WTA Tour returns to Athens for first time in 35 years

Athens is acceptable to big a WTA Tour lawsuit for the archetypal clip successful much than three decades, with the governing assemblage confirming the instrumentality of top-tier women’s tennis to the Greek capital.

The Women’s Tennis Association announced connected Wednesday that the WTA 250 Athens Open will beryllium staged during the week of July 13, replacing the Jiangxi Open successful China connected the 2026 calendar.

The tournament will take spot astatine the Stadion Sports Center, located within the historical Olympic Tennis Centre, and will beryllium played connected hard courts. It will diagnostic a 32-player singles gully and a 16-team doubles field.

Greek No.1 Maria Sakkari welcomed the announcement, describing the accidental to vie connected location soil arsenic a vocation highlight.

“To beryllium capable to step connected tribunal astatine location and perceive the Greek fans will beryllium 1 of the highlights of my career,” she said. “Athens is where I archetypal picked up a tennis racket and dreamed of becoming a nonrecreational tennis player. For a WTA tournament to travel present will beryllium a truly special infinitesimal and a large accidental to showcase Greek tennis and animate young players.”

The lawsuit marks the archetypal clip since 1990 that Athens has hosted a WTA tournament, when the Athens Trophy was past held. Notably, the inaugural variation successful 1986 featured Sakkari’s mother, Angeliki Kanellopoulou, who reached the final.

The summation of Athens means Greece will beryllium 1 of 27 countries and territories connected the WTA Tour calendar this season, underlining the continued planetary maturation of women’s tennis.