The Next Big Thing in Pickleball is Brought Together by the PPA Tour, Baird Wealth Management, and the Lindner Family Tennis Center
| July 11, 2023
Multi-faceted partnership to produce a top-tier tournament, bringing significant tourism to Greater Cincinnati
SALT LAKE CITY/CINCINNATI (Sept. 06, 2022) – Baird Wealth Management and the PPA Tour are pleased to announce the first-ever Baird Wealth Management Open which is set to be played at the historic Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, OH, on Sept. 8-11, 2022. Tournament organizers anticipate welcoming close to 1,000 pickleball players and 8,000 spectators over its four days of play in Cincinnati.
The Lindner Family Tennis Center annually holds the revered Western & Southern Open, which is an ATP/WTA 1000 series and has the honor of being the oldest tennis tournament in the United States still played in its original city. The center has seen greats like Roger Federer and Serena Williams leave their hearts and racquets on the court. The Baird Wealth Management Open looks to follow in these footsteps with pickleball greats like Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters, Matt Wright, and Lucy Kovalova taking the court to vie for the title.
“We are very proud to help welcome athletes to Cincinnati for the 2022 Baird Wealth Management Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center,” said Brian Kurtz, Market Director with Baird. “Our firm is deeply committed to the Ohio region, with 11 offices across the state, including three right here in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. In the same spirit of how our financial advisors champion their clients, Baird is excited to support the sport that’s sweeping the nation.”
The Baird Wealth Management Open will be the second Grand Slam to be played on the PPA Tour in 2022. It is set to be one of the five biggest tournaments ever played in pickleball and the largest tournament ever held in the Midwest. Prize money for the tournament totals $160,000. All funds collected from rent of the Lindner facility will go to its parent entity, Tennis for Charity, Inc., a non-profit 501c3 entity that is dedicated to changing lives through tennis.
“We’ve watched pickleball just explode over the last few years and are humbled to be shaping the landscape of a professional sport,” said Connor Pardoe, Commissioner of the PPA. “We couldn’t be happier to be holding this event at the prestigious Lindner Family Tennis Center alongside our friends at Baird. The tournament is going to be unforgettable.”
The tournament will feature 18 hours of live coverage on Tennis Channel, which is an important broadcasting milestone for the sport. The Baird Wealth Management Open will be the first pickleball tournament ever played at the Lindner Family Tennis Center and will feature 42 pickleball courts, 15 of which will be painstakingly resurfaced and painted to exact specifications to ensure a consistent playing experience for the professional events.
“Pickleball is the newest and hottest sport in the U.S., and we are happy to help the PPA showcase their Grand Slam at our Tennis Center,” said Neal Schear, Treasurer of Tennis for Charity, Inc. “Pickleball is a close cousin to tennis, and our facility will take pride in giving players the same world-class experience as professional tennis players receive.”
Register to play the Baird Wealth Management Open or buy tickets to watch the pros! The PPA Tour doesn’t stop here, but continues its pro and amateur circuit through the duration of 2022, visiting spectacular venues across the country and doling out more than $3 million in prize money. Learn more about the PPA Tour here.
About the PPA Tour
The Professional Pickleball Association is the professional tour for the sport of pickleball, organizing events and rankings for the top male and female pickleball players in the world and awarding more than $3 million in annual prize money. With more than 20 events in 2022 at world-class facilities like the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, OH, and the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas, the PPA Tour is the premier provider of professional and amateur events. The PPA Tour’s broadcast partners include FOX Sports, Tennis Channel, CBS, CBS Sports, and ESPN. Founded in 2018 and based in Salt Lake City, Utah, the PPA Tour provides an unparalleled experience for all, inviting players to compete and “play where the pros play,” as well as offering unrivaled venues, food/beverages, live DJ entertainment, VIP experiences, giveaways and games, pro player meet-and-greets, shopping, vendors, and more. For more information, go to www.ppatour.com.
About Baird
Putting clients first since 1919, Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets, and private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Baird has approximately 4,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients and more than $415 billion in client assets as of Dec. 31, 2021. Commited to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 27 on the 2022 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list – its 19th consecutive year on the list. Baird is the marketing name of Baird Financial Group. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and Baird Trust Company in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s investment banking and private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.
About the Lindner Family Tennis Center
Host of the Western and Southern Open each year, the Lindner Family Tennis Center is owned by Tennis for Charity, Inc. The facility is one of the top tennis venues in the world and hosts a combined men’s and women’s Master 1000 series of tennis tournaments. Lindner’s Center Court alone is equipped to accommodate more than 11,000 spectators, and the facility has sixteen permanent tennis courts. Located in Mason, Ohio, which is part of the greater Cincinnati region and a hub for economic investment in biohealth, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, the Lindner Family Tennis Center has built itself an enduring legacy since it opened its gates in 1979.
About the City of Mason, Ohio
Mason, Ohio is an established hub for bioscience innovation and includes a business portfolio of advanced manufacturing, healthcare and technology companies. In the last five years, Mason has recruited more than $615 million in new investment and brought more than 3,100 jobs to the city with 80 percent of those in the biohealth space. As the largest city in Warren County and part of the Greater Cincinnati region in southwest Ohio, Mason’s economic development mission is focused on attracting and supporting the growth of top companies and creating jobs in these sectors, while also leveraging partnerships to attract foreign direct investment. Mason is nationally recognized for its low cost of living, award-winning schools and its intentional culture of wellness. For more information about the City of Mason, visit www.imaginemason.org.
Media Contacts:
Hannah Johns | PPA Tour | Director of Content | hannah@ppatour.com
Rachel Berkowitz | Baird | Public Relations | rberkowitz@rwbaird.com | 414.765.7250
Neal Schear | Lindner Family Tennis Center | Treasurer | nschear@schearandschear.com
