The tournament that wants to turn Bisbal d’Empordà into the capital of women’s tennis

by time news

BarcelonaIt all started eight years ago, when the Bisbal d’Empordà Tennis Club wanted to celebrate its first 30 years of life. “30 events were organized and one of them was the women’s tournament. We traveled all over the State to learn and it gave us such positive energy that we always want more,” explains Xavier Ponsatí, its president. Eight years later, the Solgironès de la Bisbal international women’s tennis tournament is moving up a notch and is now on the WTA Tour 125 circuit, which means it will pay out $115,000 and feature higher-level players. This is a new category jump for a tournament that was born seven years ago as an ITF 10K + H and, after the success of the previous editions, has been climbing to reach the gates of the best circuit of the world in the women’s category, sharing a category with the Valencia and Reus tournaments. In the state, only the tournament in Madrid and Tenerife are above it. The WTA 125s category has been organized by the WTA since 2012. It is the second level of women’s tennis, behind the WTA Tour and ahead of the ITF Women’s Circuit, which is the third level.

More than 25 players who have reached the top 30 in the world have played on the clay courts of Empordà, one of which, of course, is Empordà’s Paula Badosa. “We have come this far in seven years thanks to our hard work and passion for tennis. Our priority is to guarantee sustainable growth and become the equivalent of Godó in women. We want people to associate Bisbal with women’s tennis and for the entire province of Girona to get involved in growing the tournament”, explains Ponsatí.

This year the competition will take place between June 5 and 11, coinciding with the second week of Roland Garros. This will allow some of the tennis players who do not manage to enter the last week of competition in the Parisian tournament to sign up for the Bisbal, a competition that reproduces some of the conditions that occur in the French Grand Slam, given that it uses the same clay specially brought from France to guarantee the highest quality.

House talent

Like every year, it is expected that the courts of the Club Esportiu CT la Bisbal will pass through promising young people who are looking to make their way on the WTA circuit. Last year, players such as Andorran Vicky Jiménez, who reached the semi-finals at just 16 years old, and Russian Erika Andreeva, a junior finalist at Roland Garros 2021 and who, at 17 years old, played in the final against a another of the great promises of the WTA circuit, the Chinese Xinyu Wang. On the other hand, the presence of a strong representation of Catalan players who have already participated in the tournament and are currently climbing positions in the ranking is expected. This is the case of Rebeka Masarova, who recently entered the world Top 100 after reaching the final of the WTA 250 in Auckland; Marina Bassols, who is on the verge of being among the top 100, or Aliona Bolsova, number 61 in the world and who is recovering her best version.

“With the entrance to the WTA circuit, the level of the participants will definitely rise. We know that our tournament is a great showcase and we want to offer all the facilities to the players so that they can demonstrate their full potential. The feedback that we always receive from them is very positive and we want them to feel at home when they come”, points out Marta Sánchez, director of the tournament.



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