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ATP Challenger puts spotlight on Little Rock tennis

The Little Rock Open makes an impact on the court and in the community.
  • Written By: Andrew Morgan, League Staff
  • Photography By: Andrew Morgan, League Staff
  • Next stop, Roland Garros? As an ATP Challenger Tour level event—the second-highest tier of professional tennis—the Little Rock Open is an opportunity to qualify for one of the four Grand Slam championships.

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This story is featured on the September 2024 episode of the City & Town podcast.

In the gentlemen’s singles draw at this year’s Wimbledon, world No. 3 and third seed Carlos Alcaraz faced world No. 249 Mark Lajal in the first round. Lajal had won three matches, all upsets, in the historic Grand Slam tournament’s qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the main draw. Although he didn’t win, the 21-year-old Estonian took to the grass of center court and gave eventual champion Alcaraz just about all he could handle for two sets before the Spanish phenom pulled away in the third for a straight-sets victory.

A year earlier on Memorial Day weekend, Lajal stood on the stadium court at Rebsamen Tennis Center and raised the trophy as champion of the 2023 UAMS Health Little Rock Open. This year’s champion, Mitchell Krueger, has also had a successful summer on the Challenger circuit. The Fort Worth, Texas, native won his way through the US Open’s qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the main draw, where he made it to the second round before being ousted in five sets by a resurgent Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic. Kreuger and Lajal are but two incredible examples of the depth of talent and skill on the professional tour, and world-class players again visited Little Rock this year to vie for the 2024 title.

  • Japan's Yuta Shimizu was the runner-up of the 2024 Little Rock Open.
  • Players get a brief respite from the summer heat.
  • The city of Little Rock invested almost $750,000 to upgrade the facility.
  • Resurfaced courts and LED lighting were among the improvements made to the Rebsamen Tennis Center.
  • The Memorial Day weekend tournament always draws a crowd.
  • Read more about the tournament below, and check out the additional coverage on the C&T podcast!
2024 Little Rock Open champion Mitchell Krueger went on to have a successful summer on tour, culminating in reaching the second round at the U.S. Open.

The Little Rock Open is the only professional tennis tournament in the state and one of the only ones in the entire mid-southern region. While the Little Rock Open has been held for more than four decades, this is the fourth year that the tournament has been designated an ATP Challenger Tour level event, the second-highest tier of professional tennis. It’s the level where pros outside of the sport’s top 100 play to earn the opportunity to compete in the top level tournaments and, maybe, even qualify for one of the four Grand Slams.

During the tournament’s closing ceremony, Rebsamen Tennis Center manager Chip Stearns thanked the city for its investment in tennis at the facility.

In the months leading up to this year’s Little Rock Open, the city invested nearly $750,000 in key improvements to Rebsamen Tennis Center, including new LED lighting, court resurfacing and windscreens. It puts a spotlight on the city’s premier tennis facility, says tournament director and the center’s manager Chip Stearns. “You’re almost at about $750,000 that the city invested into Rebsamen, not just for the tournament, but for overall play and the experience for the public when they’re out here and the tournament’s not here.”

If Little Rock voters approve a 1% sales tax initiative in this November’s general election, it will fund another exciting upgrade, he says. “If that tax passes, then we get an indoor here. That would be one of the many upgrades the city would make. That would be a huge game-changer for us, as you can imagine.”

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