NEWPORT — The Infosys Hall of Fame Open is expanding in 2025.
Newport’s professional tennis tournament held at Newport Casino every summer will include a women’s draw starting next year. The men’s ATP 250-level tournament in Newport will be dropped after this week’s conclusion and replacing it is a joint ATP Challenger 125 and WTA 125 tournament. The new tournament format will have equal prize money and still include the doubles draw.
The new tournament will be hosted from July 6-13, which coincides with the second week of Wimbledon.
“We're excited about celebrating actually the sport of tennis during that time,” Hall of Fame CEO Dan Faber said during Wednesday’s press conference. “It's going to be more than just matches out there on our incredible grass courts. It will include other celebratory types of things around tennis, just really highlighting the game and highlighting what that means for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.”
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be pushed back till August to accommodate the expanded tourney. The hall will also add two more competition courts for five total as the weeklong tournament doubles in size.
“I always feel honored and privileged to come back, so it's an honor to be here again,” said former WTA player and Rhode Island native Jill Craybas said. “The fact that the women are coming back is something special to hear. The opportunities given to all these players to be able to have and can come here and actually experience this beautiful club is always really special for me.”
“I can't imagine what it's going to look like with roughly 80-90 players competing on five courts for a week,” Hall of Fame Open tournament director Brewer Rowe said. “It will be more tennis for a longer period of time. As you know, as we reach the back half of the week the number of matches is greatly reduced. But with the two draws, it's going to be super exciting, and the content will be strong throughout the weekend.”
The last women’s tournament hosted at Newport Casino was the Virginia Slims of Newport Invitation in 1998. Rowe said the ATP and WTA tours approved the format this past spring.
“We knew immediately at the Hall of Fame we had to replace [the 250 tournament],” Faber said. “We had to come up with something and that's why working with the two tours was beneficial for us.”
Round of 16 update
Reilly Opelka upset last year’s winner and tournament top seed Adrian Mannarino, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, on Wednesday.
Opelka is recently removed from hip surgery and is playing in just his third match since 2022. The American edged Mannarino, ranked 25th in the world, with three straight points in the final set. Opelka, who was ranked as high as 17 in 2022, advances to face Mackenzie McDonald in the quarterfinals.
McDonald topped Billy Harris in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, and Alex Michelsen, last year’s runner-up, advanced in consecutive frames against Maxime Cressy, 6-4, 6-4. Aleksandar Kovacevic downed Arthur Rinderknech, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, and faces Michelsen in the quarterfinals.
On X: @ByJacobRousseau
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