Swiss tennis is growing.
Switzerland has gained a second WTA tournament. The Biel/Bienne tournament will debut in April, 2017 at the Swiss National Tennis center, tournament owners Octagon and InfrontRingier Sports & Entertainment Switzerland announced.
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The International-level tournament, which has not yet announced a title sponsor, will feature a 32-player singles field and 16-team doubles draw. A new indoor arena is due to be completed in February 2017 at the Swiss National Tennis Center.
InfrontRingier will market the new tournament's media rights in Switzerland. InfrontRingier's Lukas Troxler has been named tournament director.
The announcement means Switzerland, which was absent from the WTA Tour for eight years, will host two tournaments in 2017.
Gstaad will host an outdoor WTA clay-court tournament from July 11-18.
The new indoor event is a homecoming for Octagon clients Belinda Bencic and Martina Hingis, who partnered to lead Switzerland to its first Fed Cup semifinal since 1998 with a victory over host Germany.
Octagon previously hosted a tournament in Zurich. Hingis swept Zurich singles and doubles titles in 2000, partnering Anna Kournikova to the doubles title. Venus Williams won the last Zurich championship in 2008.
“I am really looking forward to having another WTA tournament back in Switzerland," Hingis said. "I have fond memories of my first WTA tournament in Zurich and I am excited that Octagon has been able to work with Swiss Tennis and InfrontRingier to bring an International event to Biel. Switzerland has a great tennis history and having such an event in my home country will help to build on that. Being able to play in front of your home fans is a special experience and I plan to be involved as much as possible to help make the tournament a success for the Swiss tennis fans.”
Photo credit: Fed Cup Facebook