JÖNKÖPING, December 4, 2015

A new ATP Challenger event will be held in Jönköping next year. It will be Sweden’s first tournament of this category in 20 years. The country currently hosts two ATP 250 events, taking place in Bastad and Stockholm.

“It is important for Swedish tennis that our local players have the chance to take part in international competitions on home soil. The European countries, which host most of the international tournaments also have a lot of international tennis stars. Launching the Challenger event in Jönköping is the first tournamet of this category, but we hope for more in the future,” said Thomas Wallen, Chairman of the Swedish Tennis Association in a press release.

The total prize money of the new event, taking place from 7 to 13 March will be at € 42,500. “Our ambition is to establish Jönköping as a great tennis city in Sweden,” told Martin Claesson, CEO of the Racketcentrum, the tournament’s venue. The city is located in the country’s south and has a population of about 62,000 inhabitants. “This is also great for the entire region and with this new Challenger, the gap between our ATP World Tour events in Bastad as well as Stockholm and our ITF Future tournaments has eventually been filled,” he added.

According to Swedish media, another ATP Challenger event will be held in the Scandinavian country and added to the calendar in 2016. From 4 to 10 July a tournament is going to take place in Bastad, the week ahead of the ATP 250 event. The Challenger will take place at the same venue as the SkiStar Swedish Open.