Legends of world tennis to play inside Pula Arena

8 November 2019 – Tennis legends John McEnroe, Carlos Moya, Pete Sampras, Michael Stich, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg are set to play a tournament at the spectacular Pula Arena in Croatia next year. 

The director of the Istria County Tourist Board, Denis Ivosevic, has confirmed that an agreement has been reached with the ATP Masters Series Tournament. The date for the tournament will be announced shortly. 

“We have taken one big step forward. We should know the exact date in the next 20 days, but it is certain that it will be in late April or mid-May. It is important the Pula Arena tournament does not coincide with any other tournament in their organisation, such as Val Gardena and Monterrey,” Ivosevic told Glas Istre, adding that the mega event will be a great introduction to the 2020 tourist season. 

The tennis event will be great promotion for Istria and Croatia as a tourist destination with photos from Pula Arena beamed around the globe. It is not the first sporting event to take place in the Roman amphitheatre. Last summer, the tourist board organised a football match inside the Arena with their partners Bayern Munich and earlier a ice hockey match was played there. 

With the Bayern Munich and Croatia legends match being a huge success last year, the tourist board decided to contact the Wimbledon administration who then in turn connected them with the ATP Masters Series Tournament to make this event happen. 

Names have not been revealed yet, but some of the biggest former stars of the game are expected to be involved. 

“These are tennis stars, well-known names who no longer play professional tournaments, but are a big magnet for all fans of the sport. Pula Arena will be prepared in the most beautiful way as it was for the football match,” Ivosevic concluded.