2013 bb&t atlanta Open Dates Have Been Changed tournament moves one week later, running july 20-28 atlanta, December 12, 2012

The BB&T Atlanta Open, an ATP World Tour 250 event, is the first men’s event in the Emirates Airline US Open Series.

Tournament Director Bob Bryant said, “The new timetable allows us to get in line with the 2013 and upcoming years’ ATP World Tour calendar as Wimbledon moves to one week later in 2014. More importantly this change gets us closer to the US Open. The BB&T Atlanta Open will be the only hard court tournament on the tour that week, drawing more players preparing for America’s Grand Slam.”

The tournament’s qualifying rounds are scheduled July 20-21. Main draw matches are set to run from July 22-28. The tournament moves into the week that had been occupied by the Los Angeles tournament, which will move to Bogota, Colombia.

Mardy Fish defeated John Isner in 2010 and 2011 to win the first two singles finals when the tournament was called the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Other top competitors included Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake and Robby Ginepri, of Marietta, Ga. More than 72,000 spectators attended the tournament that offers $531,000 in prize money annually. Atlantic Station signed a multi-year deal to host the tournament starting in 2012. The 2012 Tournament is expected to provide an economic impact of $10.3 million to the city of Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. The ATP World Tour formally awarded the ATP 250 sanction to the USTA Southern Section in December 2009.

BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) is one of the largest financial services holding companies in the U.S. with $174.8 billion in assets and market capitalization of $21.9 billion, as of March 31, 2012. Based in Winston-Salem, N.C., the company operates approximately 1,800 financial centers in 12 states and Washington, D.C., and offers a full range of consumer and commercial banking, securities brokerage, asset management, mortgage and insurance products and services. A Fortune 500 company, BB&T is consistently recognized for outstanding client satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates, the U.S. Small Business Administration, Greenwich Associates and others. More information about BB&T and its full line of products and services is available at www.BBT.com.

Now in its ninth season, the Emirates Airline US Open Series continues to serve as a true regular season of hard court tennis, linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. Fans follow the action throughout the summer during national broadcast coverage while players battle for $40 million, including a chance for bonus prize money at the US Open. The Series collectively reached a U.S. television audience of 39 million and drew more than 800,000 on-site fans in 2011. In 2012, Emirates Airline became the title sponsor of the Series, as well as the official airline of the US Open. The Emirates Airline US Open Series is also supported by sponsors American Express, Chase, Citizen Watch Company, Esurance, evian and Gatorade.

The ATP is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits - the ATP World Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. With 62 tournaments in 31 countries, the ATP World Tour showcases the finest male athletes competing in the world’s most exciting venues. From Australia to Europe and the Americas to Asia, the stars of the ATP World Tour battle for prestigious titles and South African Airways ATP Rankings points at ATP World Tour Masters 1000, 500 and 250 events, as well as Grand Slams (non ATP events). At the end of the season only the world’s top 8 ranked men’s singles players and top 8 doubles teams, based on their performance throughout the year, will qualify to compete for the last title of the season at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Held at The O2 in London, the event will officially crown the 2012 ATP World Tour No.1 in singles and doubles. For more information, please visit www.ATPWorldTour.com.

The USTA is divided into 17 sections, of which USTA Southern is the largest. The 187,000+ USTA members living in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee make up USTA Southern, and account for approximately 25 percent of the total USTA membership. The section owns and operates the BB&T Atlanta Open, an ATP World Tour 250 tournament. A professional staff housed in Norcross, Ga., carries out USTA Southern’s daily operations, but policy is formed and much of the organization’s work is executed via a board and committee structure of over 200 volunteers. For more information about the types of programs and services offered by USTA Southern, visit www.southerntennis.com.

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Ron Cioffi, ATC Media Director, USTA Southern Director of Communications