Men’s and Women’s international tennis returns to Sunderland Tennis Centre in 2014, with the Aegon GB Pro-Series Sunderland Sunday 19 – Sunday 26 January.
For 2014 the event is a mixed Men’s $10k ITF Pro-Series and Women’s $25k ITF Pro-Series event, with the increased prize money level for the women likely to produce an even stronger field than 2013.
These events are the first level of international professional tennis with Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Nadal, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and all the top players starting out at this level. Consequently for tennis fans in the North East it’s a great opportunity to see some of the game’s rising stars close up and free of charge. A bonus being that for the second year running as a mixed event there’s a chance to see both men and women in action.
The entry list won’t be confirmed until 12 days before the event, but 2013 winner Daniel Smethurst is looking to return to the North East to defend the title he won last March, whilst last year’s women’s winner Anna-Lena Friedsam and runner-up Alison Van Uytvanck will be looking to make their main draw grand slam debuts at the Australian Open in January.
The schedule sees qualifying on Sunday 19 - Tuesday 21 January, and main draw Tuesday 21 –
Sunday 26 January. With the final’s scheduled for:
Friday 24th Men’s Doubles Final
Saturday 25th Men’s Singles & Women’s Doubles Final
Sunday 26th Women’s Singles Final
The week-end of 25 & 26 in particular promises a bumper week end of tennis with the Women’s Singles semi-final’s also on show on Saturday 25th, whilst as part of the Women’s Singles final on Sunday 26th the centre are again looking to stage some pre-final activities, with court side seating to then watch the Final. For further information on these activities please contact Graham Fowler at Sunderland Tennis Centre on graham.fowler@sunderland.gov.uk
A new feature for 2014 is the chance to follow the action live through ITF Live Scoring, which together with the draws and match schedule will be available throughout the tournament week on www.lta.org.uk
Played on the indoor courts at the Sunderland Tennis Centre, there is free entry for spectators.
Player Entry lists will be confirmed in the second week of January:
Men
Women
For any further information contact Richard Joyner, Tournament Director on richard.joyner@lta.org.uk