ATP Tour to Return to Israel in September

The ATP Tour will return to Israel in September, allergist for the first time in 19 years.

Israel is back on the international tennis map after the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour announced a tournament in Israel later this year. Tel Aviv will inherit the tournament that has been played in St Petersburg, unhealthy Russia, ed for the past 19 years. The event will take place at the Israel Tennis Center in Ramat Hasharon on September 15^th to 21^st. The center is a regular Davis Cup venue, but has not staged an ATP event since 1996. 

Tournament representative Ruslan Linkov said: “After 19 memorable years in St Petersburg, the time has come for us to take the tournament in a new direction. We are very excited about the opportunities that lie in Tel Aviv and look forward to holding a successful event in September.” 

Israeli-Georgian billionaire, Mikhael Mirilashvili, who is based in Israel and Russia, provided much of the funding for the event in St. Petersburg in recent years and is believed to be behind the decision to relocate the tournament due to the political situation in Ukraine and the disappointing income generated in Russia in past years.

Saint Petersburg has been an ATP event since 1995 with winners including Britain’s Andy Murray, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin.