体坛英语新闻：ATP World Tour 250 Zhuhai Championships to be held in September

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The 2019 ATP World Tour 250 Zhuhai Championships are to be staged at Hengqin Tennis Center in Zhuhai from September 23 to 29.

The event offers a total prize purse of up to 1,000,000 U.S. dollars, the highest among all ATP 250 tournaments, with the singles champion taking home 160,000 U.S. dollars.

"We are especially honored to invite Stefanos Tsitsipas, Nick Kyrgios and Bautista Agut to participate in the competition," said Tournament Director Leon Sun. "More star players are expected to take part in the event. We look very much forward to witnessing the highly anticipated showdown of first-class tennis players in September."

As the only ATP world tournament in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Championships mark a milestone in helping Zhuhai expand its influence and realize its ambition of becoming an internationally-renowned tourist resort.

"Zhuhai boasts profound tradition and a favorable atmosphere for tennis. We place enormous expectations on the city in their hosting of such a major event," said Wan Jianbin, from China's General Administration of Sports.

Being the first event on the ATP's post-US Open Asian Swing, organizers hope the Zhuhai Championships will boost the development of tennis in the local area and become a fixture on the ATP tour calendar.