The City of Playford Tennis International will return to Playford Tennis Centre for its fifth edition from Sunday 22 to Sunday 29 October 2023.
The Australian Pro Tour event, a combined men’s ATP Challenger and women’s ITF World Tennis Tour tournament will offer a total prize pool of more than AUD $200,000 and valuable world ranking points.
Tennis SA and Tennis Australia will host the tournament in conjunction with the City of Playford, TennisGear and Playford Tennis Club.
Previous competitors include 2022 Wimbledon champion and 2023 Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina, 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu and multiple Grand Slam singles finalist Casper Ruud have competed at this event.
Closer to home, defending champions Kimberly Birrell (Qld) and Rinky Hijikata (NSW) have rocketed up the race to both reach career high singles rankings of 110 in recent months.
“We are thrilled to have the Australian Pro Tour return to the Playford Tennis Centre in 2023 for the fifth time,” Tennis Australia’s Pro Tour Manager Fiona Luscombe said.
“The City of Playford Tennis International provides a great opportunity for players preparing for the Australian summer of tennis and the tournament has built its reputation as a favourite amongst the players.
“Thank you to the City of Playford for their continued support, a tournament of this calibre would simply not be possible without it.”
City of Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty said the tournament in the heart of Playford’s Sports Precinct will be one of the highlights of the city’s sporting calendar.
“Off the back of the City of Playford’s role in this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in hosting the Panama Women’s National Football team, we are delighted to welcome another international standard sport event to the Playford Sports Precinct,“ said Mayor Docherty.
“The City of Playford Tennis International has gained a reputation as the champion maker of tennis tournaments, with past players going on to hit the big time on the world circuit.
“This includes players such as Elena Rybakina who won the Wimbledon Grand Slam title last year, current world No.3 Daniil Medvedev, world No.7 Casper Ruud and 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu.
“We are very proud that the Playford Tennis Centre is one of the few venues in Australia with the capacity to host both the men’s and women’s events concurrently, particularly outside of a major capital city.
“The 2023 City of Playford Tennis International will see professional men and women players compete across the week and we invite our community to enjoy the free tournament.”
Tennis SA CEO Debbie Sterrey added: “We are thrilled to announce that the City of Playford Tennis International will return once again in 2023.”
“A sincere thank you goes to the City of Playford for their unwavering support of this tournament. It is an event we always look forward to and we can’t wait to see what 2023 brings.”
The City of Playford Tennis International is part of the Australian Pro Tour, a series of professional tennis events held throughout the year to bridge upcoming players with the ATP/WTA Tour, providing an opportunity to earn significant world ranking points.
The field for the City of Playford Tennis International will be announced in October.
For more information about the Australian Pro Tour, Tennis Australia or the players visit www.tennis.com.au/protour. For more information on the ATP Challenger Tour go to www.atptour.com or for more information on the ITF World Tennis Tour visit www.itftennis.com.
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