Keio Challenger International Tennis Tournament

The system of Men’s international tennis tour

The Men’s international tennis tour is conducted by two organizations, the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). Tournaments are rated into several classes by the amount of its prize money. In order to participate in high ranked tournaments, players need to achieve decent results in tours and acquire as many ATP points as possible. Also, the world rankings are decided by the amount of ATP points acquired. At present, about 40 players retain ATP points in Japan, but none is ranked within 100 in the world. Even top ranked players in Japan are ranked only between 200 and 300 in the world. Japanese men’s tennis players need to have more opportunities to acquire more ATP points while playing in Japan. Therefore, it is essential to hold more challenger tournaments in Japan.

[ Men’s international tour structure ]

♦ Grand slam
US open, French Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon (ITF)
♦ Masters Series
Highest ranked tournaments of ATP tour 2006 were ( Pacific Life, Nasdaq100, Rogers Cup, Western Southern Financial Masters, Monte Carlo, Hamburg, Italy international, Madrid, Paribas Masters )
♦ Gold Series
9 tournaments in 2006. Japan’s AIG Open belongs here.
♦ International Series
Selected tournaments that have a total prize money over $355,000 and below $1,000,000.
♦ Challenger Series
Selected tournaments that have a total prize money over $25,000 and below $125,000 which are positioned below the official tour games. The only tournament in Japan is the All Japan Indoor Tennis Tournament ( Kyoto Challenger )
♦ Futures Series
Selected tournaments that have a total prize money over $10,000 and below $15,000. It is possible to acquire ATP points in one tournament. 12 tournaments were hosted in Japan 2006. Both Waseda University and Asia University hosted tournaments in 2007.

* Reference : Tennis Players Guide 2006 (JTA)

What is a Challenger Tournament ?

The Futures Series are the tournaments for players who are aiming to acquire ATP points. They provide players passports to the world challenge. Recently Waseda University and Asia University hosted Futures tournaments. Their initiatives made the total number of Futures tournaments up to 12 in Japan, and the chances for the Japanese players to challenge for the world are expanding.
The Challenger Series tournaments, in which players worldly ranked between approximately 150 and 300 can participate, are ranked 1 stage above the Futures tournaments. In the past, players such as Rafael Nadal (Spain), Lleyton Hewitt (Australia), and Marat Safin (Russia) have won the Challenger tournaments, and made themselves up to top players of the world. Challenger tournaments are hosted in many regions where official tours do not visit, and having a Challenger Series tournament is also a great opportunity for tennis fans to watch young players who may become future stars. 104 tournaments were hosted among 40 countries throughout the world in 2006. Japan, however, hosted only one Challenger tournament as of the end of 2006, the Kyoto Challenger. This environment is proven to be disadvantageous for Japanese men’s tennis players to acquire ATP points and advance to the International Series.

The significance of “Keio Challenger International Tennis Tournament 2008”

The significance for Keio University to host this Challenger tournament is to provide opportunities for Japanese tennis players to advance to the world scene, and also to make the university tennis more attractive for promising young players.
Keio Challenger is the 3rd international tournament hosted by universities in Japan. University hosted international tennis tournaments will give student players a chance to acquire ATP points and to experience superior playing level of the world. A series of these international tournaments will revitalize the university tennis and bring positive stimuli to the Japanese tennis scene generally.
Keio Challenger is expected to become one of the powerful initiatives to produce players from universities who can competitively play in the world.

[ University hosted International Tournaments ]

Welcome to Keio

Keio is a top class, internationally oriented university that provides a superb environment for the pursuit of higher education and advanced research.
An international perspective since 1858
Keio is Japan’s oldest private university, founded in 1858 by educational visionary Yukichi Fukuzawa. As a member of the first ever Japanese delegation to the US, Fukuzawa’s travels there and in Europe convinced him that an international perspective is essential for success and leadership. Keio continues to embrace this philosophy, taking pride in being a university where students and researchers are encouraged to pursue innovative and creative studies in an atmosphere of international learning and cooperation.
Celebrating our 150th anniversary
This is a particularly exciting time at Keio University: we are preparing to celebrate our 150th anniversary in 2008. To mark the occasion, we are launching many new programs and initiatives, including four innovative graduate schools, and constructing new facilities, such as the Shimoda Student Village. We have also established a new endowment fund, the “Design the Future Fund.” Aimed at helping to nurture future leaders, a significant part of the fund’s outlays will be used to support programs that will benefit international students and activities. Our goal is to make Keio an even more attractive university for international partners, researchers and students.

Tournament Outline


♦	Tournament Name	Keio University 150th Anniversary Event Keio Challenger International Tennis Tournament 2008
♦	Host Organization	Keio University
♦	Accreditation	ATP, Japan Tennis Association, Kanto Tennis Association, Kanagawa Tennis Association
♦	Special Sponsors	Suntory Limited, Mizuno Corporation, Tokyu Sports System Co.,Ltd.
♦	Sponsors	Enoteca Co., Ltd., Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd., Royal Doulton Japan K.K.
♦	Supported Bodies	The Keio University Tennis Club, The Keio Tennis of Mita-kai (Alumni Association)
♦	Total Prize Money	US$ 35,000
♦	Schedule	Qualification Rounds 11/15/08 ~ 11/16/08 Singles 32 players Main Draw 11/17/08 ~ 11/23/08 Singles 32 players, doubles 16 pairs
♦	Matches	Singles Best of 3 tie-break set match Doubles 2 set match (no advantage, 10 point tie-break in case of one set all)
♦	Venue	Mamushidani Tennis Courts, Keio University Hiyoshi Campus 4-1-1, Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa 223-8521, JAPAN * The admission is free of charge.
♦	Court Surface	Hard Court
♦	Balls	Bridgestone XT8
♦	Tournament Office	c/o The Keio University Tennis Club, 4-1-1, Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa 223-8521, JAPAN E-mail : info@keio-challenger.com Phone # : +81-45-562-2989 / Fax : +81-45-562-2989
♦	Chairman	Yuichiro Anzai (President, Keio University)
♦	Vice Chairman	Norikazu Kudo (General Manager, The Keio University Tennis Club)
♦	Executive Director	Takeshi Kurioka (Chairman, The Keio Tennis of Mita-kai (Alumni Association))
♦	Tournament Director	Tomoki Kubo (The Keio Tennis of Mita-kai (Alumni Association)) Toshiaki Sakai (Chief Coach, The Keio University Tennis Club)
♦	Tournament Executive	Takashi Takeuchi, Nobuo Sakai, Shinsuke Tanaka, Tappei Watanabe, Yuki Kondou, Hiroshi Andou, Hirotaka Tsukahara, Tomoki Kubo, Takashi Matsukawa, Toshiaki Sakai, Tsuguji Inoue