SA Tennis Open tickets on sale
20 November 2009
Tickets are on sale for the South African Tennis Open, taking place in Johannesburg from 1 to 7 February 2010. Rising French star Gael Monfils, ranked 13th in the world, has already confirmed his participation in the R3.5-million ATP World Tour Series tournament.
The tournament will take place at Montecasino, which hosted the tournament for the first time earlier this year on purpose-built courts and proved to be a popular venue with the players.
"With all the shops, restaurants and cinemas around them, the players loved the venue and that will help us attract a strong field yet again," said South African Tennis Association (Sata) CEO Ian Smith.
2009 tournament
World top-10-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the 2009 event and enjoyed his experience tremendously.
Not only did he claim the title, but Tsonga, whose father was born in Congo, took an active part in taking the game to young children, visiting Soweto to present a clinic at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Centre.
After the tournament, he said: "I think the tournament was well prepared for a first time edition. Everything was great and the only notable problem for me was the high altitude, but that is the nature of tennis; one has to adapt in different weather conditions."
Monfils enters
Already, Tsonga's fellow-countryman Gael Monfils, who was forced to withdraw just before the 2009 tournament due to injury, has confirmed his participation, keeping his word that he would participate in the 2010 event.
The flamboyant Frenchman has been in good form; this past weekend he made it to the final of the Paris Masters before being edged out by world number three Novak Djokovic in a third-set tie-breaker. That result leaves him in 13th place in the South African Airways ATP rankings.
The South African Open is an ATP World Tour Series 250 tournament, with prize money of R3.5-million on offer. The 250 refers to the number of ATP points up for grabs.
Courts
On Monday, 1 February, Tuesday, 2 February, and Friday, 5 February, matches will be played on two courts – Centre Court and Court One.
For the first two days of the SA Open, there will be two sessions on Centre Court, the first starting at noon followed by the second at 19:00.
There will be just one session on Court One, starting in the early afternoon. Play on the court will take place on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.
All seats on Centre Court will be reserved, while those on Court One will be unreserved. All ticket prices include both sessions.
TICKET PRICES
Monday, 1 Feb and Tuesday, 2 Feb
Wednesday, 3 Feb and Thursday, 4 Feb
Friday, 5 Feb
Saturday, 6 Feb
Sunday, Feb 7
Reasonably priced
"When one compares these prices with those of tickets for other international sporting events in our country, they are more than reasonable," commented Sata chief executive Ian Smith, "especially if one considers that many of the world's best tennis players will be in action playing both singles and doubles during the week.
"If one looks back at the success of last year's event, we anticipate that the crowds will come out in full force for the tournament."
Tickets are available at Computicket countrywide.
Hospitality packages will also be available from Friday, 5 February to Sunday, 7 February through CIRCA Hospitality.
SAinfo reporter
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