ATP back in Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) -- The men's tennis tour is returning to Atlanta, putting a hard-court tournament in the city that will be played July 17-25, 2010, and start off the U.S. Open Series.

The ATP tour bought the sanctioning rights to the Indianapolis tournament that has been held in July but recently had attendance and sponsorship issues.

The move to Atlanta was announced Thursday by the ATP and the U.S. Tennis Association, which oversees the U.S. Open Series, a circuit of hard-court events in North America leading up to the year's last Grand Slam tournament.

Atlanta previously hosted a men's tournament from 1986-2001, before the rights for that event were sold and the tournament was moved to Argentina.