The men's tennis tuneup before the U.S. Open is moving from New Haven, Conn., to Winston-Salem, N.C., starting in August.
The 48-player event will take place in a new tennis facility on the Wake Forest campus, the U.S. Tennis Association and ATP World Tour announced Monday. It'll be held Aug. 21-27 and serve as the final warmup before year's final Grand Slam tournament.
It replaces the event that has been held in New Haven for many years and had been known as the Pilot Pen until that company ended its sponsorship agreement this fall.
The women's tournament, now called the New Haven Open at Yale, will continue to be held the same week in Connecticut.
''Winston-Salem is thrilled at the opportunity to host this tournament,'' Mayor Allen Joines said in a statement. ''The community has a rich tennis history and we have a long tradition of supporting tennis. It is great to see Wake Forest and the corporate community partnering in such an innovative way.''
Winston-Salem businessman Don Flow, who helped bring several Davis Cup events to town in front of capacity crowds at Joel Coliseum in recent years, spearheaded the effort to get the tournament and find funding for the outdoor facility.
It'll include a center court with seating of at least 3,500 and two more show courts that will hold at least 1,500 fans. The facility will be used the rest of the year by the Wake Forest men's and women's tennis teams.
BB&T Bank, Hanes Brands and the Flow Companies have committed sponsorship dollars, although no title sponsor was announced Monday.
''The entire community will embrace this event and the process has already begun with our corporate community stepping up, and with Wake Forest University being a major supporter of the event,'' Flow said.
The tournament brings the ATP to North Carolina, although many top players take the week off before the start of a Grand Slam. Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in this year's Pilot Pen final.
