International tennis tournament St. Petersburg Open is part of the ATP World Tour series and follows the tennis traditions of Russia which began at the end of the 19th century in a place called Lakhta located on the waterfront of the Gulf of Finland. It was in St. Petersburg where the first Russian tennis clubs appeared, the first tennis championships were held, and the first Russian champions were born: Bray brothers, Sumarokov-Elston, Alenitsyn, MacPherson. Lawn tennis – as they used to call the sport – came to Russia just a year after the first Wimbledon.