Editorial: Pro tennis is back, big time

Monday, Dec. 5, 2005 | 8:28 a.m.

The 23-court Amanda Darling Memorial Tennis Center opened in September at Washington Buffalo Park in Las Vegas.

In October the news got even more exciting as the Tennis Channel announced it was moving its professional tournament there from Scottsdale, Ariz.

The news just keeps getting better. The Tennis Channel showed last week that it is committed to attracting top players. It will pay Andy Roddick an undisclosed appearance fee to be the tournament's headliner. Roddick is the No. 1 player in the United States and is ranked No. 3 in the world.

This is good news for Southern Nevada, which hasn't hosted a top professional tennis tournament since 1985, when the Alan King Tennis Classic last played at Caesars Palace. Other top professionals who have committed to play in the Tennis Channel Open (Feb. 27 to March 5) are German Tommy Haas and Americans Robby Ginepri (17th in the world), James Blake, Mardy Fish, Vince Spadia and the reigning doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan.

Anyone who follows the sport will recognize this as an impressive lineup, one that has the makings of a fine tournament that will put Las Vegas back on the map in the tennis world.

We appreciate the Tennis Channel's commitment to this tournament. It used to draw top players in Scottsdale and we see that happening here as well.