Thanasi Kokkinakis, 2024 Sarasota Open Champion. Provided photo.

Professional tennis has touched down in Sarasota. The Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open is currently underway at the Sarasota Sports Club and is set to finish on Saturday, April 13. The tournament, which has been held in the area since 2008, is one of the stops on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour, the second-highest tier of tennis competition behind the ATP Tour.

While the Challenger Tour is technically a tier below that of the ATP Tour—which includes tournaments such at the US Open, Wimbledon and the French Open—the competition is just as intense. Players in the Challenger Tour are often either at the beginning of their professional careers, ATP Tour players recovering from injury or former stars seeking to get back to the top level of professional tennis. Past singles winners of the Sarasota Open include world no. 17 player Frances Tiafoe (2017) and world no. 13 Tommy Paul (2019). Last year’s singles winner Thanasi Kokkinakis earned a spot in the 2024 French Open with his victory.

“One of the things that I’m very proud of with this tournament is that we have launched the careers of a lot of players that are just starting on the tour,” says tournament co-owner and title sponsor Elizabeth Moore. “I remember handing the trophy to Frances Tiafoe in 2017 and today he was on the television in the clubhouse playing in the Monte-Carlo Masters.”

Top singles players in this year’s tournament include world no. 134 Eliot Spizzirri, world no. 138 Federico Agustin Gomez and world no. 141 Mitchell Krueger. The top doubles team consists of Americans Robert Cash and JJ Tracy, currently ranked 134th in the world.

2025 marks the first time that the tournament has been held at the Sarasota Sports Club, after operating in Payne Park since 2019. The venue, which the tournament will call home for the next decade, positions the Open to become one of, if not the premier event on the Challenger Tour.

“It’s a hugely successful tournament this year,” says Moore. “It’s expanded from what we used to do at Payne Park. The most important thing is that we have two ATP regulation-size courts that are 130 feet long. We’ve fixed up more of the courts and revamped the clubhouse as well. We’re aiming for continuous improvement over the next 10 years.”

Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open, April 7 to 13, Sarasota Sports Club, 3600 Torrey Pines Blvd

Thanasi Kokkinakis, 2024 Sarasota Open Champion. Provided photo.

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