Laurynas Grigelis, one of the best Lithuanian tennis players of all time and a long-time member of the national team, is certain that the ATP Challenger series tournament "Vilnius Open by kevin" to be held in Vilnius SEB Arena in mid-October will be a special celebration for all Lithuanian tennis fans.
In 2011, the Klaipėda native who played in more than ten tournaments of this series during his career. became the city of Aptos (JAV) as the singles champion of the ATP Challenger Series tournament. He says that these tournaments are in every sense quite different from the ITF World tennis tour (formerly Futures) series competitions held in Lithuania so far.
"The differences can be seen at every step. Much more capable and professional players, their approach to preparation, nutrition, recovery after matches is different. Tower and line judges, ball servers in every match. The equal capacity of the players means tense and emotional matches from the first day of the tournament. Finally, ATP as an organization, in my opinion, is much more demanding of the tournament organizers than the International Tennis Federation, which organizes World tennis tour competitions", says L. Grigelis. According to him, all this results in additional workload and work for the tournament organizers.
"From an organizational point of view, the President's Cup tournament held in Vilnius, comparing it with other ITF Futures series competitions, was of a really high level. I can say the same about the Davis Cup competition in our country. Therefore, I am confident that "Vilnius Open by kevin." will go smoothly. It is a pity that the pains in my side that will not go away will not allow me to come to Vilnius. To play in the ATP Challenger Series tournament in Lithuania has been my old dream".
Ramūnas Grušas, head of SEB Arena, also implicitly supports L. Grigel.
"Various ITF tournaments, Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup competitions have been held in Lithuania for many years. As competition organizers, we are already used to a certain standard of quality. However, when communicating with ATP and preparing for the first tournament of this organization's Challenger series, not only in Lithuania, but also in the Baltic countries, you very clearly understand that the focus of attention of ATP is on players. Organizers are left with enough freedom to design, promote the tournament, communicate with sponsors. However, the conditions that must be ensured for the players - training and rest conditions, accommodation, transportation, meals - are described down to the smallest detail," says R. Grušas.
According to him, the first thoughts to organize a competition of this level in Vilnius arose back in 2018.
"One of the most difficult things when organizing a new ATP Challenger Series tournament is finding a suitable and sufficiently free week in the ATP calendar. In our case, the third week of October has been reserved for Vilnius since 2018. It's a pity that the coronavirus pandemic prevented us from holding the competition earlier, and later we decided to prepare even better for the tournament by expanding the SEB arena. I believe that we are now fully prepared to fulfill all the wishes and expectations of the ATP and the players who come to us".
"I think that the ATP Challenger tournament in terms of quality and organization is closer to the Davis Cup than to the ITF World tennis tour tournaments. However, in the World Team Championship you can see 6 or 8 players at best, and in the ATP Challenger Series tournament, if you count the qualifiers, there will be almost 50. The vast majority of them will be of similar ability and will be highly motivated. I'm talking about both ATP points and the opportunity to improve your position in the ranking, as well as the money in the prize fund," says L. Grigelis.
The "Vilnius Open by kevin" prize fund will have a little more than 45. euros, and the winner of the tournament will receive 80 ATP ranking points. R. Gruš reveals that the organizers had to pay ATP 15 percent. the amount of the prize fund when applying, and transfer all prize fund funds to this organization 2 months before the start of the tournament.
The matches of the tournament, which will be held on October 17-23, will be played on two courts of the SEB Arena, and two more courts will be additionally dedicated to the training of tennis players. At the request of the ATP, the center court will be equipped with the equivalent of the Hawk eye system, which records the exact point of contact of the ball with the tennis court.
During the tournament, its participants will occupy 97 hotel rooms located in the arena building. Accommodation and catering services will be fully paid for the athletes.
