The successful staging of the first two Pro-Tour events at the redeveloped Canberra Tennis Centre has resulted in an additional three international pro-tour tournaments now confirmed as part of the annual events calendar.
In addition, last month Tennis ACT was awarded the Parks and Leisure Australia (NSW/ACT) Award for Excellence for Leisure Facilities Development for the redevelopment of the Canberra Tennis Centre, and local construction firm Manteena, won the Master Builders association $5-20m building award for Next Gen Canberra.
Tournament Director and Tennis ACT CEO Ross Triffitt said the redeveloped venue has given Tennis ACT capacity to create events catering for players at all levels, from beginner to professional.
“The increase in tournaments provides players from the ACT and surrounding region to gain Australian ranking points without having to travel,” Triffitt said. “They provide a launch pad for future tennis champions and since 2013, world No.16 Nick Kyrgios, James Duckworth, Sam Groth, Casey Dellacqua and Daria Gavrilova have all featured on the honour roll at Pro Tour events in Australia.
“For local professional players such as [360] Alison Bai and [1294] James Frawley, who spend the majority of the year on the road, it is a great opportunity to compete in their home town. These events will showcase the amazing new facility we have in Canberra and the community will have the chance to watch world class tennis”.
“There is also an enormous benefit to the wider Canberra community, with an expected $13million plus worth of economic benefit to the Territory over the three year agreement”.
The three unanticipated tournaments, the Canberra Challenger (Jan 2017) and the ACT Claycourt Internationals #1 and #2 (March 2017) will increase the economic benefit to the ACT by an estimated $1million per annum.
International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior and Seniors events, along with a number of domestic tournaments, including the 12s/14s National Claycourt Championships, will also be staged at the new centre, as well as Australian Money Tournaments (AMT) offering $28,500 in prize money.
“We are really pleased with the success of the venue and international and national events it has attracted. Although we are mindful these events do come at a cost to Tennis ACT and we will need to look for support locally to sustain them into the future”, Triffitt continued.
“We are very pleased with the high standard of the facilities at the redeveloped Canberra Tennis Centre,” Tennis Australia’s Director of Events and Facilities, Tom Larner, said.
“It’s tremendous for Canberra to have such a great venue and the opportunity to stage international tournaments at all levels, juniors, professional, seniors and wheelchair. We’ve had excellent feedback from the International Tennis Federation and the ATP and look forward to another successful summer of tennis in Canberra”.
The redeveloped Canberra Tennis Centre features 28 tennis courts – including synthetic grass, Italian clay and hardcourt surfaces – as well as four ANZ Tennis Hot Shots courts.
The redevelopment of the Canberra Tennis Centre was a tri-partite agreement between Tennis ACT, Tennis Australia and the ACT Government.
Pr-Tour events snapshot:
The Canberra International: 29 October – 6 November 2016
The Canberra International, a $50,000 ATP Challenger and ITF Women’s $50,000 event is the perfect lead in to the Australian Summer of Tennis. Players with ATP/WTA rankings between 100-300 will aim to improve their rankings ahead of the 2016 Australian Open. In 2015, Queensland’s Ben Mitchell completed a dream week in Canberra after fighting back from a set down to claim the Canberra International 2015 title in three sets over Luke Saville (SA). In the Women’s event, unseeded Asia Muhammad (USA) defeated the number 3 seed, Cindy Burger (NED) and number 2 seed, Eri Hozumi (JPN) to win the title.
The Canberra Challenger: 7 – 14 January 2017
The 2017 Canberra Challenger, a Men’s $75,000 ATP tournament and part of the Australian Pro Tour, will be held at the Canberra Tennis Centre for the second time. In 2016, ten of the world’s top 100 men played the event, with top seed Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) won the Canberra ATP Challenger event after a straight sets victory over fifth seed Ivan Dodig (CRO).
ACT Claycourt International: 11-26 March 2017
The Canberra Tennis Centre will host the $25,000 ACT Claycourt International events from 11-26 March 2017. In 2016 the ACT Claycourt International events were the first professional event held on the redeveloped European clay courts. The 2016 ITF/WTA events were both won by Japanese entrants. Eri Hozumi (JPN) claimed the ACT Claycourt International #1 and Top seed Miyu Kato (JPN) defeated Anna Bondar (HUN) to win the ACT Claycourt International #2.
Entry to the Canberra Tennis Centre is free for all five Pro-Tour 2016/2017 events, with a gold coin donation upon entry on finals days.
Latest
ACT