When the City of Vicksburg added four tennis courts to its Halls Ferry Park facility in 2016, a big selling point was that it would attract major statewide events.

That time has come.

Halls Ferry Park will host the Mississippi Tennis Association 55-and-over Combination Doubles Championship this weekend. The tournament begins Friday at 8 a.m. and continues through Sunday afternoon, with more than 300 players participating.

This is the first of a two-year agreement for Vicksburg to host the tournament. Rick Shields, the City of Vicksburg’s tennis director, estimated it will bring about $140,000 into the city. The court expansion cost about $500,000.

“This is the biggest tennis event ever in Vicksburg, by far. So we’re happy about that,” said Rick Shields, the director of the City of Vicksburg’s tennis program. “The board put us four more courts out here, which qualified us for events like this.”

Shields added that a number of sponsors have also stepped up to help the tournament by providing material support, by donating things like food and beverages, or financial support.

“We appreciate all our sponsors,” Shields said. “That shows they appreciate we’re having these events here, because they’re going to benefit. A general manager from one of the hotels came out here and hugged me the other day, because they were all booked up for the weekend.”

There is no admission fee for spectators to the tournament, which promises to be a highly competitive event.

The format is a bracketed doubles-only tournament, which is team-oriented. Three doubles tandems compete for each team in a best-of-three match. Teams had to qualify by finishing first or second in league play in a number of statewide districts.

All players are 55 or older, and the winners advance to the USTA Southern Sectional Championships in Mobile in March.

“You’ll see some very talented people playing tennis here,” Shields said. “A lot of folks play really good tennis at this age. If you still have your wheels, you know more and play smarter tennis and you’re usually better because of it.”