Pre-Wimbledon ATP 250 Tournament Heads 

By Back to Eastbourne

A reshuffle in the pre-Wimbledon grass court schedule for 2017 will see men’s tennis head back to Eastbourne from Nottingham.

A joint event was held on the south coast the week before Wimbledon between 2009 and 2014, and the Lawn Tennis Association announced on Tuesday that the men’s ATP 250 tournament will leave Nottingham after only two years.

The women’s tournament, the flagship event of the Wimbledon run-in, will feature a 48-player main draw with a 28-player draw contesting the men’s event.

Nottingham will keep its WTA event and, in partnership with Nottingham City Council, the LTA will stage a men’s Challenger Tour tournament in the same week.

The LTA is also doubling prize money at the second-tier Surbiton, Manchester and Ilkley tournaments from £213,250 to more than £426,500 in 2017.

LTA chief executive Michael Downey said: “This is all about delivering a bigger and better set of grass court tournaments for the players and our fans.

“It represents another major step in the evolution of the British grass-court circuit.”