Tennis Atlantic

Philadelphia—The good news is that Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation, will be hosting a professional tennis tournament for the first time in 21 years. The bad news is that the event could be cursed before the first ball is hit in August. It’s easy to understand why.

Philadelphia hosted a leg of the Virginia Slims tournament, which became the Advanta Open, from 1971 to 2005. With stellar fields, it boasted such champions as Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Chris Evert. They call it the City of Brotherly Love, not the City of Sisterly Hate, but the first champion was one, you guessed it, one Margaret Court. Sadly, the field in August for the Philadelphia Tennis Classic will not be so star-studded.

The WTA 125K event comes to us as the smoldering remnants of the former “Tennis In The Land” 250 level event and will be managed primarily by Topnotch, a middling Midwestern  talent agency. Cleveland was a decent locale for that event, but sheikhs and sportswashing turned it into another tombstone in the graveyard of defunct US tournaments. This event, the Ennoble Care Philly Open”, will be held from August 23-29 at UPenn’s Hamlin Tennis Center in Center City. August23-August 29. Why do those dates ring a (Liberty) bell?

Because those are the same dates as US Open Fan Week, located only 100 miles and two and a half hours by car from Central Philadelphia. As you know, the USTA has put its qualifying week on steroids to pump up the crowds and maximize revenue—all while charging ZERO admission to fans. And Mixed Doubles, now played during Fan Week, was enormously popular last year.

It’s almost impossible to compete with a very doable day trip to Flushing Meadows to catch major league qualifying matches with free admission, a chance to bring home a Honey Deuce glass and catch practices by Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka. Cleveland is 475 miles and a seven and a half hour drive from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, so for Ohioans, Tennis In The Land might have been the closest they were getting to Arthur Ashe Stadium Stadium. Philadelphia’s proximity really should have been considered when placing this event on this particular weak. I meant “week”. The USTA is doing everything they can to salvage what’s left of the US events calendar after the greedy tours wrecked it, and there was so much optimism at yesterday’s launch party in Philadelphia. I hope it’s not misplaced optimism.

While talent agencies are famous for stocking tournaments they own with their star-power clients to spice things up, that’s unlikely to happen at a WTA 125, even if you count Topnotch’s biggest WTA sign, Ekaterina Alexandrova. I doubt that she’ll bring the crowds out to Center City anyway. And for a Cleveland talent agency to take on a Philly event is silly to begin with. Topnotch would be trying to decide whether to get in line for Pat’s or Geno’s while we’d already be splitting a John’s Roast Pork and a steak with Cooper Sharp from D’Alessandros. Without help, Topnotch would certainly be confused where Love Park is, the site of yesterday’s launch party, since the locals call it that and not its birth name of JFK Park. I kid, I kid. Luckily, they’ve teamed up with Sisters of Philadelphia a/k/a Sisters Sports Group a/k/a The Wanda Sykes Superfriends, who have secured a deal to bring a WNBA team to town in 2030. I’m a huge fan of Wanda Sykes. After all, she’s funny as hell, she was born in Baltimore and she certainly knows how to pick ’em, but if it takes 11 years from the time they started discussions about acquiring a WNBA team to the first tip-off, then imagine how good this little WTA $125K will be having been slapped together in a few months with the help of out-of-towners. Philadelphia loves out-of-towners, by the way. I kid, I kid.

I have some confidence in the Sisters of Philadelphia as they are truly tapped in to the spirit of the town and know all of the political players. However, their social media constantly promotes the “luxury” aspect of the tennis tournament with VIP ticket packages and hospitality, which may or may not bode well for casual fans. Yesterday, Sisters Sports Group President Alex Niedbalski-Sykes took a victory lap for bringing pro tennis back to the city, comparing it to the deal for the WNBA team. Securing a permanent pro sports franchise versus adopting a homeless WTA challenger is an unfair comparison. But the folks in the crowd—and there were many—have no idea what to expect from such a “world class” event. I heard one curious onlooker in line for a free t-shirt ask if Coco Gauff would be playing. When it was his turn to speak at the lectern, the tournament’s director, Alex Guthrie of Topnotch, stood up and said, “This is the most important speech of my life” and golly gee-goshed about how beautiful the setting was for the launch party, as if he’d never stepped foot in Philadelphia. (He did not respond to my email.)

Make no mistake: if the tournament succeeds, and I hope it does, it will be with all due credit to the Sisters Sports Group and not a talent agency who lists Cam Norrie as their top client and is all in on Pickleball. One idea I have where this event could deliver some interest is if a dozen or so main draw US Open players came here during the week to practice away from the bad air and frenzied atmosphere of Flushing Meadows—and that horrible daily commute from Midtown hotels to Queens. It’s been done to a more limited extent before during the days of the New Haven Open, but Topnotch doesn’t have the client player base to twist enough arms.

I’m sure this sounded like a great idea in a boardroom in the Industrial Midwest, but on the ground, this could be a mishit in the dog days of summer. Philly is my favorite big city in the nation and it deserves so much. I’m here every month and I’ve often griped about the fact that while the US Open and Citi Open in DC get flashier every year, Philly felt like an afterthought to the tennis overlords. The City is used to slights like this, though. So welcome to town, Philadelphia Tennis Classic Powered by Ennoble Care. But don’t be surprised if the door hits you in the back on the way out as you’re headed to another town placed appropriately distant from North America’s grand slam tournament warm-ups. Prove me wrong, because Philly deserves a quality tournament of their own, so at a minimum, the gesture is appreciated.

—S. Fogleman