The city of Valencia will once again have a men’s tennis tournament with the recovery of the historical Copa Faulcombridge to be held from November 20 to 27 at the CT Valencia also coinciding with the sixth edition of the Women’s Open City of Valencia. What has already been dubbed ‘the great week of Valencian tennis’ was presented this Thursday, October 20, at the Palau Marqués de la Scala of the Diputación de Valencia. As director of the Women’s Open, a tournament integrated into the ITF International calendar and in the $80,000 category, she continues for another year Ana Salas, while at the head of the Faulcombridge Cup, the Valencian professional tennis player Pablo Andújar will be the director of the tournament. Both were present at the start of the tournament together with the councilor for sports, Javier Mateo; the president of the CT Valencia, Paz Zúnica. The deputy for Sports, Andrés Campos, was unable to attend for personal reasons. Among the attendees, the presence of David Ferrer, last champion of the Faulcombridge Cup in its last edition, 2002, also stood out; as well as the president of the Valencian Tennis Federation, Antonio Martínez Cascales and the Valencian tennis player Carlos Taberner.
The CT Valencia consolidates its women’s tournament and recovers a men’s tournament, the Falcombridge Cup, a tournament with a long history that began to be held in 1933 and that, after the parenthesis of the Civil War, continued to be played until 2002. Now, supported by the Valencian institutions and collaborators, the tournament, in whose list of winners, in addition to Ferrer, figures such as Manolo Santana or Andrés Gimeno stand out, begins a second stage.
Both the Falcombridge Cup and the Valencia City Open They will have individual draws of 32 tennis players and a doubles draw of 16.
Pablo Andujar He was excited about his new role as tournament director and recounted how the return of the Falcombridge Cup was conceived: “The CT Valencia Board of Directors told me that they wanted to bring a men’s tournament to Valencia. I remembered as a child seeing the Falcombridge Cup in the club and even when I was 16 years old, I received an invitation to participate in the last edition that David Ferrer won”. For the tennis player born in Cuenca but living in Valencia since he was a child, it is a big step for Valencian tennis to return to the men’s circuit: “I have lived the Open 250 and then 500 in Valencia and I am glad that once again the Valencian tennis players and the public can enjoy a tournament like this at home again”.
Ana Salasas director of the Women’s Open, highlights that the fact of going hand in hand with the men’s tournament enriches both, although he stressed that the main objective “is to promote women’s tennis” and highlighted the good coordination and collaboration with Pablo Andújar: “we have planned very the tournament well so that they can be held in parallel without problems. In the first days we will use six courts simultaneously”.
David Ferreras the last winner of the Falcombridge Cup, thanked “the institutions and collaborators and CT Valencia, of which I am a part, for having opted for this tournament. It is very important for the young players that they can see themselves reflected and have references. the participants in Valencia will soon be in the top positions of the ATP ranking”.
