Tennis tourney could be gone

A month to the day after the Tennis Channel Open championship match was played at the Darling Tennis Center, the future of the event became increasingly cloudy after the Tennis Channel sold the tournament to the ATP.

An official announcement will be made today, but Tennis Channel chairman and chief executive officer Ken Solomon said Wednesday the transaction should not be seen as a sign that Las Vegas isn't a good fit for professional tennis.

He said even if the ATP, the governing body for the men's tour, does not return the tournament to the city, other events similar to last month's successful Pete Sampras-Roger Federer exhibition in New York could find homes in Las Vegas.

"The reason we're selling the Tennis Channel Open has nothing to do with the strength of partnership with the city," Solomon said. "Whether or not this ultimately stays in Las Vegas, we do believe it's a great city for tennis."

The ATP has not made public whether it intends to return to Las Vegas.

Solomon said the Tennis Channel reached the decision to sell because of scheduling changes on the men's and women's tours next year that will put more events on its network, including three of the four Grand Slams.

Solomon said the schedule changes don't appear to be temporary, so the network decided to concentrate resources on its primary objective of putting together quality broadcasts and not spending time operating a tournament.

The Tennis Channel Open struggled at the gate all three years in Las Vegas. The network bought the event from IMG in February 2005, renamed it and moved it from Scottsdale, Ariz.

Two factors made this year's title match a particularly tough sell to locals. The cheapest ticket went for $70, and upsets during the tournament pitted two far-from-household names in Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson for the title in front of about a half-full stadium.

Querrey won his first ATP title, beating a player who had to go through qualifying to make the field.

Even with low attendance, Solomon insisted the Tennis Channel was happy with the tournament's progress, pointing out even traditionally successful events often are played in front of rows and rows of empty seats.

"We didn't think we could fill the seats every day," Solomon said. "We did not get into this because we were going to get out at some point. It wasn't a three-year plan.

"We got into it really with a sense of purpose. We are truly thrilled with how it worked."

Now the ATP will have to see if it is thrilled enough to return the tournament to Las Vegas or start again elsewhere.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.