Tennis tournament will bring some of world’s best to Macon, and the cash prize is growing.

The Mercer Tennis Classic returns in October with world renowned athletes and $100,000 in prizes at stake, Macon-Bibb County officials announced Monday.

The competition, hosted by the U.S. Tennis Association Pro Circuit, has brought 35 of the top 100 tennis players in the world to Macon. This is the 11th year the tournament will be held in the city.

The event – in sponsorship with Mayor Lester Miller and the Macon Area Tennis Association – starts the week of Oct. 14 at John Drew Smith Tennis Center on Riverside and Northside Drive.

“It allows young people and adults alike to see world class tennis within 15 minutes of their home,” said Bobby Walker, the county tennis manager.

Kateryna Bondarenko, from Ukraine, is among the notable players to have competed in this tournament before. She won the 2014 singles championship. She previously won the 2008 Australian Open Doubles with her sister Alona, who also competed in Macon. Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open singles champion from Italy, has also competed in this Macon event.

Eric Hayes, Mercer University’s tennis coach, recalled the first time he was involved with the tournament 23 years ago at Troy University. Prizes were worth $20,000 at that time.

USTA rarely sponsors $100,000 in prize money, he said.

“This doesn’t happen to a lot of tournaments …,” Hayes said at a press conference Monday. “We’re going to get top 50 players in the world.”

He said he received a text message from Taylor Townsend, who won the Wimbledon doubles tournament over the weekend, saying her game “took off” after she won Mercer’s tournament in October 2023. Townsend teamed up Katerina Siniakova to win the title.