The men’s tennis tune-up prior to the 2011 U.S. Open will be moving from New Haven, Connecticut to Winston-Salem, North Carolina starting in August 2011.
The U.S. Tennis Association and Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour announced that the event inclusive of 48 draws would be played in a new tennis facility on Wake Forest’s campus.
Additionally, the event will be held from 21 to 27 August 2011 to serve as a warm up right before the year's final grand slam tournament, replacing the Pilot Pen, which has been played in New Haven for several years.
The Winston-Salem tournament will be held in a new stadium that will include 3,500 seats and a centre court apart from 2 show courts that can hold up to at least 1,500 fans each. In addition, Winston-Salem has hosted a number of Davis Cup matches over the years.
“The two most excited individuals in the room today are probably our two tennis coaches, Jeff Zinn and Jeff Wyshner. They are extremely excited about what these courts will do for our tennis programs at Wake Forest,” stated Athletics director Ron Wellman.
According to Wellman, the completion of the centre court will give rise to one of Wake Forest's best outdoor facilities in the United States. Coach Jeff Zinn has sketches of what the facility will look like and could quite possibly use them while recruiting pitches. Zinn also stated that he believes that having an ATP tournament in his city will contribute to raising the profile of Wake Forest.
Furthermore, Zinn said, “This is huge. It puts us at the top of the ACC, that’s for sure. There are myriad reasons but just having this facility is first and foremost a big deal for our programs. I don’t think the average person understands what the impact of this is,” Zinn said. “For a professional tournament to be coming to Winston-Salem is something I didn’t think would ever happen. Now, I see what it can do for not only the city, for Wake Forest, and obviously my tennis program, but everybody.”
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