CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland is a sports town. We all know that. Northeast Ohio loves its Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Guardians and Cleveland Monsters.

But another sport is in the spotlight this week in Cleveland: Women’s tennis.

It’s not often that Clevelanders get to watch tennis in person, but now, they have an opportunity.

Tennis in the Land by Rocket Mortgage started Saturday morning at Nautica Entertainment Complex in Cleveland’s West Bank of the Flats. It is a Women’s Tennis Association tournament that invites professional female tennis players to bring their A-game to the CLE. This is the fourth year it’s been held in Cleveland, and it seems it’s here to stay.

The tournament runs through Saturday, Aug. 24, a week before the U.S. Open.

Attendees were given the opportunity to watch professional women’s tennis from rows away. There also is a fan festival that is free to everyone. It offers, food, drinks, tennis merch, corn hole, pickleball and more.

Lauren Davis, 30, who is a professional tennis player from Gates Mills said it’s not often that her family and friends actually get to watch her in person. Davis is a part of the WTA and has been in the tournament for more than a decade and travels a lot. She is scheduled to play Sunday during Tennis in the Land. She became pro when she was 17 years old.

“Our sports town (Cleveland) is like centered around men’s sports. So, it (Tennis in the Land) just gives really good exposure to women’s tennis. Cleveland is like a sneaky tennis town. Like so many tennis fans. I feel like anywhere I go I’ll find someone who is in the tennis world from Cleveland, so it’s pretty cool.”

Davis and her mother, who is big into tennis, have made lifelong friends through playing. She hopes to stay in tennis in some capacity when she retires.

Amelia Cassidy, 24 of Cleveland, was playing pickleball with two friends while at Tennis in the Land. A former Illinois resident, she played tennis in high school and picked it back up when she moved here for a job. Tennis is the perfect sport to get people outside, she said, and the event is an important one to showcase women’s sports in general.

The week-long tournament is at 2000 Sycamore Street in Cleveland. View the schedule of the tournament and Tennis in the Land’s website, plus the promotional schedule, match plans and more.

Vince Vombergar, 19, of Kirtland, played tennis in high school and college and saw a post about Tennis in Land and thought it would be great to support women’s tennis.

“A lot of people think it’s boring or just a rich person’s sport, you know, where they just play at a country club,” he said. “You know there’s a lot of public parks we can go and play tennis. It’s definitely more exciting especially if you see it in person.”

Ben Moore works for Topnotch Management, the parent ownership company for Tennis in the Land. As a tennis player growing up, it’s been great to work to bring the event to one of the most active areas of downtown Cleveland.

“This is Cleveland’s only professional women’s sporting event, and Cleveland has a long history of professional tennis,” he said. “I mean Billie Jean King used to play in Cleveland, Arthur Ashe has played in Cleveland. Just such a long history of Cleveland tennis.

“We want to create a consistent home for professional women’s sports in Cleveland. We’re not bringing tennis to Cleveland. We’re bringing Cleveland to tennis.”

Kaylee Remington is the shopping and entertainment commerce reporter and metro reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read her work online.