The ATP Memphis Open has been sold to a N.Y.-based financial management group a year after the USTA "purchased a majority ownership's stake in the event," according to Phil Stukenborg of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. Boston-based StarGames President & CEO Jerry Solomon will be president of a "newly formed company that will own and operate" the tourney. Solomon did not want to identify members of the financial group "until an official announcement is made, possibly early next month." StarGames was created in '94 and has held "popular one-night exhibitions in the past eight years" at MSG that have featured Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Solomon's group will be the "third to own the Memphis Open in as many years;" the USTA bought the event from Sharks Sports & Entertainment last year. Solomon said that Tournament Dir Erin Mazurek "will remain" after she was hired last fall. Stukenborg notes the latest sale "secures professional tennis" in Memphis. The tournament "has struggled in recent years," as the lower-level 250 series event's popularity has been "adversely affected by lack of a title sponsor the past three years and the decline of highly ranked U.S. talent." Solomon is looking into "possibly moving the finals to the FedExForum, bringing top-ranked players to Memphis who haven't traditionally played here and making the tournament more of a regional draw" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 8/21).
