Wake Forest Tennis Championship Could Boost Winston-Salem Open

The Winston-Salem Open tennis tournament kicks off this weekend, and this year's event could get a boost from Wake Forest's run to the NCAA tennis championship.

The Winston-Salem Open has helped Wake Forest build a tennis facility good enough to lure the NCAA championship to the city this year. The Deacon men's team paid back that investment by winning it all three months ago on that home court.

Bill Oakes, the director of the Winston-Salem Open, says the NCAA has brought big, boisterous crowds to the tennis facility, and that's spurring interest in this year's tournament.

“It's certainly helped because people got to see the venue and kind of got tennis on their mind, and so I've heard that from a number of people,” he says.

This year's Open features 20 players ranked among the top 50 in the world. Greensboro native John Isner, who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon last month before losing in a marathon match to Kevin Anderson, is not in this year's field.

But two other high-ranking Americans - Sam Querry and Steve Johnson - are scheduled to play.

The Winston-Salem Open starts with qualifying rounds Saturday, with the championship match scheduled for Aug. 25.