Between 22 June and 30 June, before the start of Wimbledon, the professional tennis tournament Nature Valley International is held in Eastbourne (Great Britain) on the courts of Devonshire Park, with grass cover. Women’s competitions belong to the category of WTA’s premier tournaments, men’s tournaments are ATP 250. The total prize pool is €721,085.
For the first time, the ATP Aegon Open Nottingham (as it was called at the time) competitions were held in Nottingham between 1985 and 2008, after which the tournament moved to Eastbourne. For a relatively short history of the competition, two championship titles were won by the hosts, Greg Rusedski. Other tournament winners are the Swede Jonas Bjorkman, the Croatian Ivo Karlovic, Richard Gasquet from France, and the American Steve Johnson. Novak Djokovic is last year’s winner.
Short Tournament History
From the first days, the tournament was open only to women. The first season was held in 1974 in Eastbourne. For some time there was a question of selling an existing prize to cover the costs of its organisation. However, as a result, the British managed to find a major Dutch sponsor who agreed not only to pay off the tournament’s debt but also to increase its prize fund.
In 2009, the organisers of the tournament in Eastbourne took advantage of the financial problems of the neighbouring championship in Nottingham, having bought out its men’s prize. Since then, men have also started to take part in the championship.
Prize found at Nature Valley International Eastbourne
The total amount of the prize fund is divided approximately equally between the women’s and the men’s series. Women’s tournament corresponds to the WTA Premier category. Men’s competition belongs to the series ATP 250. In the competition for the main prize, there are 28 singles.
The tournament is not very popular among men. Most middle-ranking players participate in it. The strongest contenders in the short history of the men’s series in Eastbourne are Feliciano Lopes and Marcin Matkowsky.
But the competition will be significantly strengthened this year by Filip Krajinovic, David Ferrer, Gilles Muller, Leonardo Mayer, Kyle Edmund, and Feliciano Lopes.
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