Pro Tennis Finds New Cities to Play In, but Will It Return?

Ad Blocker Detected

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Pro Tennis Finds New Cities to Play In, but Will It Return?

The event, with its modest stadium court expanded to 2,000 seats, was sold out for its last 4 times. Over all, there was a wonderful industry with Murray, a previous No. 1, and eight prime-20 players: a lineup deserving of a higher-degree party than an ATP 250. The proximity to Indian Wells was a significant element in the elite players’ participation, and the winner turned out to be the 10th-ranked Ruud, a Norwegian who has received five titles in his breakout year.

But it remains unsure, even not likely, that Ruud will be in a position to defend his title in San Diego. A a person-calendar year license gives no guarantee that the match will return to the metropolis. What it does provide is a prospect to showcase a new venue.

“I have a great deal of titles to defend following calendar year, and I know four of them will be played following yr and for this a single we will have to see,” Ruud mentioned on Sunday as he cooled down on an training bike immediately after his 6-, 6-2 demolition of Cameron Norrie in the final. “It’s certainly hard. The ATP is hosting in excess of 60 activities a year and all around the planet, so it’s not easy to uncover a week to healthy in. This yr, San Diego was capable to do this in five months, so I see no cause why they could not do it all over again, and I hope they will do it once again not just due to the fact I received but it was a terrific metropolis and excellent climate. These are ideal conditions for us to perform in. It’s not far too scorching, not way too humid and fantastic environment.”

San Diego has created some fantastic tennis gamers. Maureen Connolly, who was identified as Tiny Mo, dominated the women’s recreation in the early 1950s, obtaining a Grand Slam by winning all 4 major singles titles in 1953. Karen Susman gained the Wimbledon women’s singles title in 1962. Kelly Jones was ranked No. 1 in the entire world in men’s doubles in 1992. A short while ago, CoCo Vandeweghe broke into the women’s leading 10 in 2018 and Taylor Fritz arrived at No. 24 in the ATP singles rankings last year, turning out to be the prime-ranked American man. Brandon Nakashima, rated 79th at age 20, is one of the most promising American men’s prospects.

But there has in no way been a major ATP Tour party in San Diego until finally now, and there has been no tour-amount celebration in San Diego County considering the fact that the women’s match in Carlsbad moved to China in 2014.

The United States, after the mainstay of the men’s and women’s excursions, has steadily misplaced tournaments to Asia and Europe. In recent many years, the Indian Wells event has been the only ATP occasion in California, and none of the major West Coastline metropolitan areas have had a normal men’s tour function.

The drop of American tennis has played a function, specially the drop of American men’s tennis, but the change also demonstrates the much more worldwide nature of the sport and the new financial power of Asia.