Launceston International tennis tournament boost

Tennis Tasmania chiefs hope bookending the Grand Slam tournament will increase Tasmania’s appeal to top players.

And chief executive Darren Sturgess believes Launceston will be the clear winner.

“We are in a really enviable position to have bookends around Australian Open,” he told The Examiner.

“Hobart starts it with Launceston and Burnie to follow and it’s lucky that all three regions can profile international tennis around that time.

“It’s a great opportunity to promote and showcase our events and really put tennis on the map here.”

The twist to the calendar will see Burnie’s men’s and women’s tournaments brought forward a week to overlap with the second week of the Australian Open with Launceston’s equivalent tournaments beginning the day after the men’s final at Melbourne Park. 

Sturgess said with the Hobart International women’s tournament also leading into the Open, Tasmania becomes an ideal location for Australian and overseas players looking to boost their rankings.

Sturgess said both Burnie and Launceston will benefit from the association with the Grand Slam just across Bass Strait.

“By having it closer (to the Open) means more quality players in the country and we can try and retain those players in Australia for a bit longer.

“Launceston benefits by not clashing with school so more spectators have a chance to come down and enjoy the tennis. It’s a real shot in the arm leading into term one of school to give people a chance to pick up a racquet and try the sport.

“Plus the Launceston finals are on same weekend as Festivale so people can watch some tennis and then take a short stroll to the park to enjoy some great food. That all adds to the value of being in Launceston at that time of year.”

Sturgess was hopeful that reigning champions Marc Polmans, of Victoria, and England’s Gabrielle Taylor could defend their Launceston titles and said three examples from Hobart this year demonstrated the Tassie tournaments’ status as breeding grounds for elite players.

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, beat Canada’s 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard at the Domain and is now in the world’s top-20, since becoming the first woman to win back-to-back Hobart International titles Belgian Elise Mertens has risen to a career-high ranking of 15 while Japan’s Naomi Osaka was a first-round loser in Tasmania but won last month’s US Open and is now world no.8.

“Tasmania has a real ability to find these players before they go onto bigger things,” Sturgess said.

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