The courts of the Tunduro Garden, in the capital of Mozambique, will host, between October 4th and 16th, the 10th edition of the Standard Bank Open, which consists of three competitions, namely two men's "Futures" and the Top Moz, a competition that involves only tennis players residing in Mozambique.

With a global prize of 30 thousand US dollars, the biggest tennis tournament and the only international competition of this modality organized in the country, will bring together 32 internationally renowned tennis players from several countries well positioned in the world ranking, such as Khololwam Montsi, South African tennis player (number 661 in the ATP ranking) and Lorenzo Bocchi, Italian tennis player (number 700 in the ATP ranking).

Organized by Standard Bank, the event is held in partnership with the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Mozambican Tennis Federation (FMT) and the Maputo Tennis Club (CTM).

Preceding the three main events of the tournament, qualifying matches will be held for each of the two Futures, which will take place on October 3rd (Futures 1) and October 8th (Futures 2).

During the press conference to launch the tournament, on Monday, October 3rd, in Maputo, the managing director of Standard Bank, Bernardo Aparício, said that one of the major objectives of Standard Bank, when organizing this tournament, is to discover talents and help to elevate the national tennis: "That is why we have included in the Open the Top Moz category, which is exclusively dedicated to national athletes", he stressed.

On the other hand, according to Bernardo Aparício, the bank continues with the purpose of massifying the modality, taking it to new publics and places. In this context, all the games of this tournament have free entrance.

In his turn, Jonas Alberto, president of the Mozambican Tennis Federation, indicated that the Standard Bank Open is considered by the ITF as one of the best events in Africa in the sport.

"We have registered a lot of interest from athletes to participate in the competition. For this event, we registered more than 600 entries from all over the world, from which were selected the 52 best ranked tennis players. It is a very popular event, where many athletes see it as an opportunity to climb the ATP ranking", said Jonas Alberto.

One of the Mozambican tennis players that will be in great shape at the Standard Bank Open is the young Jaime Sigauque. During the press conference, the tennis player said that this is a high level competition: "I feel prepared and confident to give my best in this competition. I have chances for that", he concluded.