Tennis Channel Open will return

The Tennis Channel Open will get the chance to grow in Las Vegas after the tournament and the city of Las Vegas agreed Wednesday to a four-year extension of their cooperative deal.

Whether that will include bringing Andy Roddick or other superstars to the Darling Tennis Center in Summerlin remains to be seen.

Despite moving the tournament back a week to March 3-9, it appears Roddick will not play Las Vegas in 2008, choosing instead to compete at the Duty Free Classic in Dubai that same week. Tennis Channel Open tournament director David Egdes confirmed that Roddick, who was scheduled to play in the inaugural Las Vegas event in 2006 but pulled out a couple of days before with an injury, would not be in Las Vegas.

“I talked to Ken Myerson (Roddick’s agent) at the U.S. Open, and they are committed to Dubai,” Egdes said. “But we left it that we would talk about Andy coming to the Tennis Channel Open in the future.

“Obviously, we would love to have Andy. But we’re putting together what I think will be our strongest field yet.”

Defending champion Lleyton Hewitt has committed to return, and Egdes said he is talking to the trio of John Isner, Sam Querrey and Donald Young — who many believe represent the future of American tennis — about playing Las Vegas. With the clay court tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, off the 2008 schedule, Egdes also hopes to bring in Fernando Gonzales, Marco Baghdatis and David Ferrer.

As for 2006 champion James Blake, Egdes said discussions are ongoing with the Yonkers, N.Y., native.

“We hope to have James here,” he said. “Robby (Ginepri) too.”

Egdes said ticket prices will remain the same for 2008 as they were for 2007. However, with the ATP Tour shelving the controversial round-robin format, it’s back to the original single-elimination setup. That means a top seed could be out early. However, Egdes believes he will have a deep, talented field to absorb early upsets.

More importantly, he said the schedule change, which the ATP instituted to accommodate those players who will be competing in the Olympics in August, will benefit the Tennis Channel Open. Not only does Egdes believe it will bolster his field, he’s convinced the weather will be better.

“It was very tough for us last year,” he said of temperatures that dipped into the 30s on a couple of nights. “That’s something we can’t control. But each year after the tournament, the weather improved dramatically, so we’re hoping that will work to our benefit this coming year.”

The tournament’s deal with the city, which the City Council approved Wednesday, calls for four one-year deals with the city contributing $300,000 annually. Either side has the option to terminate the deal each year.

Initially, the city spent $1.4 million to help bring the Tennis Channel Open to Las Vegas. The new arrangement caps any annual outlay at $651,000. Councilman Larry Brown, in whose ward the Darling Center sits, said any future subsidies would be considerably less because there would be less infrastructure expenditures.

“We have the potential to generate some revenue from this event, and we would share in that revenue, Brown said. “It would be great if we could make it a wash, but this tournament has so much potential and it’s great exposure for our community.”