The history of Kazakhstani tennis was being made before our very eyes. The capital of Kazakhstan hosted the ATP 500 series tournament – Astana Open, which was inferior only to the Grand Slam and Masters tournaments in terms of significance and status. The incredible tournament ended with a confident victory for 21-time Grand Slam champion, world No. 7 Novak Djokovic, who defeated Greek world No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. The 35-year-old Serbian won his fourth trophy this season and 90th overall in his career under the auspices of the ATP. Tokyo Olympic champions and Wimbledon 2021 winners, Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic became the winners in the doubles. In the decisive match, they beat the French Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin.
Highlights of the tournament:
Spectators
Within 9 days of the ATP 500 Astana Open, about 38,000 spectators attended matches on the central court of the national tennis centre “Beeline Arena”.
13th tournament of the АТР 500 series
For the 2022 tennis season, the calendar of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) includes 13 tournaments of the ATP 500 series. The winner of each receives not only a solid cash prize, but also 500 rating points in the ranking.
Third major tournament in Asia
In 2022, only three tournaments of the ATP 500 series were held on the yellow continent: in Dubai – Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, in the capital of Kazakhstan – Astana Open and in Japan – Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.
The strongest line-up
Five Grand Slam champions of different years played at the ATP 500 Astana Open: Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaras, Daniil Medvedev, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka. Five players from the TOP-10 of the world ranking and five more from the TOP-20 registered for the tournament. The line-up of the Kazakhstani tournament was almost nothing inferior to the line-up of the Masters and the Grand Slam.
Olympic champions
Three Olympic champions have played at the ATP 500 Astana Open: Stanislas Wawrinka, who became Olympic champion in 2008, paired with Roger Federer. Nikola Mektic/Mate Pavic (Olympic champions 2020) took part in the doubles tournament.
The only tournament in Asia held indoors
ATP 500 Astana Open became the only tournament on the Asian continent, which was held indoors.
TV and mass media:
41 TV broadcasters showed the tournament in 167 countries (from the largest – USA, Brazil, Canada, Germany, France, Japan to the smallest and most exotic – Suriname, Cayman Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, French Guiana). The world’s largest broadcasters that covered the ATP 500 ASTANA OPEN in live broadcasts and news: ESPN, Sky, Eurosport, Amazon, Reuters, Tennis Channel. On the territory of Kazakhstan, tennis fans watched live broadcasts on the Qazsport and Insport TV channels, and delayed broadcasts – on the Khabar, Channel 31 and El Arna TV channels. The daily coverage of 5 Kazakhstani TV channels broadcasting ASTANA OPEN ranged from 2.2 to 2.4 million people.
ATP 500 Astana Open was covered in print and online media by such world news sources as L’equipe, La gazzetta dello sport, Tennis world USA, New York Times, ATP.com, Srbja Sports, Spigel, Kommersant, Gotennis.ru, Championat. com, Sports.ru and many others. In total, 63 Kazakhstani and 23 foreign journalists were accredited to the tournament.
Source: ktf.kz
