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Professional women's tennis is back in Memphis for the first time since 2013.
The Women's Tennis Association is bringing the Memphis Classic to the Leftwich Center and is set to begin July 25 and will run through Aug. 2.
The Leftwich Center, located at 4145 Southern Ave., will host its first pro event after being completed in November of 2023. It was originally built to bring a bigger spotlight for tennis to the Bluff City. And a "multi-year" deal is in place to ensure that the tournament will continue beyond 2026, according to Memphis mayor Paul Young.
Here's everything you need to know before Memphis welcomes the WTA 250 event.
Schedule and ticket information
The first two days of the Memphis Classic will include qualifying rounds.
Each day will include a day session that begins at 11 a.m. and a night session that starts at 6 p.m. Pairings have not been announced.
The tournament will then culminate in the semifinal matchups at 1 p.m. on Aug. 1 and the finals at 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 2.
Tickets start at $25.65 for one session. Select packages are available at premium prices. For tickets, go to tickets.memphisclassic.com.
Parking passes are also available for purchase at $33.20.
Sloane Stephens, Ekaterina Alexandrova among names to know
The WTA 250 tournament will bring a mixture of young and experienced tennis talent to Memphis. There will be a 32-singles draw bracket as well as a 16-doubles draw bracket.
Singles will include World No. 19 Ekaterina Alexandrova, former Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens of the United States and 25-year-old American Alycia Parks, who is coming off a disappointing Prague Open performance and competing as the main-draw wildcard.
Alexandrova has won five WTA titles and is coming off a third-round exit at Wimbledon against Iva Jovic.
Stephens makes her return to action after a first-round exit at the French Open. The 33-year-old Stephens has won eight WTA singles championships.
The doubles will feature Storm Hunter and Desirae Krawczyk as well as Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadia Kichenok.
Hunter and Krawczyk recently made a finals appearance in Osaka at the Japan Open, while the Kichenok twins reached the semifinals of the WTA 500 Brisbane International in January.
Exhibition featuring John Isner, Sam Querrey
On July 25, the WTA will host a men's exhibition match featuring former players John Isner, Sam Querrey and Stevie Johnson.
Isner, 41, won 16 Association of Tennis Professionals singles titles, holds the ATP record for most aces in a career with 14,470, and won the longest match in tennis history. A duel between Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes.
Querrey, 38, won 10 ATP Tour singles titles and five doubles titles in his 15-year career.
Johnson, 26, won an Olympic bronze medal in 2016 and won four ATP titles in his 12-year career, retiring in 2024.
Together, they all host the Nothing Major Show podcast.
Reach Commercial Appeal sports intern Said Bravo at s[email protected]
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What to know about Memphis Class, WTA tennis at Leftwich Center
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