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An article published on the website of ATP on Monday focuses on the Garanti Koza Sofia Open which is taking place at the Arena Armeec hall in the Bulgarian capital from Monday to Sunday.
Sofia Open marks the return of top-flight tennis tournament to Bulgaria since two events on the 1980 and 1981 Grand Prix circuits and constitutes the first time that the country hosts an event from the ATP World Tour.
The partnership between the Bulgarian Tennis Federation and the Turkish land development company Garanti Koza made Bulgaria one of the 32 countries featured on the 2016 ATP World Tour calendar.
The partners have experience in organising tennis tournaments as they cooperated in hosting the WTA Tournament of Champions which was held in Arena Armeec between 2012 and 2014.
The director of the tournament, Erhan Oral, expressed hope that a successful first edition of Garanti Koza Sofia Open will attract more first-class players to the Bulgarian capital in the coming years.
Oral identified Sofia as a very accessible city as everything is close and convenient for the participants.
In his words, the Arena Armeec hall is unbelievable, with the press centre, players' lounge and locker rooms all perfectly designed, while the surface is of high quality being similar to the courts used in Rotterdam.
Since its opening in 2011, the 14 000-seats multi-purpose arena has established itself as the country's leading venue for hosting various sports and entertainment events.
Most players also seem to be positive about the tournament, with Italian Andreas Seppi having noted the nice court, while Gilles Muller from Luxembourg commended the efforts of the organisers.
The organisers managed to attract some notable players for the first edition of the tournament, considering that it is being held in the week after the Australian Open.
Among them are favourites Roberto Bautista Agut from Spain and Serbian Viktor Troicki, both of them having managed to win ATP World Tour 250 titles already this season.
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