Busan’s biggest men’s tennis event returns to Geumjeong Sports Park next week, with the Busan Open International Men's Challenger Tennis Tournament set for May 12 to 19 and a field built around more than 80 players from over 30 countries.
The tournament, which offers $225,000 in prize money, begins with singles qualifying on May 12 and 13 before the main draw runs from May 14 to 19, with the final scheduled for the afternoon of May 19. Qualifiers will be open to the public free of charge, while main-draw matches will require online ticket reservations.
The Busan Open has grown far beyond its start as a domestic competition in 1999. It became an international event in 2003 and is now Korea’s highest-level Challenger 125 tournament, hosted by the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour and the Korea Tennis Association, organized by the Busan Open Organizing Committee and sponsored by Busan Metropolitan City.
The local challenge will be led by Kwon Soon-woo, Park Ui-sung, Nam Ji-sung, Shin Woo-bin and Jeong Yoon-sung. Kwon, Park and Nam were part of Korea’s Davis Cup squad in February, giving the home crowd a familiar group to watch as the tournament opens. International entrants include James Duckworth and Bernard Tomic, adding name value to a draw that the city says will bring world-class professional male players to Busan.
For Busan Metropolitan City, the event is part of a push to strengthen its status as a global sports city. The coming week will show whether the city’s top-tier Challenger can keep that ambition moving on the court, where the strongest draw in Korea now meets one of the busiest tennis stretches on its calendar.