Romania’s Tennis Federation (FRT), which managed to bring a WTA women tennis tournament for the first time in Romania, hopes to keep it here for at least three years, according to George Cosac, FRT’s president.

The first edition of the tournament, which is called BRD Bucharest Open, will take place between July 5 and July 13 at Arenele BNR, which is the main tennis venue in Romania. The tournament will have 32 players on the main draw, with Romanian Simona Halep, the current number 3 WTA as main favorite.

Among the other important names in the tournament are Italian Roberta Vinci, number 21 WTA, Czech Klara Koukalova (31) and German Annika Beck (54).

“The Romanian Tennis Federation is proud to organize the first WTA tournament in Bucharest. We hope that the stands of the BNR Arenas will be full and that millions of people will watch the competition on TV to see spectacular tennis,” George Cosac said in a press conference on Thursday, June 20.

He added that if the first edition goes well, than the tournament shall be held in Romania for at least another three years. Up until last year, the tournament was held in Budapest, Hungary. A Hungarian businessman currently holds the license for this tournament, but there are a few Romanian businessmen who are interested in buying the license if he decides to sell, Cosac mentioned.

Romania’s Sports Ministry was directly involved in bringing this tournament to Bucharest and will cover some of its costs. The main sponsor of the tournament is BRD Groupe Societe Generale, Romania’s second largest bank by assets. BRD also sponsors an ATP men tennis tournament in Bucharest, the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy, which was held in April.

BRD Bucharest Open offers total prices of USD 250,000 and 280 WTA points to the winner.

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com