For fans of live professional tennis in Atlanta, July 28 will mark the end of an era as the 14th — and final —winner of the Atlanta Open will be crowned at Atlantic Station.
Over the years, the outdoor tournament drew plenty of spectators despite the summer heat and humidity. But the ATP Tour, the governing body for the top men’s tennis players in the world, decided to add days to higher stakes tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto. This calendar squeeze forced the elimination of two North American tournaments. The Atlanta Open was one of the victims.
“Atlanta has been great to us,” said Atlanta Open Director Peter Lebedevs, speaking last month at Atlanta Open offices in Atlantic Station. “We’re not leaving because it wasn’t a successful event.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rhoa@aj
Credit: RODNEY HO/rhoa@aj
John Hanna, who publishes ALTA Net News, said the Atlanta Open’s departure is a major blow to a proud tennis community already ceding valuable court real estate to the rapidly growing world of pickleball players. Atlanta for years has touted its active tennis participation, pointing to the huge size of ALTA, the 90-year-old nonprofit organization that claims more than 80,000 paid members.
“I’m very sad this is going away,” Hanna said. “I think the tournament proved this town likes to not just play tennis but watch tennis. This is going to be such a big tennis market that won’t have a pro event.”
But he isn’t sure when a sizable tournament will pop up again in Atlanta, especially since there is no obvious permanent facility to house it like in Cincinnati and Indian Wells, California, which host ATP tournaments.
This final Atlanta Open, which runs nine days beginning Saturday, July 20, will return to Atlantic Station on temporary courts, providing a mix of exhibitions featuring recognizable names and some of the best men’s players in the field.
The main draw includes Atlanta native Ben Shelton (ranked 14th in the world) and Maryland’s Frances Tiafoe (ranked 29th in the world) as top seeds. There will be an exhibition on Sunday, July 21, between Wimbledon doubles winner Taylor Townsend (replacing Venus Williams, who withdrew due to injury) and Sloane Stephens; and a doubles exhibition Monday night, July 22, featuring retired American pros John Isner and Andy Roddick competing against brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, who have won doubles titles at the Open in the past.
Going back to 1970, pro tennis tournaments in metro Atlanta have come and gone multiple times with names such as Ilie Năstase, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors gracing tennis courts here. In 2001, a long-running ATP tournament at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth (now Johns Creek) died without a sponsor.
After a nine-year drought, the USTA Southern snagged a tournament from Indianapolis in 2010, placing it back at the Atlanta Athletic Club and naming it the Atlanta Tennis Championships.
A conflicting PGA golf tournament in 2011 forced the tournament to temporarily move to Racquet Club of the South (now Life Time Peachtree Corners). Bob Bryant, the tournament director at the time, said he was ready to return to Atlanta Athletic Club in 2012 but received a call from Starr Cumming, then specialty leasing director at Atlantic Station, who shifted his thinking.
At the time, then-Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed had heard what an economic boon the U.S. Open was to New York City and told executives of North American Properties, new owners of Atlantic Station, that getting the tournament from Johns Creek to Midtown would be a coup for the city, Cumming said.
With that in mind, Cumming told Bryant their vibrant Midtown location would draw a younger, more diverse audience to the event than the suburban country club. And she introduced Bryant to an Atlantic Station tenant BB&T, the banking company that became the tournament’s title sponsor for what would become the BB&T Atlanta Open. (BB&T merged with SunTrust in 2019, redubbing the tournament Truist Atlanta Open in 2020, then dropped sponsorship in 2021.)
Each year, Atlantic Station and the Open organizers would build a 3,500-seat temporary tennis venue in an open parking lot. With easy access off the Downtown Connector and plenty of parking, spectators could come in and out easily. And players could easily walk to the courts from the nearby Twelve Hotel.
When Bryan observed the tournament setting in 2012, he was thrilled: “It was electric. It was magic, especially the night matches.”
His successor, Eddie Gonzalez, who ran it for a decade, agreed: “We tried to make it the place to be seen one week out of the year. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Still, the Atlanta Open is no U.S. Open. It’s a relatively minor tournament on the ATP schedule, not offering enough cash or the ability to rack up enough ranking points to draw top 10 European players over the years like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic. But the Open had no problem bringing in quality American players such as Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and Taylor Fritz.
University of Georgia graduate John Isner became the star of the Open, reaching the final nine times and winning it six times.
“I probably played 50 matches there,” said Isner, who grew up in North Carolina and now resides in Dallas. He retired from pro tennis last year after 16 years on tour. “I never missed it. It was such a great event for me. The area is very pretty in terms of the buildings surrounding it all. It had this real intimate feel even though it was directly by the interstate. It was a unique atmosphere you didn’t see every day on the tour.”
Credit: CURTIS COMPTON / AJC
Credit: CURTIS COMPTON / AJC
Credit: CURTIS COMPTON / AJC
Credit: CURTIS COMPTON / AJC
The loss of the tournament is also a major loss for Atlantic Station, the 19-year-old mixed-use Midtown mainstay that is also home to Cirque du Soleil when it comes to town and the recently snagged Atlanta-based UniverSoul Circus.
The Atlanta Open each year has drawn around 30,000 people, a huge boost for Atlantic Station eateries, retailers and hotels.
Now Atlantic Station’s retail director, Cumming is actively seeking a replacement summer event. “It’s been a great run,” she said. “This chapter is closing. We’ll move on to the next chapter with more exciting things to come.”
Credit: Michael Blackshire
Credit: Michael Blackshire
IF YOU GO
Atlanta Open
July 20-28. Ticket prices vary. Atlantic Station, Pinnacle Lot, 221 20th St., Atlanta, atlantaopentennis.com.
PRO TENNIS IN ATLANTA OVER THE YEARS
1970-1976: The Atlanta World Championship Tour featuring players such as Ilie Năstase, Stan Smith and Dick Stockton.
1985-1989: Atlanta AT&T Challenge of Champions exhibition featuring players such as Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe.
1986-2001: Atlanta Tennis Challenge, sponsored by AT&T for much of its run, plays at the Omni, Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell and Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek. Winners included Agassi, Michael Chang, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick.
1995-1997: Super Showdown exhibition at the Omni featuring Agassi, Elton John, Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, among others.
1997: U.S. Women’s Hard Court Championships for WTA Tour at Stone Mountain Tennis Center. Lindsay Davenport won.
1998: U.S. Davis Cup competition with Agassi and Jim Courier at Stone Mountain Tennis Center.
2010-2014: Atlanta Open, mostly at Atlantic Station, with players such as Roddick, John Isner and Ben Shelton.
