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The Erste Bank Open in Vienna will operate as an ATP World Tour 500 tournament in 2015, in the place of the Valencia Open which will run as an ATP World Tour 250 tournament, the ATP announced on Wednesday. The move comes following a request from both tournaments, which was approved by the ATP Board of Directors at its meetings in Barcelona last week.

The Erste Bank Open will take place in its existing week in 2015, meaning there will be back-to-back weeks with ATP World Tour 500 events, with Vienna followed by Basel. The agreement marks a return to an elevated status for the Vienna tournament which, prior to 2009, was held as an International Series Gold event, the equivalent to today's 500 status.

Herwig Straka, Tournament Director of the Erste Bank Open, said, "This an enormous step forward in the tournament’s history. The Erste Bank Open is one of the top sports events in Austria. Our focus is now on continuing the successful development of the tournament and making it even more unique for fans, players and sponsors."

The Valencia Open will continue take place at the state-of-the-art Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias in its existing week in 2015, as an ATP World Tour 250 event alongside the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tournament Director of the Valencia Open, said, "Our objective now is to organise the best Open 250 at the same unique venue at the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias thanks to our agreement with the Government of Valencia."

2016 season includes Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro
The ATP has released the 2016 ATP World Tour calendar following approval by the ATP Board of Directors. The 2016 ATP World Tour will feature 62 tournaments in 31 countries across six continents, in addition to the four Grand Slams and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
View Calendar (PDF)
The 2016 calendar sees the ATP retain its strongest foothold in the traditional markets of Europe and North America. In addition, recent developments are consolidated, with the extended grass-court season before Wimbledon continuing after a highly successful opening year in 2015. The four-week South American swing remains in February, highlighted by the ATP World Tour 500 event in Rio de Janeiro. And China continues to host ATP events across the ATP World Tour 250, 500 and Masters 1000 categories during the three-week Asia swing in the autumn.
“The ATP World Tour is one of sport’s few truly global sports properties, attracting approximately 4.5 million fans on-site, and more than 880 million dedicated TV viewers throughout the season,” said Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President. “Men’s professional tennis is enjoying unprecedented success thanks to an amazing generation of players as well as the strength of our global platform of tournaments. The 2016 calendar will continue to set a tremendous stage for the drama to unfold as the world’s greatest athletes strive for the ultimate prize of finishing as the year-end ATP World Tour No. 1.”
The inclusion of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro necessitates a two-week gap between the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Toronto takes place in week 31 and Cincinnati moves to week 34, with the Claro Open Colombia taking place in week 33 alongside the Olympic Games. The BB&T Atlanta Open in Atlanta moves to week 32.
“The inclusion of the Olympic Games every fourth year adds some challenges. We believe we have found the best possible outcome in what is an unavoidably congested period during the 2016 summer,” said Kermode.
The tournament category status of Vienna / Valencia for 2016 will be determined later this year. In addition, a separate announcement concerning the future of the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will follow in due course.

The ATP announced on Wednesday that the ATP World Tour will enter Sofia, Bulgaria, for the first time following the approval by its Board of Directors to relocate the tournament in Zagreb, Croatia, to the Bulgarian capital beginning in 2016. The first ever ATP World Tour event in Bulgaria will be played indoors on hard from 1 to 7 February in 2016.

The Garanti Koza Sofia Open will be staged at the Arena Armeec Sofia, Bulgaria’s leading sports and entertainment venue.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said: “Bulgaria has already made its mark on the ATP World Tour through its star player, Grigor Dimitrov, but we are delighted to be able to meet the demand for professional tennis that has been generated in the country. As we add an important market such as Bulgaria to our global footprint, the ATP World Tour will be set to take place across 32 countries in 2016.”

Stefan Tzvetkov, President of the Bulgarian Tennis Federation, said: "The Bulgarian Tennis Federation, in partnership with Garanti Koza, is thrilled to host an ATP event in Sofia, bringing Bulgarian tennis fans the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world competing for an ATP World Tour title in Sofia. We look forward to great tennis at the Arena Armeec Sofia for many years to come!"

The tournament’s first edition will take place in week 6 of the 2016 ATP World Tour, alongside the Open Sud de France in Montpellier and the Ecuador Open Quito.

The Board of Directors also approved the relocation of its tournament in Morocco from Casablanca to Marrakech, taking place from 4 to 11 April 2016.

The updated 2016 ATP World Tour calendar can be found here.

Mexico to host ATP World Tour event in 2016

The ATP announced on Wednesday that Bogota’s ATP World Tour 250 tournament would be transferred to Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, following acquisition of the event by Grupo Pegaso.

The ATP Board of Directors at its meetings in London this week approved the tournament transfer. Executives of Grupo Pegaso and Imla de Colombia signed the agreement, which delivers a second ATP World Tour tournament to Mexico.

With this partnership, Grupo Pegaso reaffirms its commitment to Mexico's development in the sport industry by delivering and organizing high quality events, and further consolidation of men’s professional tennis in México.

The Abierto Mexicano 250 Los Cabos, will have a total financial commitment of nearly US$800,000, ranking as the highest in its category in the Americas Region. The new hard court tournament will take place from August 8 to August 14 in the 2016 season and will become part of North America's Summer Tour.

Solaz Los Cabos developed by Sordo Madaleno Architects, will host this magnificent tournament. Every aspect of this Starwood Luxury collection Hotel provides comfort and exclusivity to satisfy guests and spectators, which symbolizes the commitment of Quinta del Golfo de Cortez Group, owners of the resort.

The Abierto Mexicano 250 Los Cabos will live up to its name, showing the world the unique natural beauty of this gorgeous site, considered one of Mexico's most important tourist destinations.

“The Los Cabos Tourism Board is delighted to have the opportunity to host the ATP World Tour 250, and we are proud of the trust the ATP has given us. Bringing the tournament to Los Cabos will reinforce Los Cabos’ reputation as a world-class venue for professional sporting events, as well as an extraordinary destination for luxurious leisure pursuits, for which we are already renowned. We’re grateful to the Secretariat of Tourism and the Baja California Sur state government for their part in bringing this sponsorship to fruition; as well as to the Los Cabos Hotel Association, and Time-share Developers Association for their additional support” stated Patricio Burillo, Chairman of the Board of Grupo Pegaso.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “The ATP World Tour features 62 tournaments in 31 countries, showcasing the world’s best athletes competing in many of the world’s greatest destinations. We’re delighted to welcome Los Cabos to the ATP World Tour. We look forward to the inaugural tournament in 2016, and many successful years ahead.”

After purchasing the tournament from Los Angeles, Imla de Colombia produced the event for the last three years in Bogota. “It has been a great opportunity for Colombia to showcase our country throughout the world. It comes with mixed feelings to transfer our event to Los Cabos where we believe it will grow to be a great event representing Mexico internationally” said Manuel Mate, Bogota’s former tournament director.

Grupo Pegaso will continue to support Mexican players with wild cards. Further details will be announced later.

ABOUT GRUPO PEGASO

Grupo Pegaso begins operations in 1994 with the purpose of promoting projects with strong social commitment, which over time delivers global importance for Mexico in the most dynamic sectors of the economy. Concentrating its activity in the telecommunications, advertising, sports and technology sectors.