Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

After nearly a decade and a half at the helm, Ion Tiriac, the impresario who built Madrid into a world-class tennis city, has put his elite Masters 1000 event up for sale.

Romanian media in the billionaire’s home country reported that the former players and business tycoon is negotiating to sell the clay-court tournament which he brought to the Spanish capital from Stuttgart in 2002, adding women in 2009 to turn the week into one of the richest on the tours.

But now, apparent demands from the ATP to raise prize money on the men’s side by a massive 80 per cent from 4.2 million dollars to 7.4 million have caused Tiriac to reconsider his position.

Asking price for the event in the Caya Magica arena which Tiriac convinced the city of Madrid to build half a decade ago is said to be 200 million euros (225 million dollars) according to Romanian website Profit.ro.

Annual net profits from the May event are said to be around 35 million euros (39 million dollars).

Tiriac recently sold back a massive banking stake in Romania but still keeps his hand in multiple enterprises including insurance, automotive sales and a Bucharest car museum.

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.