“Rafa didn’t have the rackets,” Monte-Carlo Masters director Zeljko Franulovic shares astounding short stories about Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer
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Zeljko Franulovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer
Former Croatian tennis star Zeljko Franulovic debuted professional in 1969 and lasted until 1980. His career-best ranking as a tennis player was no. 6, which would have been higher if the ATP rankings had existed. In addition, the right-handed tennis veteran has won 13 singles and 7 doubles trophies in his career. Franulovic committed his time to tennis management after a great tennis career. However, he appears to desire to take a break from his responsibilities now that he is nearly 75 years old.
“I told Roger to go sign some autographs”- Zeljko Franulovic
In 2005, Zeljko was named tournament director of the Monte Carlo Masters. He saw Rafael Nadal, the great tennis player, win his first event as a director. Franulovic, however, will leave the role after 18 years of dedicated service.
As he prepares to step down as director of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 after 17 years of dedicated service at the end of the 2022 edition, Zeljko Franulovic spoke with Ubitennis about his presidency’s highlights, including some juicy anecdotes about Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
He shared, “An anecdote and the best memories? Obviously, I have a lot. With Novak, for example, there is no particular anecdote because we have always had the greatest friendship that I can have with a player. But if I had to mention an anecdote, it was when we organized a show in Casino Square with Nadal and Federer, it was the first year of this initiative.”
“There was an audience, the terrace was full of celebrities, the players arrived in a historic car and had to play. The problem was that Rafa didn’t have the rackets (smiles). So I told Roger to go sign some autographs for the kids and Nadal’s agent quickly left with the scooter at the Monte‐Carlo Bay hotel, which is not far at all but which told me seemed like an eternity. He came back with the snowshoes. And no one really noticed. And then you wonder how you can make the same mistake twice? It happens,” he added shortly.
Zeljko Franulovic also went on to share a little story featuring Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray. It goes like this, “This time we were in front of the Palace and Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal had to play. His Royal Highness was there too, the press, the fans. This time, we forgot the bullets. And there were no sports shops near the Royal Palace. What to do? We were saved by His Highness the Prince himself who went to the Palace and brought us bullets. Two amusing, but a little embarrassing anecdotes, but luckily everything went well.”
Zeljko Franulovic’s probable replacement
With Zeljko Franulovic’s departure, the role of event director is up for grabs. Chris Kermode, a former English tennis professional, is the first against whom the calibre of David Massey, the adjoint director of Monte Carlo country club will be tested. Kermode, on the one hand, has six years of expertise as the chairman of ATP. Notably, the ATP’s total prize money increased to 139.4 million dollars under his leadership by the conclusion of 2018. On the other hand, Massey has lived in Monaco for a long time and has excellent relationships with the local regulatory organisations, he may be favoured.
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Pritha Ghosh
(414 Articles Published)