McLeod for Health Florence Open Begins October 9th
October 9th, 2023
McLeod for Health Florence Open Begins October 9th
Media Contacts:
Rob Hill, City of Florence Director of Tennis - 843.665.3106 or rohill@cityofflorence.com
Jade Perkins, Florence Open Media Contact - 740.285.5873 or jade.perkins@visitflo.com
Tracy Stanton, McLeod Health Public Information Office - 843.687.4152 or tstanton@mcleodhealth.org
FLORENCE, S.C. – The McLeod for Health Florence Open will be held October 9 through 15 at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center. Florence’s only professional tennis tournament, made possible by the partnership between McLeod Health and the City of Florence, helps raise awareness of breast cancer and physical activity through the tournament, which benefits women in the region with mammogram scholarships.
Not only does the professional tennis tournament raise funds for local benefit, it draws nearly 60 of the world’s best women players to town. The USTA Pro Circuit features competitive matches between tennis’s rising athletes. Last year’s McLeod for Health Florence Open Champion, Peyton Stearns, is currently the 58th ranked player in the world. In addition, Clervie Ngounoue, the 2022 McLeod for Health Florence Open doubles runner-up, won the Junior Girls’ singles titles at Wimbledon in July -- earning her first Junior Grand Slam title.
"Florence residents have a great opportunity to come out and see several of the sport’s future stars. This tournament has a great history of containing future Grand Slam Champions such as Bianca Andreescu, Sofia Kenin and Naomi Osaka,” adds Rob Hill, Tournament Director.
Players will be competing for ranking points and a $25,000 purse. As one of the smallest cities on the USTA Pro Circuit, Florence was selected to host the event because of its world-class courts, strong volunteer base, and the generosity of its sponsors.
The McLeod for Health Florence Open will feature a 32-draw qualifying round, a 32-draw main round and a Pro-Am event. Qualifying rounds begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 9. Feature matches will be held daily throughout the week at noon. The doubles finals and singles semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday, October 14, and the singles finals will be held on Sunday, October 15.
The Florence Open tournament formed an alliance in 2014 with McLeod Health to help support the fight against breast cancer in the region. McLeod Health, the tournament’s presenting sponsor, is deeply committed to the early identification and treatment of breast cancer and works with the McLeod Center for Cancer Treatment and Research and the McLeod Health Foundation to provide mammogram scholarships to women in need of assistance for this important annual screening.
The public is encouraged to come out to enjoy matches daily. Wrapping up the tournament is the singles final match and trophy presentation on Sunday afternoon starting at 1:00 p.m. All matches are free and open to the public.
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