Roddick, Dent headline Tennis Championships
Published: Jun 30, 2009
Americans Andy Roddick and Taylor Dent are among the headliners at this year’s Indianapolis Tennis Championships. Presented by Eli Lilly and Co., the competition starts July 18 on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University/Indianapolis just west of downtown Indy.
Other notable competitors at this year’s event — considered the kickoff event of the 2009 Olympus ATP Tour — include Sam Querrey, Dmitry Tursunov, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Ivo Karlovic.
Standing 6-foot-10, Karlovic is the tallest player in the tournament’s history. Roddick last won in 2004 and 2003, while Ginepri prevailed in 2005. Defending champ Gilles Simon will not compete this year because he's taking part in a clay-court championship in Hamburg, Germany.
Although the competition traces its beginnings back to the 1920s, it did not become part of the ATP International Series until 1988. It's now part of a newly created ATP World Tour 250 Series, which includes 41 tournaments, with a total of 250 rankings points necessary for a player to win the events' singles championship.
The Indy Tennis Championships was known for years as the RCA Tennis Championships and was played on clay courts until it was decided that switching the playing surface to a modern cushioned hard surface — similar to that of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. — would make the event an important warm up to that Grand Slam event.
Lilly took over primary sponsorship in 2007. The championship pursue this year is $600,000.
Tickets can be purchased on the event web site and range from a low of $8 per person for the qualifying tournament on July 18 to between $30 and $70 for tickets during the anticipated finals. Final day is planned for July 26, weather permitting.
- by Jim Brown , Indianapolis Reporter for HelloMetro
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