The Sarasota area has been a tennis hotbed for many years, with the Nick Bollitieri/IMG Academy just up the road and numerous pros and former pros choosing to make Sarasota their home. The Sarasota Open, held at the Longboat Key Club in a brand new $4.5 million facility, is the premier tennis event on Florida’s gulf coast. Local pros seek to defend their home turf as everybody gets tuned up for the year’s second Grand Slam event, the French Open, which immediately follows.

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