SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The former State Farm Women's Tennis Classic has been sold to the Qatar Tennis Federation and will be played in Doha, Qatar, in 2004, an IMG official said Wednesday.
The sale leaves Arizona with one world-class tennis event -- the Arizona Men's Tennis Championships scheduled for March 1-7.
"We think the move to Qatar provides new options for women's tennis," said Peter Tatum, IMG's regional vice president. "Scottsdale is a terrific tennis community, and we look forward to continuing to expand our 13-year-old men's ATP event."
Tatum said IMG sold the women's event because of scheduling conflicts with its 10-day combined men's and women's tournaments in Indian Wells, Calif.
The men's tournament, an International Series-level event that offers $380,000 in prize money, has been played in Scottsdale since 1991. It is the first ATP outdoor competition in North America.
IMG brought the $585,000 WTA tournament to Scottsdale in 2000, slotting it the week before the men arrived. But it was plagued by bad weather twice in three years, including heavy rain that forced cancellation of the 2000 final between Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport, the two top-ranked women in the world at the time.
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