Wake Forest University to host US tennis tournament

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem is finishing up a state-of-the-art tennis complex for the first Winston-Salem Open -- the last tennis tournament of the Olympus U.S. Open Series, a 10-tournament series leading to the U.S Open.

Former No. 1 tennis champion Andy Roddick is the latest to join the roster for the Aug. 21-27 tournament, announcing Wednesday that he will join other players, including Mardy Fish, John Isner and Donald Young in the 48-player singles draw.

The line-up is expected to draw thousands.

"We will be the center of the tennis universe for at least eight days," the tournament's director, Bill Oakes, says. "Hotels in town really love us. Restaurants are getting ready to love us."

The new $2 million complex, made possible by private donors, sits next to Wake Forest's football field and will also be the new outdoor home for the university's men's and women's tennis teams.

It features 13 courts with the same Deco-Turf II surface as the courts used at the U.S. Open, and it will be lit by a state-of-the-art lighting system.

Temporary seating will be brought in for the first year of the tournament, but future plans call for the construction of a permanent stadium.

The tournament will be broadcast on the Tennis Channel and ESPN2, including the singles final broadcast nationwide by CBS.