in close quarters.

Gossips like these are not good for Fed or the tournament. I poke fun on Fed once in awhile but he's great for our game.
Money mongering or not, I don't really care. Just continue playing great tennis Feddy....

 

[Sorana fan]

That cant be called an article. It is just a lot of s h i t

 

[Sentinel]

So now that 2 million dollars quietly goes to Rafa !

How humble of Rafa to accept Federer's appearance fee.

 

[smoledman]

So now that 2 million dollars quietly goes to Rafa !

How humble of Rafa to accept Federer's appearance fee.

How very humble of Humbalito to graciously accept the 2 million Euros.

 

[Apun94]

So this has been a much discussed recent topic on these boards (since tennis has been a bit slow at times....), and I found some interesting information that might provide some clarity into what in the world is actually going on (apologies for starting yet another thread on the same issue but I think there's some new information that was posted by some posters but lost in the Fed-bash-fest going on in the other threads).

Here is a blog post addressing this issue (Brennwald is the Tournament Director of Basel btw)

http://www.perfect-tennis.co.uk/brennwald-causing-more-drama-nadal-announces-hes-playing-basel/#comment-22980


Concerning why this mess started in the first place.


Furthermore, from some of the comments on the site



The funny thing is Federer has already said he will play Basel without ANY appearance fee or contract, his site has also been updated to include Basel. Basically showing that money is not the issue (which sounded ridiculous in the first place). What's more, some Swiss sites were suggesting that because of Federer's lack of appearance fee, Brennwald was then allowed to get Rafa to play as well, since that money freed up.

And YET even after that, Brennwald pulled his stunt with the phone and bad mouthing Federerl. No kidding Fed doesn't want to talk with this guy, he seems like an absolute tool.

Ofcourse Federer has always maintained that any business dealings should be kept private and won't discuss it with the media. Same thing happened last year where he wouldn't discuss matters of the ATP/player meetings with media, so I expect nothing will come out of this either.

Hmm... Despite all this, Roger still demanding was pretty greedy even if he has now decided to play without appearance fee.
HOWEVER, after Rog agreed to play, what Brennwald did was pretty pathetic and sad. Dont like the guy