Solapur to host $25,000 international men's tennis tournament from October 11 to 18

Solapur: The Solapur District Lawn Tennis Association is hosting an ITF men's tennis tournament with $25,000 in prize money, sanctioned by the All India Tennis Association and the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA). Supported by the state government, the Solapur municipal corporation and the collector's office, it will be played on the MSLTA courts at the district sports complex from October 11 to 18.

Qualifying matches are on October 11 and 12 and the main draw runs from October 13 to 18. Collector Dr S. Karthikeyan will open the tournament at 5 pm on October 12. Players from nine countries will take part: India, the US, Japan, Tunisia, Thailand, Switzerland, Sweden, Kazakhstan and Nepal.

Garrett Johns of the US is the top seed, with India's Karan Singh seeded second, Tunisia's Aziz Ouakaa third and India's Digvijay Pratap Singh fourth. Arnav Paparkar and Anup Bangargi have been given wildcards into the main draw.

The winner will receive a trophy and 50 ATP points and the runner-up 30. MSLTA honorary secretary Sundar Iyer said the event gives Indian players a chance to earn ATP points and prize money to climb the world rankings. Iran's Neda Kazemi is the ITF supervisor and Rajeev Desai the tournament director.

Source: Navarashtra