Pro Men’s Tennis Comes To Dallas
IRVING, Texas – An ATP event that is likely to attract players rated among the top 50 in the world is coming to the Dallas area in March.
The Dallas Tennis Classic will take place the week of March 12-18 at the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas. It replaces the BMW Tennis Championship, which was in Sunrise, Fla.
“The Dallas tennis family is so eager and hungry for more professional tennis in town,” tournament director Zoltan Papp said.
It is a Challenger level event, normally reserved for men ranked outside the top 50, but a special ATP exemption allows for any player to compete. The even will take place during the second week of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., and before the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
Papp, director of tennis at Shores Tennis in Rockwall and a former ATP tour manager, said the Dallas Tennis Classic is designed to accommodate top players who lose in the early rounds of Indian Wells and want a tuneup before the Sony Ericsson. In years past, the BMW Tennis Championship attracted top-30 mainstays such as Richard Gasquet, Giles Simon, Juan Martin del Porto, Gael Monfils, Robin Soderling and Tomas Berdych.
This spot on the ATP schedule became available after the tournament director canceled the 2011 event because of loss of sponsorship, and the ATP allowed for bids to replace it.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area will now have three professional tennis events. The others are the Challenger of Dallas, Feb. 4-11, and the Texas Tennis Open, a WTA tournament scheduled to be back for its second year in August. Papp wants longevity for the Dallas Tennis Classic, as well.
“We’re not here for one year,” Papp said. “If we do this and do it the right way and put the time and effort into it, we want to do it long term.”
More information about the Dallas Tennis Classic can be found at www.dallastennisclassic.com
