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Somdev Devvarman will lead the charge in Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi.
A new era of Indian tennis is ready to commence on Monday, as the world’s second-most populous nation welcomes a series of ATP Challenger Tour tournaments over the next three weeks.

India’s top-ranked player, former World No. 62 Somdev Devvarman, will be the top seed next week in Chennai and is scheduled to follow the swing to Kolkata and New Delhi as well. While the Aircel Chennai Open, an ATP World Tour 250 level tournament, has been a fixture in India since 1996, it has been six years since the nation hosted a Challenger event.

Devvarman will be joined by countrymen Yuki Bhambri, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and N. Sriram Balaji during the series.

Officially the P.L. Reddy Memorial ATP Challenger, the Chennai tournament is named after the late Davis Cup captain and Secretary of the All India Tennis Association, who was an instrumental figure in promoting Indian tennis.

All events will be held on outdoor hard courts, with the New Delhi Challenger offering the largest purse of $100,000.

The ATP has announced an updated 2015 ATP World Tour calendar, with the weeks determined for the ATP World Tour 250 events in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. Sao Paulo will take place in week 6, while Buenos Aires will take place in week 8.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “We have taken a decision concerning the dates for Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires for 2015. It is a one-year decision, while discussions with both tournaments for 2016 and beyond are already under way as we continue to assess the overall calendar.”

To view the updated 2015 ATP World Tour calendar, click here.

The ATP announced today that the ATP World Tour 250 event in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be relocated to Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2014, following the approval of the tournament’s request by the ATP Board of Directors at its meetings in Monte-Carlo this week. The approval is subject to final agreement of conditions between ATP and the tournament.

Ruslan Linkov, Tournament Representative, said: “After 19 memorable years in St. Petersburg, the time has come for us to take the tournament in a new direction. We are very excited about the opportunities that lie in Tel Aviv and look forward to holding a successful event in September.”

The tournament will take place at the Israel Tennis Centre at Ramat HaSharon from the 15-21 September, 2014, and will offer USD 1,000,000 in prize money. The tournament relocation means that the ATP World Tour will return to Israel for the first time since 1996.

The ATP regrets to announce that the inaugural Negev Israel Open in Tel Aviv, Israel, will not take place in 2014 due to security concerns arising from the military conflict in the region.

The Negev Israel Open had been set to become the first ATP World Tour event in Israel since 1996. The tournament, previously hosted in St. Petersburg, Russia, had been due to take place from 15-21 September.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “We regret the ATP World Tour event in Tel Aviv, Israel, will not take place this year. Sadly, we do not feel we can proceed as planned given the situation in the region. Ensuring the security of our players, fans and all those involved in organising a world-class event, is our number one priority. We hope to be back in Tel Aviv next year. In the meantime, and much more importantly, we hope for a swift return to peace in the region.”

Mr. Asaf Tochmeir, Chairman of the Israeli Tennis Association, said: "We regret the ATP's decision. We at the ITA have done everything to ensure a successful ATP event takes place in Israel. We have raised sufficient funding and have taken care of all organisational requirements.

"On this occasion, I would like to express our most heartfelt concern for the soldiers as well as our condolences for the civilian casualties. We hope to see a swift resolution to the current situation."

MIAMI -- South Florida's biggest tennis tournament is being renamed.

The annual event on Key Biscayne will be known for the next five years as The Miami Open. The Latin American bank Itau is taking over as the event's presenting sponsor.

The tournament had most recently been called the Sony Open. Sony had been in the tournament's name since 2007.

Organizers are hoping to upgrade the tennis facility, with plans -- which have been met with some resistance and led to ongoing court battles -- calling for expansion of the main stadium and other improvements around the grounds.

"We plan on building the future together regardless of what happens there," tournament director Adam Barrett said. "We're committed to the event, we're committed to building the event, we're committed to making improvements every year for both the players, our sponsors and our guests."

One of the top tournaments outside of the Grand Slams, the event started in Delray Beach, Florida in 1985, moved to Boca Raton the following year and then came to Key Biscayne. More than 300,000 tickets are sold annually and matches are broadcast to 193 countries.

"It's an incredible tournament with so much history," women's star Maria Sharapova said in a video promoting the announcement.

Next year's tournament is March 23-April 5. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won the titles on Key Biscayne this year.

Last week, I saw firsthand what small tournaments mean to worldwide tours and local communities when I visited the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport. Bellevue Avenue was bustling as cars filled parking spaces and fans filled cash registers, all while the ATP’s grass-court gurus took one last shot at a title before their road to the US Open became paved with asphalt.

