NUR-SULTAN – The ATP 250 Astana Open Tennis Tournament kicks off Oct. 26 at the National Tennis Center in Nur-Sultan, reported the press service of Kazakhstan Tennis Federation.
Photo credit: Mail.ru.
The qualification games were held last Sunday with 32 participants in the draw being seeded. The finals will take place on Nov. 1. The total prize pool for the tournament is $275,000.
The team of Kazakh tennis players includes the sixth seat Alexander Bublik, member of the Kazakhstan Davis Cup and Mikhail Kukushkin, Dmitriy Popko and Timofey Skatov, who received a wild card and were allowed to participate by the organizers.
The Astana Open participants also include the World’s No. 27 Benoit Paire, Miomir Kecmanovic (39), Adrian Mannarino (41), John Millman (44), Tennys Sandgren (48), Fernando Verdasco, Francis Tiafoe and other tennis players.
“We planned to organize the ATP tournament in Kazakhstan for several years. We hope the audience will enjoy the games and the players will have the opportunity to improve their positions in the world rankings so that the tournament gets a permanent Kazakh residence permit,” said Vice President of Kazakhstan Tennis Federation Yuriy Polskiy.
The games are subject to strict security measures due to the coronavirus pandemic. All games are to be played without spectators. Live broadcasting is presented by the Qazsport TV channel. Overseas broadcasting will be provided through the Eurosport channel.
