Canberra International set to light up summer

Kachel also felt it could be the strongest field of its kind anywhere in the world when it starts Sunday week.

It boasts 20 of the world's top 200 women, led by world No.114 Patricia Maria Tig and boom Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk.

The men's half of the Canberra International is a Challenger 125 tournament - the tier below the main ATP tour - and has attracted its strongest ever field with eight from the top 100.

It's been run in January as a lead-up event to the Australian Open for the past four years, but includes the women's ITF world tour event for the first time.

Upgraded lights means there'll be three night sessions for the first time - on the Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights.

That Friday night will have a party feel to it, with fans able to have a hit on the courts before the night session starts, with food vans, bars and DJs on site.

"We've made some significant upgrades to the site this year - we've introduced a new northern grandstand, we've got upgraded LED lighting so we've got night sessions this year, which we're sure the Canberra community will love," Kachel said.

"To have some marquee matches at night will be just brilliant."

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The Canberra International is competing with the Brisbane International for women, but has still drawn a strong field for the US$25,000 event.

Kostyuk's returning to the scene of her upset of Daria Gavrilova in the Fed Cup at Canberra Tennis Centre in 2018.

There's also four former top-100 players - Sachia Vickery, Kristina Kucova, Cagla Buyukakcay and Richel Hogenkamp - with most of the field using it as a warm-up for Australian Open qualifying.

"For an ITF event of that level it's got to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, in the world to have the number of top 200 players that we do and some of the names in the mix," Kachel said.

"We've locked in this new event for 2020 and fingers crossed [we get it again].

"Canberra's got a reputation now for hosting fantastic events so we're looking forward to putting on another great one.

"It's preparation and lead-up to the Australian Open. The season is starting in Canberra for all of these players so we'll be putting our best foot forward."

The men's summer Down Under has undergone a radical revamp this season following the introduction of the ATP Cup.

It's led to the Canberra International's strongest ever men's field with, led by Thanasi Kokkinakis and Ugo Humbert.

Kachel said they would always be open to any opportunities that arose to make the event even bigger.

"We've had a significant opportunity in terms of being elevated to the highest level ATP Challenger ... so we're really excited about hosting this event alongside the ATP Cup," he said.

"There's always different opportunities that become available and we'll always look at the opportunities, but we're stoked at the moment that we've got this ATP 125 event."

CANBERRA INTERNATIONAL

January 5: Women's qualifying starts at Canberra Tennis Centre. The men's event starts January 6. Tickets available from tennis.com.au/act/tickets.