Leading international tennis professionals will be looking to earn valuable ATP points at the fourth Zurich Jalisco Open, scheduled at Guadalajara’s Centro Panamericano de Tenis from Tuesday, March 25 to Sunday, March 30.
The Jalisco Open is steadily gaining a reputation in the tennis world, and in this country is second only in prestige to the Mexican Open, which takes place each February in Acapulco.
Many of the world’s top players now regard the Jalisco Open as an important stopover on the ATP Tour. Whereas the highest ranking player to participate in 2011 was ranked 129th in the world, the top-ranked player this year is Matthew Ebden of Australia – 62nd. The lowest raked player in the draw in 2014 (excluding pre-qualifiers) is ranked 144th – compared with 467th in 2011.
With 100,000 dollars in prize money up for grabs, the tournament has attracted a a half-dozen players in the world’s top 100.The winner of the 32-player singles competition collects 110 ATP points and pockets 14,400 dollars.
Last year’s winner, Alex Bogomolov Jr. from Russia, will defend his crown. He is currently 92nd in the world rankings.
Several Canadian and U.S. players are participating, including Rajeev Ram of the United States, last year’s runner-up.
Built for the 2011 Pan American Games, the Centro Panamericano de Tenis adjoining the Parque Metropolitano boasts an excellent stadium court for 2,700 spectators. The final of last year’s Jalisco Open sold out and organizers hope more people will attend the earlier rounds of the 2014 event. The complex has eight other hard courts with a capacity for 1,000 spectators.
Stadium court tickets range in price from 50-110 pesos on the first three days of play. They sell for 90-130 pesos on Friday, March 28; 70-160 pesos on Saturday, March 29; and 80 -220 pesos on Sunday, March 30 (finals day). VIP tickets cost from 140-300 pesos, depending on the day. Tickets may be purchased through Ticketmaster at (33) 3818-3800 or at the center’s box office throughout the tournament. The underground car park has 450 spaces and costs 50 pesos per day.
Games are scheduled each day at 2, 4, 6 and 8:30 p.m., except on Sunday, when the doubles final begins at noon and the singles final at 2 p.m.
In addition to food stalls, there will be a commercial zone and exhibitions of paddle tennis at various times of the day.
The event is organized by Ochoa Sports Management, headed by Alejandro Ochoa Reyes, the brother of former world number one female golfer Lorena Ochoa.
For more details visit http://jalisco-open.com.