The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced recently that Athens, Greece, will return to the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz for the first time in over 35 years.
‘WTA’ stated that the WTA 250 Athens Open will take place the week of July 13th (replacing the Jiangxi Open in China) at the Stadion Sports Center.
The addition of Athens means Greece will be one of 27 countries and territories the WTA Tour will visit this season demonstrating the true global appeal of women’s tennis and the huge growth the sport is currently experiencing.
The venue for the tournament sits within the historic Olympic Tennis Centre and will be played on hard courts with a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women’s professional tennis. The association governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women’s tennis. The WTA’s corporate headquarters are in St. Petersburg, Florida (US) with its European headquarters in London (UK) and its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Beijing (China).
The WTA Tour (also known as the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz for sponsorship reasons) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women and organized by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
The Athens Olympic Tennis Centre is a grouping of 16 tennis courts at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Marousi, Athens, Greece. The centre consists of a main stadium, known as The Main Court, seating 8,600 fans – though only 6,000 seats were made publicly available during the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Paralympics – two semifinal courts seating 4,300 spectators – though only 3,200 seats were made publicly available during the Olympics – and 13 side courts seating 200 observers each.
‘WTA’ further stated that Maria Sakkari, who has reached 10 WTA finals and is the highest-ranked Greek woman ever with a career-high of No. 3, said, “To be able to step on court at home and hear the Greek fans will be one of the highlights of my career. Athens is where I first picked up a tennis racket and dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player – for a WTA tournament to come here will be a truly special moment and a great opportunity to showcase Greek tennis and inspire the young players.”
It marks the first time a WTA event will be held in the city since 1990 when the Athens Trophy was last staged. The inaugural year of the event in 1986 saw Sakkari’s mother, Angeliki Kanellopoulou, contest the final.
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