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Tennis in the Land, the summer tournament series that has attracted international talent to the Flats, is on hold and will not be held this summer in Cleveland.
Topnotch Events, the event’s operators since its debut in 2021, said that the costs to host professional tennis for a week downtown—from flying in global stars, pooling millions in prize money and assembling temporary courts—weren’t feasible for 2026.
But all’s not lost.
“As difficult as this decision is, pausing the event is the responsible choice until a permanent home for professional tennis in Cleveland becomes possible,” they stated in a press release. “And unlike many professional sports venues, a permanent facility would also create a usable community asset for the greater Cleveland community year-round.”
The desire for new stadiums is the talk of the town in Cleveland lately.
Cleveland Pro Soccer, months after securing men’s and women’s teams, is hunting for $50 million to build a South Gateway Stadium just south of Progressive Field, set to break ground in 2027. And to the east, Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center is bound for an upgrade—yes, as a soccer stadium—if its CSU 2.0 plan goes through.
And last month, the city announced that a “sports arena” was one of 11 ideas developers had pitched the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation for what might be added to the lakefront after Huntington Bank Field is demolished in 2029.
From 2021 to 2025, Tennis in the Land hosted the women’s WTA 250, a subset of the U.S. Open, making it the only professional women’s tournament in the city center. Thirty-two players competed on pop-up courts in the Flats West Bank to win a chunk of a combined quarter million dollars in prize money.
Building stadiums is no easy feat. Developers need city, county and state buy-in, especially if they hope to secure tax credits or subsidies of any kind. (Yep, just like the Browns.)
But the Flats West Bank, of which nearly a third is covered in parking lots, is ripe for new development. It’s likely that Topnotch could pick it for its permanent home, though nothing’s yet been decided.
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Mark Oprea
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