The ATP 250 tournament in Hangzhou, currently known as the Hangzhou Open, is one of the latest additions to the ever-changing ATP calendar, with the tournament first being held in 2024.
In May 2024, it was announced that the Zhuhai Championships, another ATP 250 tournament in China, would be moved from Zhuhai to Hangzhou, the birthplace of one of the best Chinese tennis players, Yibing Wu.
Hangzhou is an almost 13-million-person city located only around 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Shanghai, where the Shanghai Masters is played. One of the reasons why the tournament was moved is the beautiful Hangzhou Olympics Sports Centre.
The venue's centre court has a capacity of 8,000 seats and a retractable roof, meaning that the weather will never prevent the tournament from being played. Two additional show courts available at the venue have a capacity of 2,000 seats each.
The Hangzhou Olympics Sports Centre hosted the 2022 Asian Games, which were played from September 24th to 30th, 2023, so multiple tennis players got a chance to play at the facilities. The men's singles tournament was won by Zhizhen Zhang, while Qinwen Zheng won the women's singles.
The Asian Games champion Zhang was among the first players announced for the inaugural tournament, along with the home player Wu and two top ATP players, Holger Rune and Andrey Rublev, who committed to competing in the Chinese city in the inaugural edition of the ATP 250 tournament in Hangzhou.
