Building on the Big Island’s rousing turn hosting a Fed Cup match in February, Oahu will welcome its first professional women’s tennis event in November.

The Hawaii Open will feature 32 world-ranked players and eight doubles teams in a week-long Women’s Tennis Association tournament set for Nov. 20-27 at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

Details for the Thanksgiving-week tournament were announced in a Thursday press conference, which included an endorsement by Gov. David Ige, at the Hawaii Convention Center.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority is the presenting sponsor for the WTA 125K Series event, which was awarded to Hawaii due in large part to the enthusiastic reception the Fed Cup match between the United States and Poland received in February at at Holua Tennis Center in Kailua-Kona.

Ben Goldsmith, who operated WTA tournaments in Texas and California, said watching the telecast of the U.S. sweep on the Big Island triggered the idea to move the Carlsbad Classic to Hawaii this year. He contacted Ron Romano, executive director of the USTA Hawaii Pacific Section, and they took the proposal to the HTA.

“We went to the tourism board and they loved the idea after the success of the Fed Cup and after that we were good to go,” Goldsmith said.

While the full field is yet to be determined, Goldsmith said Misaki Doi, ranked 42nd in the WTA rankings; Daniela Hantuchova and American teen Catherine “CiCi” Bellis are among the early commitments. Doi won the San Antonio Open in March, Hantuchova owns seven WTA singles and nine doubles titles and Bellis became a sensation at 15 when she upset 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the 2014 U.S. Open.

“There are some bigger names we’re negotiating with, several that the crowds will love,” Goldsmith hinted.

“We’ll have a really good draw at that time of year. It opens it up for us because we don’t have any competition as a tournament that week, and … it’s not a hard sell to get players to spend a couple weeks in Hawaii in the winter.”

According to the WTA website, the 125K Series was established in 2012 “to provide an opportunity for new markets to showcase a professional women’s tennis product and offer lower-ranked and up-and-coming players additional opportunities to compete and earn prize money and ranking points.”

“We have every expectation Hawaii will be the largest 125 (event) in the world,” Goldsmith said.

The HTA is contributing $150,000 in a one-year deal as presenting sponsor, although speakers at the press conference expressed hope the tournament will become an annual event.

“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for our residents to see world-class tennis. I also know that HTA will be working to bring visitors here to experience it as well,” said Ige, who attended the Fed Cup.

“This tournament will be great exposure for our state — it expands Hawaii’s visibility to a different segment of sports fans and interest in tennis, especially women’s tennis, is growing internationally. The Fed Cup … I thought was a spectacular success both for the state of Hawaii as well as the players.”

Goldsmith said tournament officials are working on a national television contract, with the event also expected to be televised in Asia and Europe.

Goldsmith made his first trip to Hawaii in March to scout prospective sites and said Central Oahu Regional Park’s tennis complex “clicked off about every category” he was looking for in a venue.

“As soon as I turned the corner into the facility I saw this as the absolute perfect place to host a tennis tournament. It was a done deal at that point,” Goldsmith said.

CORP features two stadium courts and Goldsmith said temporary bleachers will be constructed for the tournament. He said plans are to build enough seating to accommodate 4,500 to 5,000 spectators, with the possibility of expanding to as many as 9,000 depending on ticket sales.

Tickets went on sale Thursday and are available at hawaiitennisopen.com.