WTA 1000 stays in Guadalajara; WTA 250 moves to Mérida

“Having two tournaments in Guadalajara a year would be nice, but there are better ways to promote a tournament if it is the only one that takes place in a city. The plan for 2023 is to keep the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara and the 250 that is played in February, to move it to Mérida, Yucatán. That order is already on its way, we already have the approval to move it”, assures El Economista, Jorge Salkeld del Solar, Director of International Initiatives of Octagon, a company that owns 10 WTA dates, among them, two 1000 tournaments, three category 500 and five of 250.

In 2021 and 2022, the Pan American Tennis Center has operated the granted WTA Finals and the WTA 1000, tournaments that sought to land in another city when their presence in China was ruled out. In addition, on the eve of spring, they continued to celebrate the Zapopan Open. Gustavo Santoscoy, President of the tournament told this newspaper the idea of ​​the move, now Jorge Salkeld, who has been leading the international relations of these tournaments for 31 years, explained why Mérida is the ideal place to host the women’s circuit. It is not a city but it is a cultural and tourist center where tennis is practiced.

“Mérida is not a city but it is close to a tourist peripheral. We know that it is one of the quietest and best cities in the world. All of this is studied. We handle things with the people we know and have contact with. It will be at the Yucatán Country club and will be operated by the Santoscoys. At Octagon we analyze which cities are suitable for this type of event and it turns out that Mérida applied in an interesting way, it is an attraction for the world and that is why the WTA looks to Yucatán. You also need an interesting population and a physical and historical ingredient to ride.”

marisol.rojas@eleconomista.mx