IMG Making Changes to Eddie Herr International

IMG Academy has announced several changes to its annual Eddie Herr International Championships tennis event played on its campus in Bradenton each fall. The event, which began Monday and concludes Sunday, is home to one of the largest junior tennis tournaments in the world with thousands of global competitors entering each year across four age divisions.

The Eddie Herr International Championships will be renamed to the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships beginning with the 2024 event. For 30 years, IMG Academy had its famed junior tennis tournament named after Herr, who was a founding father of junior tennis in the state of Florida.

As part of IMG Academy International Tennis Championships in 2024 and beyond, there will be a new annual award given to competitors. Individual winners and doubles winners of their respected divisions will receive the Nick Bollettieri Trophy. The trophy is named after Bollettieri, who was the founder of the original Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, later renamed to the current IMG Academy. The trophy will represent Bollettieri's legacy on the Academy and the tennis program.

Tennis Leadership and Athletes: IMG Academy debuts IMG Academy International Tennis Championships banner with IMG Academy Tennis Athletes Martin Damm Jr., Emiliana Arango, Jerry Shang, Wakana Sonobe, Haniya Minhas and IMG Academy Leadership Jimmy Arias (Director of Tennis), Juan Herrera (Director of Tennis Operations), Margie Zesinger (Head of Female Tennis), Weylu Chang (Head of Male Tennis), Hisashi Sato (Head of IMG Academy International Tennis Championships Event) and Amar Vora (Program Manager).

IMG Academy will honor Bollettieri's legacy through another significant way in 2024, by naming its two on-campus premier stadium tennis courts the Bollettieri Stadium Courts.

"Our decision to rebrand our fall tennis event to the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships and honor Nick Bollettieri were strategic to help us look forward to the future while paying tribute to our past," said Jimmy Arias, Director of Tennis, at IMG Academy.

"We are grateful for the Herr family as they allowed us to promote our event for 30 years with Eddie's name, and he will always play a special role to us here at the Academy. We look forward to hosting this incredible, global tournament every single year and we're already eagerly awaiting serving up the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships in 2024."

This year's Eddie Herr International Championships Boys ITF winner will receive a wildcard into the ATP 250 Hong Kong 2024, and this year's Girls ITF winner will receive a wildcard into the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi 2024. Additionally, this year's Boys and Girls U-14 winners will receive wildcards into next year's IMG Academy International Tennis Championships ITF divisions.

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Source/Photos: IMG Academy