- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
- Messages
- 212,768
- Likes
- 821
- Points
- 113
The Atlanta Tennis Championships is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Atlanta as part of the ATP Tour. It will be held for one week in July in 2010. The tournament was held for the first time in 1988 in Indianapolis, Indiana as the U.S. Men's Hard Court Championships. It was created after the Indianapolis Tennis Center decided to resurface its 18 clay courts with Deco-Turf II, the same surface as the US Open. As a consequence, the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships was moved from Indianapolis to Charleston, South Carolina.
The tournament's change in surface and name came with a change of date to be closer to the start of the US Open. The event gained the attention of the world's best players and became a premier warm-up stop for the US Open. In 2009 the Association of Tennis Professionals purchased the licence for the tournament in Indianapolis owing to the lack of a title sponsor for 2007 and 2008 and a subsequent struggle to attract top players, leading in turn to lower ticket sales. In December 2009 it was announced that the ATP had sold the licence to a group in Atlanta, Georgia.
Prior to 2010 Atlanta had previously held a tennis tournament known as the Verizon Tennis Challenge from 1992 to 2001. The tournament, held at the Atlanta Athletic Club in what is now Johns Creek, Georgia, included Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe among its past champions.
The tournament's change in surface and name came with a change of date to be closer to the start of the US Open. The event gained the attention of the world's best players and became a premier warm-up stop for the US Open. In 2009 the Association of Tennis Professionals purchased the licence for the tournament in Indianapolis owing to the lack of a title sponsor for 2007 and 2008 and a subsequent struggle to attract top players, leading in turn to lower ticket sales. In December 2009 it was announced that the ATP had sold the licence to a group in Atlanta, Georgia.
Prior to 2010 Atlanta had previously held a tennis tournament known as the Verizon Tennis Challenge from 1992 to 2001. The tournament, held at the Atlanta Athletic Club in what is now Johns Creek, Georgia, included Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe among its past champions.