The Valencian tennis player Pedro Martínez wanted to show his discomfort with the director of the ATP Challenger in Marbella, Ronnie Leitgeb, on social networks. after he made the decision that players pay for their own hotel stay while competing in the tournament.
Through a letter Martínez has also criticized the treatment he has received from Leitgeb, who says he even offered him money so that he would never play in any of his tournaments again, while defenestrating several participants of the same.
Martínez began in this way his story published on his Instagram account. “Hi everyone. Those of you who know me know that I do not like to use social networks a lot to attract attention and publicly comment. I wanted to tell you that right now I am in Marbella ready to play the first round of the Challenger tomorrow which takes place here at the Puente Romano Club “.
The tennis player wanted to emphasize that, in this type of tournaments, the expenses of the room and breakfast at the hotel are borne by the organizers. “In Challenger tournaments, hospitality (hotel and breakfast expenses) is always paid for by the tournament. We players must make reservations two weeks before, although it is very difficult to know the arrival date, since you depend on the day you finish the previous week if you have a tournament “.
However, Martínez also pointed out that on many occasions this is a complicated task, given the busy schedule of the players “In this case, I made my reservation on the Wednesday prior to the tournament as well as many other players such as the Spanish Carballés, Munar and Taberner, who did not know their arrival day and made their reservation a little later. On the entire Challenger circuit, where more than 150 tournaments are played in more than 40 countries each year, it is the first tournament to adopt this position. “
As a result of this fact, the Valencian tennis player charged hard against Ronnie Leitgeb, director of the ATP Challenger in Marbella. “The tournament director RONNIE LEITGEB has been the person who made this decision, ignoring the players and making them pay for their corresponding rooms out of his own pocket. He has even told me personally that the person in charge of making hotel reservations is stupid and that He is willing to give me 1,000 euros out of his pocket so that I can go home, that I never go to any of HIS tournaments again and that he has no interest in Carballés, Munar and me being in the box (Right now the 3 Spaniards in the tournament with the best ranking) that no one is going to come to see us. Never in my entire tennis career have I felt so despised by someone from the organization in any tournament and I doubt there are many people who have had a similar experience on the circuit. “
Martínez regretted that, because of Leitgeb's attitude, the image of the Marbella tournament is stained. “I also want to say that it is a shame to stay with this bad taste in my mouth, since it is a spectacular place to play tennis and I have also felt supported by all the rest of the tournament workers and ATP staff even if they don't have the final decision. Hopefully this letter reaches the tournament sponsors, the public that will attend from Thursday and to all those who follow the tournament from home so that they can see the problems that players sometimes suffer in tournaments. Thank you very much for wasting a bit of your time reading the letter. Signed: Pedro Martínez “.