ANTWERP, March 30, 2018

Dick Norman will be the new tournament director of the third edition of the European Open held from 15 to 21 October 2018 inside the Lotto Arena in Antwerp. This was announced by Kristoff Puelinckx, CEO of the tournament’s owner Tennium. Together with his wife Ilse Van Parys, the former World No. 10 in doubles and World No. 85 in singles, will be part of the organization of the prestigious ATP 250 tournament.

For four years (from 2006 to 2009) van Parys and Norman organized the AXA Belgian Masters, the unofficial Belgian Tennis Championship. “It is with great pleasure that i accept my new role as tournament director of the European Open in Antwerp! Ilse and I are keen to make this a fantastic event for all the tennisfans to attend,” Norman stated.

“For this, a former tennis player is needed, which is a tendency that you see in more and more countries.”

Ilse Van Parys added, “The importance of such an ATP tournament in our country is not to be underestimated for the popularity of Belgian tennis. More than ever we want to make the European Open a real experience, with a cool fan zone, parties and entertainment around the tournament. Moreover, in the coming period we will be actively promoting the European Open, for example to various tennis clubs in our country.”

The focus, however, will remain on the on-court action of the European Open. The organizers hope to present an attractive line-up. “The contacts are promising, and we are very pleased to announce the first names of players competing at the European Open 2018 in mid-May,” Kristoff Puelinckx told.