The Eastbourne International is set to become a combine event once again after the ATP confirmed the relocation of the Nottingham event to the seaside venue.
The tournament, which has hosted a women’s tournament annually since 1974, was the previous host of the 250 event between 2009-2014. Previous male champions in Eastbourne include Andy Roddick, Feliciano Lopez (twice) and Michael Llodra.
Since 2014, Nottingham has hosted an ATP 250 event at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. From 2017, the city will no longer host the tournament, however, they will hold a brand new $100,000 challenger event on grass as well as a women’s tournament.
The chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), Michael Downey, spoke about the changes in the calendar.
“This is all about delivering a bigger and better set of grass court tournaments for the players and our fans,” He said.
“Ultimately, we want to jump-start the important summer season of participation by trying to ‘own the month of June’ with an extensive and high-quality series of major tennis events to help inspire more people to pick up a racket and play tennis.
“At the same time, this new look calendar will help optimise the players’ preparation for competing in the world’s premier tennis tournament – The Championships, Wimbledon.”
The 2017 combined event in Eastbourne will feature a 28-player main draw in the men’s tournament and 48 in the women’s
According to the LTA, from 2017 the British grass court season will be the following:-
June 5-11 (week 1)
Aegon Surbiton Trophy (ITF Women’s Pro-Circuit & ATP Challenger event)
June 12-18 (week 2)
Combined WTA International Aegon Open Nottingham & Aegon Nottingham Trophy (ATP Challenger)
Aegon Manchester Trophy (ITF Women’s Pro-Circuit)
June 19-25 (week 3)
Aegon Championships, London (ATP World Tour 500 event)
Aegon Classic, Birmingham (WTA Premier)
Aegon Ilkley Trophy (ITF Women’s Pro-Circuit & ATP Challenge)
June 26 – July 1 (week 4)
Aegon International (combined WTA Premier & ATP World Tour 250 event)
Wimbledon Qualifying,
July 3-16 (week 5 & 6)
The Championships, Wimbledon
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