Tennis Classic of Macon moves to new site for third year
After a two-year run at Stratford's Jaime Kaplan Tennis Center, the Tennis Classic of Macon, the only professional women's tournament in the state, moves to Mercer's LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center for its third year of play.
Qualifying starts Sunday for the event with a $50,000 purse, and the main draw will begin play Tuesday. Both the singles and doubles champions will be decided Nov. 1.
The tournament director, Eric Hayes, is also the tennis head coach at Mercer.
"When I came here as the tennis coach three years ago, it was always the plan to have the tournament at Mercer," Hayes said. "But three years ago, the facility was not up to par, so we had it at Stratford, and they were a great host. But our facility has been newly landscaped, had permanent stands installed and have also added an electronic scoreboard, which makes it a perfect place to have this tournament.
"None of this would have been possible without our athletic director, Jim Cole, and the entire administration, as well as the generosity of the Copelan family. I just can't tell you how excited I am to get this tournament to the Mercer campus."
The Tennis Classic of Macon serves as the first leg of the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, along with similar events in Waco, Texas, and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The top American player in the three tournaments who does not already have a berth in the Australian Open will get a wild-card spot in the tournament.
There are several players who are in the top 150 heading into this weekend. Anna Tatishvilli is currently ranked 111th and has been ranked as high as No. 50 in her career, and she will be the No. 1 seed. Great Britain's Naomi Broady, who is ranked 122nd, is the No. 2 seed, and Israel's Julia Glushko, who is ranked 127th, is the third seed.
Rounding out the top five seeds are Sachia Vickery, currently ranked 131st in the world, and Jana Cepelova, who is ranked 138the in the world.
Grace Min, a finalist in last year's event, is also in the field.
"This tournament attracts some great tennis players, and the response that we get from the tennis fans of Middle Georgia has been outstanding," Hayes said. "Mercer is one of only three colleges that actually hosts a professional tournament, the others being Baylor and the University of Kentucky, so we are honored to be able to do it. I can see this tournament becoming even bigger in the upcoming years and I would love to see it as a $100,000 event."
Qualifying play starts at 10 a.m. on Sunday and will last throughout the day.
This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Tennis Classic of Macon moves to new site for third year ."