• Visiting Acapulco for the Retreat 500, Lars Graff, co-director of the China Open, explains what these annual meetings consist of and his vision for the future of tennis

Acapulco, February 28, 2026.- As part of the 33rd edition of the Mexican Open Telcel presented by HSBC, the Retreat 500, which brings together executives from the 16 ATP tournaments once a year, concluded successfully.

Acapulco was the venue chosen for this important symposium, which seeks to strengthen relationships between tournaments and break down ideas to evolve the category. In 2025, ATP 500 expanded from 13 to 16 tournaments with the inclusion of Doha, Dallas, and Munich, which moved from ATP 250 to the next level of the circuit.

Lars Graff, co-director of the China Open and one of the visitors to Mexico for this meeting between executives, has been delighted with what Acapulco has to offer as the venue for a 500 tournament, as the organization knows how to balance fun and sport for attendees and players.

“The experience of being five minutes away from the venue is unique. In other tournaments, they have to be on site all day. Here, they come and go, they have the beach, the pool, it’s all a resort,” he adds, noting that what sells the most tickets is when there are local players. “They have a great week because it’s the week before Indian Wells and of course the players want to come, but the tournament would benefit from having more Mexican players who connect with the crowd. I’ve seen it in Beijing,” he added.

Formerly known as a chair umpire, the Swede took on a supervisory and business role a few years ago. After first explaining that the ATP is organized into four different categories: 1000, 500, 250, and challenger tournaments, he detailed what is discussed at the Retreat 500.

“We are trying to strengthen this group because the 1000s are already very strong, they are mandatory and have more money for a larger draw, so we always want to improve. We believe we have a very important role to play for the ATP. The Grand Slams are at the top of the pyramid, and the 1000s are played in interesting venues, but many 500s are played in the capitals of countries, such as Tokyo, Beijing, Queens in London, or Washington.

The 500s need a lot of attention, a lot of marketing, a lot of promotion, and that’s what we’re here to discuss. Prize money, rules, and how we can work together.”

How do you plan to win over new generations of tennis fans?

The best way to win over fans is how they do it here in Acapulco. Good food, good drinks, nice music, and they add entertainment. So people come to the tournament, but they don’t just come to watch a ball go back and forth; they come for an experience. Of course, it’s tennis, but it’s an experience. Each member of the family is a different market that buys different things. For the future, it’s important that every tennis tournament be an event. That leaves opportunities for fans. Many want to see only tennis, but others want to see just one set and then go to dinner or sightseeing.

How difficult is it to go from an ATP 500 to a Masters 1000?

It’s very, very difficult, even though we’ve added three new tournaments, but there are already 10 1000s, and they’ve added one for 2028 in Saudi Arabia. The only way to become a 1000 is if one of them wants to sell the license. Only the license can be moved, not the venue, like Madrid and Miami. To become a 1000, you can only buy one of the existing ones.