Location Pune
India Surface Deco Turf (Hard) Website royalindianopen.com | Category Challenger Draw 32M/16Q/16D Prize money 125,000 USD | |
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Venue Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex | ||
The Royal Indian Open was a tournament organized for female professional tennis players, played on outdoor hard courts. The event was classified as a WTA Challenger Series tournament. It made its debut in 2012, in Pune, India. It is played at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.
Due to reasons yet unknown, the event has been cancelled since 2013.
History
The NECC ITF International Women's Tournament is a tennis tournament on the ITF Women's Circuit, under the tier of the WTA Tour, played on outdoor hard-courts. It is held yearly since 2001 in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was a US$10,000 event from 2001–2006, and was upgraded to $25,000 in 2007-2008. In 2009, it was a $50,000. Since 2010, it has been a $25,000 event. Akgul Amanmuradova has been the most successful at the event, winning two titles.
Pune is the fourth town in the history of India to host a WTA event, after Kolkata (2005–2007), Hyderabad (2003–2005) and Bangalore (2006–2008).
India's renewed participation through this Challenger event was originally supposed to be held in Delhi, but on 17 October 2012, just a few weeks before the tournament's first edition, it was announced the event had been shifted to Pune.
In 2012, it became the second event (after the OEC Taipei Ladies Open) to be part of the WTA 125s.