Sarasota Open comes back to Bradenton

The Sarasota Open, the area’s top professional men’s tennis tournament, is going back to its roots.

Officials for the tournament and the United Tennis Academy & Club announced Friday evening the event would be moving to the facility in Bradenton after spending the past two years at the tennis center at Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club.

“We really wanted to come closer to interior Bradenton and Sarasota,” tournament director Tony Driscoll said. “Our ticket demand was telling us we needed to do that, and I know the guys at United really well.”

The now-annual event was first held in 2008 at the facilty, which was then known as El Conquistador Racquet Club. The tournament spent six years at Longboat Key Club before moving to Lakewood Ranch in 2015.

“I can say nothing but good things about Lakewood Ranch,” Driscoll said. “Everyone there was great to us both years, but this was just a business move.”

The United Tennis Academy & Club is located adjacent to the IMG Academy Golf Club off El Conquistador Parkway, less than a mile south of the IMG Academy campus.

“We were celebrating our third-year anniversary party tonight when we made the announcement,” club owner Jeff Russell said. “When we bought the club, this is one of the things we wanted to do. ... Bringing the tournament back home is exciting to us, to the members and to the community.”

The facility has 15 clay courts and a larger area available for parking adjacent to the courts than the Lakewood Ranch facility. However, both Russell and Driscoll said upgrades are needed before the tournament begins April 15 (it runs through April 23).

“We are going to have to a do a lot of renovation to the interior of the clubhouse, some new court lighting and renovate four courts,” said Russell of the to-do list before April’s event. “It is a lot, but we’re excited to roll up our sleeves and get the work done.”

Driscoll said he would like to restore the evening matches that marked the tournament’s tenure at the Longboat Key Club.

The tournament routinely draws a field of up-and-coming pros ranked outside the top 50. This year’s tournament was won by German Mischa Zverev, who is ranked 51st in the latest ATP Tour rankings. Past champions include Nick Kyrgios, Sam Querrey, James Blake and Kei Nishikori. Nishikori (fifth), Kyrgios (13th) and Querrey (31st) are ranked in the top 31.

Part of its appeal to American pros is the event is part of a three-event series. Events in Savannah, Ga., and Tallahassee are the others. The top American points earner in the three events earns a wild-card berth into the main draw of the French Open, which is the reason the Sarasota Open must be played on clay courts. The Sarasota Open offers the largest prize of the three events, so the points a player can earn in the event can practically ensure the wild-card berth.

Along with the announcement about changing sites, Driscoll also announced the tournament prize pool would increase from $100,000 to $125,000 this year.

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 11:13 PM with the headline "Sarasota Open comes back to Bradenton."