The Onkaparinga Tennis International will join the ATP tour next year after being promoted to an ATP Challenger event as of January 2015.
The South Australian city located on the southern fringe of Adelaide will see its prize money boosted from US$15,000 up to a sizeable US$50,000 while also offering world ranking points to participants.
The hard-court tournament is being rescheduled from its usual mid-February kick off to now start on January 3, representing an Australian Open warm-up option for second-tier players, sliding behind more prestigious ATP events including Perth’s Hopman Cup and the Brisbane and Sydney internationals.
“These ATP level events provide a very important springboard for players to move up the rankings and this event, being the week before Australian Open qualifying, will be a vital warm-up for players heading to Melbourne,” Tennis Australia Tournament Operations Coordinator Jason Simmons said of the tournament’s move from ITF Futures to Challenger status.
“Australians have had great success at ATP Challenger events in recent times, with Nick Kyrgios (ACT), Sam Groth (Vic), James Duckworth (NSW), Thanasi Kokkinakis (SA) and Alex Bolt (SA) all winning Challenger titles this year.
“Following the success of the tournament at Futures level over the past nine years, we look forward to the local community getting behind the event again and thank the City of Onkaparinga for their continued support.”
The Onkaparinga Tennis International will run January 3-11 at the Happy Valley Tennis Club.
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