British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Its been a 250 until this year, downgraded with a number of calendar changes and moved from week following Wimbledon to during it. I think Los Cabos took its slot next week in the moves. In losing its tour status, it added a womens event and so is bigger this year them the past.

Over the years as a 250, some Brits have done well here. Rusedski won it twice and Martin Lee was runner up in 2001; Richard Bloomfield famously went on a run to the last 4 or 8 one year, his only time doing so in an ATP event.

Well done Oscar!

Comment on the doubles - Jack Sock plays and is with this guy below

William Ackman. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ackman


this guy is a billionaire, aged 59, but also supposed to be very good at tennis. Not sure if he bought his place in the event, but him it is. Jose Morgado commented on it last week on X.

Mark1968 wrote:

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JonH comes home wrote:

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Its been a 250 until this year, downgraded with a number of calendar changes and moved from week following Wimbledon to during it. I think Los Cabos took its slot next week in the moves. In losing its tour status, it added a womens event and so is bigger this year them the past.

Over the years as a 250, some Brits have done well here. Rusedski won it twice and Martin Lee was runner up in 2001; Richard Bloomfield famously went on a run to the last 4 or 8 one year, his only time doing so in an ATP event.

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 Yes, Bloomers got to the semi finals in 2010 losing to Mardy Fish after coming through qualifying. 
It's a shame this event has been downgraded to a Challenger. 

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 It was a shame but I think the issue is where on earth to place it in the calendar. it was usually the week after Wimbledon, next week, but a lone grass event sat awkwardly. And in between France and Wimbledon isnt obvious, who would hop over the pond for a single week event. Time, cost and emissions factors all make that a bad idea. 

 

And given its history as a grass venue, its a big call to move it to hard court and, being honest, who needs another hard court event in the US summer season, theyve been reducing them anyway. 

it is a shame, I agree, but no easy answer. 

Oscar is up a set

Oscar back into the top 1000, some decent money as well for a 1st round.

It wouldnt surprise me if this event went the way of some of the other historic venues that have found themselves out of date and superceded, for whatever reason.

Forest Hills, of course, staged the US Open through 1977 - on grass and then near the end on American green clay. When Flushing Meadows took on the USO in 78, the Forest Hills venue staged a the WCT Tournament of Champions and then a womens WTA event called the Forest Hills Classic through 2008. It held a few pre US Open exhibition events and nowadays is a 34 court club in Westside and stages rock and pop concerts in the main venue

Kooyong in 1987 handed the Aussie Open over to Flinders Park; for many years thereafter, it has staged a pre Aussie Open warm up exho a bit like Boodles and Hurlingham; it was last held in Dec 2024, but they intend to come back in 2026. It is on hardcourt nowadays as opposed to grass of old.

I guess the point is, it may survive as an event for a couple of years at the Challenger/WTA125 level, but I can see it becoming an exhibition event , an 8 man field type thing. The question they will face is do they stick with grass or move to hardcourt. Hardcourt and it could go later in the summer just before the USOpen and perhaps get some decent names coming to a venue not far from New York. Stick on grass and it probably works best in the second week of the French as an exho, probably mainly with US players who have gone out of France early and want to get on grass. But the field would still be weaker than on the hardcourts and not make half as much sense.

My guess is they will stick grass out at this level through 4 or 5 years, then switch to hardcourt and play an 8 man / woman event just before the US Open. And then after maybe 5 or years of that, it will fold and get consigned to the scrap heap