Not all about the money

Egdes, the tournament director, would be thrilled if Andy Roddick, the top American in men’s tennis, would come to Las Vegas.

But the reality is the Tennis Channel Open doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to compete with the Barclays Dubai Championships. The two tournaments are going head-to-head this week, and Egdes can’t pay seven-figure appearance fees to lure Federer or Nadal from Dubai. Nor can he offer prize money similar to the $1.4 million available at Dubai.

Instead, Egdes is trying to make his tournament work with some good players, the lure of Las Vegas, some fun events and $436,000 in prize money.

“We’re very comfortable within our own skin,” Egdes said of his weeklong, single-elimination tournament that begins Monday at the Darling Tennis Center and will be worth $68,800 to the March 9 winner. “This is a unique event. For the nontraditional fan, this is a great way for them to be introduced to the sport.

“But we’re also proud of our tennis tournament. We have a strong field, and a lot of excellent players, which the hard-core fan will appreciate.”

The field, which includes Chilean star Fernando Gonzalez and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, lacks megastar power. Gonzalez, at No. 14, is the highest-ranked ATP player competing and is seeded No. 1. Only three of the ATP’s top 20 players are in the tournament: Gonzalez, No. 18 Lleyton Hewitt and No. 20 Baghdatis.

The tournament figures to get off to an explosive start Monday when Hewitt, the defending champion, faces Marat Safin in the first round at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s semifinal won by Hewitt in straight sets.

Egdes couldn’t get Roddick and James Blake to play. But he convinced Sam Querrey and John Isner, two of the rising stars in American tennis, to compete.

Querrey, 20, ranked No. 63, reached the quarterfinals of the tournament last year, losing to Evgeny Korolev. Isner, a 6-foot-9-inch, 22-year-old who was an All-American at Georgia and is ranked No. 93, has a wild-card invitation and is making his Las Vegas debut.

Isner found instant fame last year when he won the first set in a tiebreaker against Federer in the third round of the U.S. Open before dropping the next three.

Bob and Mike Bryan, the world’s No. 1 doubles team, will return to defend the title they have won for two straight years.

Egdes said advance ticket sales are on a similar pace to the first two years — 39,000 attended last year and 40,600 in 2006. The key, he said, will be the weather.

Last year, most of the matches were played in conditions better suited for football. But with the tournament being pushed back a week by the ATP because of the 2008 Olympics in August, Egdes is counting on weather more conducive to tennis.

“We can’t control it, but the forecasts I’m hearing sound very positive,” he said. “If we get good weather, I think we’ll do well.”

History might be on his side. The average high temperature for this week a year ago was 71.1 degrees. Last year’s average high during the tournament was 60.2 degrees, with a low of 41.4 at night. The forecast for this week calls for average highs in the upper 60s to low 70s with sunny skies and light winds.

The “Tennispalooza” concept, which tournament founder Steve Bellamy used in 2006, remains in place for the most part. That means, along with the ATP Tour event, there is paddle tennis, air hockey tournaments, foosball and skills competitions to whet the fans’ appetite for entertainment.

“I think with the smaller tournaments like this one, you have to do things a little different,” Hewitt said. “Las Vegas is a different city. There’s a carnival feel to it. So to have things like the paddle tennis and the other events, it makes it fun for everyone.”

Last fall, the tournament signed a new four-year deal with the City of Las Vegas to remain at the Darling Center through 2011, though there is an opt-out clause for the tournament after each year.

“As long as we’re getting the support and things work out, we intend to be here,” Egdes said.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.