Becker, Isner, Sabatini, Schwartzman back Andy Murray's call for more South American tournaments

A groundswell of support is building for Andy Murray's recent call for more investment in tennis in South America.

Over the weekend, the former world No. 1 took to X, formerly Twitter, to express that the region should have its own dedicated ATP Masters 1000 tournament. Latin and South America has occupied a post-Australian Open spot on the men's tour's caendar for the last two decades, with tour stops in Acapulco, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Rio de Janeiro forming what's called the "Golden Swing," which has since been augmented by other events in Los Cabos and Córdoba.

“Unpopular opinion," Murray began, "South America should have its own swing with its own Masters series.

"The way the fans support the tournaments there is incredible. Amazing atmosphere and tennis is clearly part of their sporting culture."

Murray's "unpopular opinion" might not have been much of one at all, as in addition to rousing support from fans and journalists on the platform, current and former players also backed his claim.

The Scot picked up a retweet from Gabriela Sabatini, the last South American woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, while the recently-retired American John Isner echoed him by saying, "I second this. A Masters series in South America would make for an insane atmosphere."

"Why unpopular?!? You’re absolutely right about your opinion Andy!" former world No. 1 Boris Becker replied on X. "Tennis should go to countries/continents where tennis is booming."

But the most impassioned plea came from Schwartzman, a former Top 10 player, who claimed that bureaucratic support for the so-dubbed "Golden Swing" is dwindling, despite the fact that, as of Monday, Argentina boasting eight players inside the ATP's Top 100.

“Let ATP Tour know this Andy! Every year they [give] us less support," Schwartzman said. "Not just because of how the fans support the tournaments. Also how many players we have and we had on the top as [you] know. We deserve more than this from ATP.”

Ahead of his opening win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against Denis Shapovalov on Monday, Murray doubled down, telling The National's Reem Abulleil that he would add an ATP Masters 1000 in the region as one of three additions to the tennis calendar if he called the shots. (He also proposed a Masters 1000 in the Middle East, and on grass.)

“I think that the South American swing gets a bit of a bad rap from some people but if you watch the matches over there, the atmosphere is unbelievable,” he said.

“They love tennis over there. But it sometimes doesn't always get the best player fields because maybe of the surfaces that it's on and the time of year and things like that, but I think they deserve to have one because of how big the sport is over there and how well they support the events.”