Newport is a 250, the lowest level of ATP tournament in terms of ranking points on offer. The WTA equivalent is an International tournament -- think Bastad and Istanbul, which are taking place this week. There are 32 WTA International and 40 ATP 250 tournaments on this year’s schedules; they are the worker bees of the tours, while the Grand Slams are the CEOs.

Old vs. New
Newport The quaint Newport tournament pits old vs. new in many ways, writes Ed McGrogan. Story »

Although Newport was gleaming as patrons savored its charms and players extolled its history, small tournaments still struggle to compete with the more prestigious events that have come to dominate the tennis landscape. While the rich get richer -- the US Open just announced further prize-money increases to keep up with the Joneses -- tournaments rungs below the majors on the economic ladder often must pay top players to simply show up.

WTA International tournaments face a decidedly uphill battle when it comes to attracting top talent. Their status alone means they offer less ranking points and prize money than Premier-level tournaments, such as Stanford, Montreal and Cincinnati. But let’s say a particular International has its eyes on a top-10 player. That tournament better hope that player hasn’t already competed in another International event in the past six months, for that’s what WTA rules currently limit top 10 players to doing.

And if an International tournament manages to land more than one top 10 player? They must pay a fine of up to $250,000, according to a report in New Zealand.

In tennis, the poor also get poorer.

It delights me to say that the WTA is considering a rule change that would eliminate this needless and onerous edict. The limitation forces tournament directors to pay even greater appearance fees to entice drawing cards, for fear that they’ll choose to play a different International event. “We’ve put in some pretty hefty offers out there,” said Heineken Open tournament director Karl Budge, who could be speaking for nearly all WTA International tournament directors.

Let’s hope that sense, rather than cents, rules the day when the WTA board meets on this issue, one that to my knowledge doesn’t affect the ATP. But the men’s tour can likewise make a change to benefit its smaller tournaments, which can do only so much to sell themselves against other 250s -- and even the bigger 500s.
If you’ve ever looked at how a players’ ATP ranking is calculated, you may have noticed that some tournaments do not count toward their total. David Ferrer, for example, has played six tournaments in the past 12 months -- and earned 290 points from them -- that do not count toward his ranking.

Players who finished the previous season in the top 30 -- called “Commitment players” in the ATP rulebook -- can only count their best six results from tournaments besides the four Grand Slams and eight Masters events toward their ranking, assuming they play all 12 of those events. Commitment players must also play four ATP 500 tournaments -- meaning there is a strong likelihood that they can count only two 250s toward their ranking point total.

Or, in other words, the same number of International tournaments WTA pros can enter every 12 months.

The ATP rankings formula isn’t as clear cut as the WTA’s International tournament restrictions, but in a way, it discourages participation in smaller events. To correct this, all tournaments players enter should count toward their ranking. If that was the case, Ferrer would actually be No. 6 instead of No. 7, in the world.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have played a combined seven ATP 250 tournaments in the past 12 months. Only two count toward their current ranking totals. The Big Four certainly need incentives to commit to a 250, and they certainly shouldn’t be discouraged to play them for any reason.

This may all seem a minor matter, but WTA International and ATP 250 tournaments don’t need additional obstacles to overcome in an environment where the Grand Slams can block out the sun with their towering height. There are eight ATP 250 and six WTA International tournaments in the month of July. The Olympics and World Cup are behind us; basketball and hockey playoffs are over and football hasn’t begun. The summer is tennis’ time to shine. The tours should do their best to make sure all its tournaments have the best chance to do that.

The ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament formerly held in Vina del Mar, Chile, will relocate to Quito, Ecuador, in 2015. The tournament will be contested from 2-8 February, 2015. At its recent New York meetings, the ATP Board recently approved the move subject to a formal written agreement.

The Quito event will be operated by IMLA de Colombia, which also runs the Claro Open Colombia ATP World Tour 250 event in Bogota.

"It’s been a very exiting year for me and our company IMLA to have the opportunity to be part of the new ATP tournament in Quito, Ecuador," said Manuel Mate, president of IMLA de Colombia. "Being from Colombia, Ecuador is our closest neighbor and one with great economic growth, incredible tourist development and an enormous tennis fan base.

"We know this partnership of two countries with two ATP World Tour events and passionate tennis promoters as Fabricio Valdivieso will make tennis grow in our continent. Players and fans alike will love the ATP 250 in Ecuador. Don’t miss it in February 2015.”

