San Diego Open moves to January, will include both men’s and women’s brackets

The San Diego Open pro tennis tournament at the Barnes Center is undergoing its sixth change in format and dates in the six-year history of the event.

Nest year’s tournament will include the men’s ATP 100 Challenger for the second straight time with the addition of an ITF Women’s World Tour 100 for the first concurrent brackets in tourney history.

The format change meant moving up the dates to Jan. 26-Feb. 1, overlapping the second week of the Australian Open but allowing players eliminated in the first week to play in San Diego.

The San Diego Open had been played in late February during the week before the prestigious BNP Paribas Open in Palm Desert. The men’s tourney last year replaced the WTA 500 tourney, which ended after three years because of funding issues.

“We firmly believe that tennis and San Diego deserve to showcase both genders together,” said San Diego Open co-director Ryan Redondo. “Ultimately, we run these events to inspire our youth and foster aspirational dreams, which (are) best achieved by having both men and women participate.”

Prize purses for this lower-level pro event are $177,000 for the men, up from last year’s $160,000, and $100,000 for the women.

The last San Diego Open was won by American Eliot Spizzirri, who reached a career-high No. 87 in the world rankings last week. The tourney highlight came in 2022, when Poland’s Iga Swiatek, then the top-ranked player in the world, won the inaugural women’s event.

There were both men’s and women’s tourneys under the San Diego Open banner during the fall of 2022 in back-to-back months.