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"The Monterrey Tournament has placed our city at the center of attention for the sporting world, and many people traveled here from different parts of the world to see this competition," said Luis Trevino Chapa, Director of the Tourist Office of Nuevo León.

For Bartoli, the courts and the atmosphere of Monterrey gave her the perfect setting for her fourth career title and $ 40,000.

"Monterrey was absolutely perfect ... there were a lot of fans ... I am very happy to win this title ... Of course (I will return to Mexico in 2010) I will try to be in the Acapulco open as well as win here again," said Bartoli, twelfth in the world according to the classification of the WTA, who defeated China's Na Li up by 6-3, 6-4 in the final of Monterrey.

The success of the tournament is part of the Mexico Tourism Board’s (MTB) strategy to promote tourism through sports; the MTB’s next action will be to participate in the Sony Ericsson Open 2009 in Miami, called the fifth grand slam, which will be held from March 25 through April 5.

Along with supporting tennis, the MTB will promote destinations such as Acapulco, Cancun, Huatulco, Ixtapa, Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, the Riviera Maya and Riviera Nayarit.

"By participating in this important event, our idea is to show American tourists that Mexico is really an exciting place to practice this sport, while enjoying other sporting, recreational and cultural activities. Because of the favorable exchange rate, this is the perfect time to go to Mexico," said Teresa Villarreal, director of the Miami Office of the MTB.

Mexico also hosts the largest tennis tournament in Latin America, the Acapulco Open, which ended on February 27 and handed out $ 1.2 million in prizes.

The winner of the women's singles event, Venus Williams, enjoyed her time in the beautiful city. "I was happy to be in Acapulco. I have not seen such a tournament anywhere else in the world. It is delightful to get up and see the ocean, have breakfast on the beachfront; the people here are very enthusiastic and made me feel great,“said Williams.

Mexico also offers clinics in most parts of the country, such as those taught in San Miguel Allende in the state of Guanajuato, a World Heritage Site and in the town of Jiutepec, adjacent to Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos.

And there is also the center MexTenis, which is in Lomas Cocoyoc, also in the state of Morelos, which offers world class programs, internships with high-performance, clinics, summer courses and coach trainings. The Center has produced 18 national champions from several countries and has a current enrollment of about 550 students.