San Diego Open men’s tennis tournament ‘a huge success’ in Point Loma
The $600,000 ATP 250 event at Barnes Tennis Center was the first of its kind in San Diego.
The $600,000 San Diego Open, an ATP 250 men’s tennis tournament at Barnes Tennis Center in Point Loma that was the first of its kind in San Diego, was organized in six weeks instead of the typical year due to tour schedule changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But it was the second-strongest ATP 250 tournament of the season, based on player rankings. ATP 250 is part of the ATP Tour, a global top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
“It’s a miracle, a huge success,” said Open tournament director Ryan Redondo, general manager of Barnes Tennis Center and chief executive of Youth Tennis San Diego.
Attendance throughout the week-long event, which began Sept. 27, “exceeded our expectations,” Redondo said. “Every single day there was a ton of support for the players.”
The tournament ended Oct. 3 with Norway’s Casper Ruud winning the singles championship over Britain’s Cameron Norrie before a sellout crowd of about 2,000.
With his 6-0, 6-2 victory, Ruud, 22, earned $92,515 plus 250 points in the ATP rankings.
Ruud earned his fifth title of the year, a tour high, a day after defeating Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 while playing a hard-court semifinal match for the first time. All of his previous titles came on clay.
Norrie, 26, a South Africa native, went into the final off a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 semifinal upset of top-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia.
In doubles, the top-seeded British duo of Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski beat Australia’s John Peers and Slovakia’s Filip Polasek 7-6 (2), 3-6, 10-5.
The San Diego Open operated on a one-year contract, and “we want to bring this tournament back,” Redondo said. “Our intentions have been to put on the best event possible to impress the players, the ATP
supervisors, the community and tennis world, all to say, ‘Why not San Diego?’”
Norrie said he enjoyed the setting. “Everyone loves playing here and competing in California, especially this area. We’re close to the beach and the weather’s been perfect. I’d definitely like to come back.”
— Point Loma-OB Monthly staff contributed to this report.