ASTANA – The Kazakh capital will host its first-ever Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour 500 tournament on Oct. 9-10, with five of the world’s best tennis players in attendance, reported the Kazakh Tennis Federation’s press service.
The Astana Open became a permanent ATP Tour member this season. Photo credit: but.org.ua
The ATP Tour 500 represents the fourth highest tier of the annual men’s tennis tournament after the Grand Slams, ATP Finals, and the ATP Masters 1000.
The event is relatively new, having been hosted twice as part of the ATP Tour. According to the Kazakh Tennis Federation, a strong lineup of players is expected, including the world’s TOP-10 players.
The top seed, Carlos Alcaraz, followed by Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Hubert Hurkach, Andrey Rublev, Yannick Sinner, Diego Schwartzman, Roberto Bautista Agut, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils, Grand Slam winners Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka will compete for the trophy on the indoor hard courts. The total prize pool is $1.9 million.
Alexander Bublik, Mikhail Kukushkin, Andrey Golubev, and Alexander Nedovesov in doubles will represent Kazakhstan at the prestigious tournament.
After two successful editions in 2020 and 2021, the Astana Open became a permanent ATP Tour member this season. In 2022 it will be staged as an ATP 500 event alongside the Rakuten Open in Tokyo.