CEO ATP Americas Mark Young said, “Welcome to the ATP World Tour to the country of Ecuador and the city of Quito. The ATP World Tour is an international tour, with 62 events in 32 countries in 2015.

“We believe it will be beneficial to the country of Ecuador and the city of Quito, to have a world-class sporting event like this. We hope the event is welcomed with enthusiasm by all the local fans.

"It takes a lot of effort to organise an event like this, so I want to thank several key people. First of all, thank you to the Ecuadorian government for their support and to the Minister of Tourism Sandra Naranjo, Secretary General Vinicio Alvarado, and the Mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas."

The ATP has announced that Geneva will host an ATP World Tour 250 tournament from 2015. The tournament, which relocates from Düsseldorf in Germany, will be staged at the Tennis Club de Genève at the Parc des Eaux-Vives, the oldest and largest tennis club in Switzerland.

The Geneva Open will take place from 16 to 23 May in 2015, returning to the Swiss city for the first time since 1991. Its predecessor, the Barclay Open, was played by some of the greats from the sport including Bjorn Borg (the last title claimed by the Swede), Adriano Panatta and Mats Wilander in the earlier years, and the likes of Thomas Muster, Sergi Bruguera and Swiss Olympic gold medallist Marc Rosset in the latter years.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said, “We’re delighted to welcome an internationally renowned city like Geneva back onto the ATP World Tour from 2015. The Tennis Club de Genève is a beautiful club that carries a lot of history in the sport. This new event will make an excellent addition to the ATP clay court season in the Spring.”

Ion Tiriac & Rainer Schuettler, Tournament Owners, said, "Geneva is a beautiful city and the Tennis Club de Genève is the most traditional Club situated in the wonderful Parc des Eaux-Vives. Not only did it stage a prestigious tournament for years in the 80s, but Swiss tennis in general has produced some of the best players over the years; winners of Grand Slams, Olympic Medals and now competing for the Davis Cup title.

"We are delighted to have the pleasure to organise this new professional tennis tournament together with the close collaboration of the City and Canton of Geneva and the Tennis Club de Genève. Our recent discussions in Geneva have convinced us that all the ingredients are there in order to organise a first class event that will please the fans, players and partners alike."

Sami Kanaan, Mayor of Geneva, said, "I am looking forward to welcoming back an ATP World Tour 250 to the City of Geneva, 24 years after the Barclay Open was organised in the Tennis Club des Eaux-Vives between 1980 and 1991."

Alain Tripod, President of the Tennis Club de Genève, said, “The Tennis-Club de Genève welcomes an ATP 250 with international reach in the wonderful Parc des Eaux-Vives. We are looking forward to working with the experienced organisers and the local authorities in order to continue the tradition of the Club to stage high-level events over its 100 years of history."

The Millennium Estoril Open was presented on Thursday afternoon in Cascais, Portugal, at one of the most important press conferences for Portuguese tennis in recent years. Organisers of the new ATP World Tour 250 tournament brought together public and private institutions, to announce the future of a Portuguese tournament on the ATP World Tour calendar, a tradition since the Tour’s inception in 1990.

In partnership with the Municipality of Cascais, the Millennium Estoril Open will be staged at the Estoril Tennis Club from April 27 – May 3, 2015.

The new era of the tournament starts with the bank Millennium bcp as title sponsor. "In order to launch the new tournament, we needed sound economic fundamentals; Millennium bcp allowed us to establish a platform in this direction and gives us the ability to design the event in the medium and long term, "said João Zilhão, Tournament Director. "We are proud to have such a reputable financial institution as our partner."

“We will also have matches for the first time at night. We are not re-inventing the wheel, but we are allowing people to leave their offices and go see the best tennis games, as, for example, in the Champions League," revealed João Zilhão, indicating that there will be three evening sessions starting at 19:00, which will host matches of the second round and of the quarter-finals on Wednesday to Friday.

The event will take place in week 17 of the ATP World Tour season, alongside the Garanti Koza Istanbul Open, and the BMW Open by FWU AG in Munich.

“This is a great day for Portuguese tennis and the ATP World Tour,” said David Massey, Vice President of ATP Europe.

The press conference was attended by Emídio Guerreiro, Secretary of State for Sport; Carlos Carreira, Mayor of Cascais; Rui Manuel Teixeira, Executive Director of Millennium bcp; Filipe Soares Franco, President of the Estoril Tennis Club; David Massey, Vice President of ATP Europe; and Tournament Director João Zilhão.