Argentinian tennis star Mariano Navone has claimed it feels like the ATP Tour is \u2018boycotting\u2019 the South American swing amid changes to the calendar that place the tournament under threat.<\/p>\n
The South American Swing \u2014 more commonly known as the \u2018Golden Swing\u2019 \u2014 is one of the most popular swings in the men\u2019s game, with events in South America often attracting huge crowds.<\/p>\n
The swing currently consists of three events, with the ATP 250 Argentina Open followed by the ATP 500 Rio Open, and then the ATP 250 Chile Open.<\/p>\n
All three events are held on clay courts and held across February and early March, with an array of high-profile stars competing at the events in recent years.<\/p>\n
Rafael Nadal won the inaugural Rio Open in 2014, with Grand Slam champions Dominic Thiem and Carlos Alcaraz among those to later win the title.<\/p>\n
The Argentina Open was first held back in 1927 and has largely stayed on the calendar since then \u2014 with the likes of Alcaraz, Thiem, Nadal, and Guillermo Vilas triumphing in Buenos Aires \u2014 while the Chile Open returned to the ATP calendar in 2020.<\/p>\n
The 2025 editions of the events saw Joao Fonseca triumph in Buenos Aires<\/a>, Sebastian Baez defend the title in Rio, and Laslo Djere triumph in Santiago.<\/p>\n However, there is a sense that the swing could be under threat amid changes to the ATP Tour calendar.<\/p>\n Tennis News<\/p>\n 2025 ATP Tour Awards \u2013 ft. Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Joao Fonseca, Valentin Vacherot<\/a><\/p>\n Novak Djokovic speaks out about \u2018reconstructing\u2019 his body for 2026 after injury woes<\/a><\/p>\n The swing has already gone from four events to three in recent years, with the Cordoba Open in Argentina not held in 2025 after a six-year run from 2019-2024.<\/p>\n The three tournaments are also held away from the rest of the traditional clay-court swing, which takes place across the spring and early summer \u2014 culminating in the French Open.<\/p>\n With the Australian Open held shortly before the \u2018Golden Swing\u2019, and the Indian Wells and Miami Open held directly afterwards \u2014 with the Middle East swing running at the same time \u2014 many players, particularly high-ranked players, have not headed to the events in recent seasons.<\/p>\n And, the latest complication for all three tournaments could be the introduction of the new Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia, which is set to be launched in 2028<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though there is not yet any official confirmation of exact days and times for the tournament, it will likely be held in January or February.<\/p>\n Some events will likely be moved in the calendar or even completely removed, with all three South American events potentially at risk.<\/p>\n The debate about the size of the tennis calendar continues to rumble on, and the future of the three events looks far from certain, regardless of their prestige and success in terms of crowds.<\/p>\n Now, world No 72 Navone has spoken at an exhibition event in Argentina about the uncertain future of his home tournament in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n