SARASOTA — When the subject is the tennis tournament which bears her name, title sponsor Elizabeth Moore believes bigger is better.
The last three years, the Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open, which started in 2009 and is part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Tour, was held at the Payne Park Tennis Center near downtown Sarasota.
But differences over licenses and restrictions forced the tourney to find a new home, and it settled on the Sarasota Sports Club, formerly the Serendipity Tennis Club. It’ll be the home of the EMSO for the next decade, as both parties signed a 10-year contract with this year's event running April 6-13.
And the biggest difference fans will notice in the tourney’s new venue? The title sponsor since 2017 said a lot more legroom.
“It’s much more expansive,” Moore said. “At Payne Park we were downtown, and it was tightly quartered. But now we have more space, more latitude to do what we want. And we have two regulation-size courts, which is really awesome.”
And while Moore liked Payne Park’s proximity to the downtown area in helping promote business and tourism there, she said the Sarasota Sports Club isn’t far away.
“(The SSC) is wide open,” she said. “We can bring in tents and bleachers, and there’s more room for vendors and sponsors. Lots of parking, too.”
Payne Park had ATP-approved lightning which made night matches possible, something the Sarasota Sports Club will be unable to do.
