Men’s pro tennis tour to take place in Korea

Alexander Zverev (Germany), No. 2 in men’s tennis world rankings, and Casper Ruu (Norway), the runner-up in men’s singles at this year’s France Open, will visit Korea this coming fall. One week prior to their visit, Emma Raducanu (UK), the champion of last year’s Women’s US Open, will also visit Korea.

“The WTA Tour Hana Bank Korea Open and the ATP Tour Korea Open will take place in succession at the tennis court in Seoul Olympic Park this fall,” the Korea Tennis Association said. “The WTA championship will take place from Sept. 17 and the ATP competition will start on Sept. 26,” KTA announced on Friday.

The Women’s Korea Open has been continuously held since 2004, but men’s Korea Open is taking place for the first time in 26 years. In the past, a championship dubbed the ‘KAL Cup Korea Open’ existed until 1996 before disappearing.

The Korea Open will be convened as ATP250, the lowest of ATP Tour’s four gradings. It is a level wherein top-ranked players rarely take part. “Zverev and Rude already signed contracts to participate in the event,” a KTA official said. “They will participate in the championship without fail were it not for any major issue including injury.” Lee Jin-soo, CEO of JSM who has led efforts to bring the events to Korea, said, “We will try my best to ensure that Tour championships for men and women will continue to take place in Korea from this year.”

Korea was able to attract ATP Tour championships this year due to cancellations of Tour events in China caused the Covid-19 pandemic. Announcing the Korea Open championships on its website on Friday, the ATP Tour also announced that the Shanghai Masters, China Open, Chengdu Open, and Zhuhai Open, which were scheduled in China in September and October this year, have all been cancelled.


hun@donga.com