PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — If Bob Marley had been a tennis fan instead of a football lover, what’s happening these days in the Dominican Republic might have inspired one of his songs.
In just sixty days and with a $3 million investment, a tennis complex with six courts built to the standards of the Miami Masters 1000 has been completed. The facilities have players delighted, competing in a Challenger 175 — a tournament category just below the ATP 250. It’s something very unusual for the Caribbean, the land of the reggae legend.
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The miracle happened in Cap Cana, a paradise on the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic, known for its beachfront all-inclusive resorts and luxurious golf courses with palm trees as obstacles. Now, it’s also a tennis destination with the Cap Cana Cup. The capital, Santo Domingo, also hosts a Challenger tournament, but of a lower category and held in August, far off in the calendar.
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The Dominicans outbid Cancún to host the event during the second week of Indian Wells. With an enticing hotel offer facing the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, along with the excellent conditions of the new Racquet Village in Cap Cana, they captivated 13 top-100 players eager to maintain their rhythm between the big U.S. tournaments.
Thus, the international tennis circuit appears to be making a significant step in conquering one of its last frontiers. The Caribbean has long been overlooked by the ATP Tour, and there is still no established tournament swing across other island nations to build on the Dominican momentum.
“When you look at the Caribbean region as a whole, it has a rich history of many sports personalities and athletes from different countries and disciplines. Great baseball players, track and field stars, wrestlers, boxers… so there’s clearly a strong sports culture. And in tennis, of course, there’s also enormous potential to grow the sport in this part of the world,” Julia Boyadjieva, ATP Challenger Tour Vice President, told CLAY.
“We’ve seen the players’ reactions during these first days of the tournament. Everyone loves the location, for obvious reasons. They’re having a great time, and I’m seeing some really high-quality tennis. Hopefully, this is just the beginning. We want to bring more tennis events, not just to the Dominican Republic, but to the entire Caribbean region,” she added.
Boyadjieva promised that they will make every effort to have more Challenger events in the Caribbean: “We will work to make it happen. It’s important to connect the Challenger circuit with the main ATP Tour calendar and provide players with enough opportunities at key moments, around the most important dates of the year.”
“I would love to see a Caribbean swing, but we also need to make sure we find the right promoters in this part of the world. And that can sometimes be tricky, because not everyone has the financial resources and passion for the sport that the organizers in Cap Cana have shown us,” she said.
Fernando Hazoury, president of the Cap Cana Group and promoter of the event, has the great ambition of transforming the tournament into an ATP 500. More than enthusiasm and financial capacity, other factors prevail in the world of tennis for this to happen. Nevertheless, the Dominican entrepreneur is confident that the event will grow.
“Doing things this well helps us get noticed. With this, we are strongly putting the Caribbean on the tennis map. I’m sure this is the beginning of something big,” he told CLAY after the tournament’s opening ceremony.
“We’ve seen that the more events we bring to certain regions, the number of competitive players increases. Our goal as the governing body of men’s tennis is to try to do this in as many regions as possible, and the Caribbean is one of them,” said Boyadjieva.
Currently, only three Caribbean players are among the top 1000 in the rankings. All of them are Dominican.
“It would be very positive if more tournaments started to be held in the region following the example of what is being done in Cap Cana,” Roberto Cid Subervi, the third-best ranked player in his country, and an one of the wild cards in the tournament told CLAY.
“I think it’s a great step, and that other Caribbean countries will be encouraged to seek help, find sponsors, and want to promote professional tennis events. A swing around here would be really beneficial for us,” he added.
