The first Challenger Series (international men’s tournament) ever held by a Japanese university
Keio University is to host the “Keio Challenger International Tennis Tournament 2007”, an international
men’s tennis tournament, to commemorate its upcoming 150th anniversary in 2008. The tournament will be a Challenger Series event* officially recognized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
As such, it will attract up-and-coming tennis professionals from around the world, who will vie to gain tournament points on their way to the top of their profession. Match results in this tournament will also affect world rankings. Although one tournament in the Challenger Series is already held in Japan, this will be the first hosted by a university. This tournament, the long-cherished desire of the Japanese tennis world in its wish to nurture talented tennis players, is expected to add major impetus to the growth of university tennis in this country.
During the tournament, we will also hold tennis clinics with guidance by professional Japanese tennis
players, Shuzo Matsuoka and Tsuyoshi Fukui.
We hope you will be able to publish details of this tournament and report on its day-to-day progress.
Tournament Outline
● Tournament name Keio University 150th Anniversary Event “Keio Challenger International Tennis
Tournament 2007”
● Host organization Keio University
● Accreditation ATP, Japan Tennis Association, Kanto Tennis Association, Kanagawa Tennis
Association
● Support bodies The Keio University Tennis Club, The Keio Tennis of Mita-kai (Alumni Association)
● Special sponsors Suntory Limited., Mizuno Corporation, Tokyu Sports System Co., Ltd.
● Sponsors Enoteca Co., Ltd., Windsor Trading Co, Ltd. Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
Royal Doulton Japan.K.K.
● Schedule Qualifiers:
Saturday Nov. 17 – Sunday Nov. 18, 2007
Singles – 32 players, Doubles – 4 pairs
Main Draw: Monday Nov. 19 – Sunday Nov. 25, 2007
Singles – 32 players, Doubles – 16 pairs
Tennis Clinics: Friday Nov. 23, 2007 Shuzo Matsuoka
Sunday Nov. 25, 2007 Tsuyoshi Fukui (Bridgestone Sports)
For more details of the clinics and applications to take part, please visit the website mentioned below.
● Total prize money US$35,000
● Venue Mamushidani Tennis Court (hard court), Hiyoshi Campus, Keio University
(4-1-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture / 5 minutes on foot
from Hiyoshi Station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line)
● Spectators Free
● Website http://www.keio-challenger.com/
● Secretariat
c/o The Keio University Tennis Club, 4-1-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama,
Kanagawa Prefecture 〒223-8521
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 080-1275-9120 Fax: 045-562-2989
Comment by Tournament Director Toshiaki Sakai (Chief Coach, Keio University Tennis Club)
It is thanks to the fantastic help and support of everyone involved that we are now able to hold this Challenger Tournament. This event will not only offer increased opportunities for top professionals in Japan, but will bring student tennis players into direct contact with the international game, creating a new movement of students from universities onto the world stage. If this tournament can achieve these goals, I believe it will result in the growth of student tennis, as well as tennis in Japan as a whole. For the students of Keio University, meanwhile, being involved in running an event like this will also be a most valuable experience. We will make every effort to ensure the success of this tournament.
* Challenger Series
Selected tournaments that are ranked below Official Tour-level tournaments and offer total prize money ranging from $25,000 to $125,000. They are held in more than 40 countries and are contested by players ranked between approximately 100 and 300 in the world. Only one such tournament has been held in Japan until now (the Shimadzu All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships, otherwise known as the Kyoto Challenger). This tournament will be the first held by a university.
Inquiries: Ms. Kawagoe, Office of Communications and Public Relations, Keio University
TEL: ＋81-3-5427-1541 E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.keio.ac.jp/
