New director, name, and logo for Memphis Open
October 29, 2014
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The USTA today announced that the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships has been renamed the Memphis Open, and that Erin Mazurek will serve as the event’s tournament director. The 2015 tournament will be played February 9-15 at The Racquet Club of Memphis in Memphis, Tenn.
The USTA partnered with The Racquet Club of Memphis, which has hosted the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships since 1977, to purchase the tournament from San Jose-based Sharks Sports & Entertainment. Renamed the Memphis Open, the event will again be an ATP World Tour 250 tournament, with a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw.
New tournament director Mazurek previously served as tournament director for the USTA Pro Circuit’s Dow Corning Tennis Classic, a $100,000 women’s event in Midland, MI., from 2002-09. She has spent the last five years with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and Olympia Entertainment in Detroit, as a director of private event sales. Mazurek earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northwood University, also in Midland, Mich.
“After purchasing this event, the USTA and its partners at The Racquet Club of Memphis want to create a much closer association between the tournament and the great city of Memphis,” said USTA Executive Director Gordon Smith. “This is a tournament with a rich history, much like its host city, and we want this event to reflect the energy and vitality of Memphis while presenting world-class tennis to this area’s great fans. I know that Erin—and all of us at the USTA -are fully committed to making the Memphis Open one of the best and most popular events on the ATP Tour, for players and fans alike.
The 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori, the two-time defending champion, has committed to defend his title at the 2015 Memphis Open. What’s more, nine year-end world No. 1s also have won the event, including John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier.