Important tennis event for Chch

Press, 22 July 1980, Page 30

Important tennis event for Chch

By

JOHN BROOKS

Several of the brightest young men on the American and Australian tennis scenes are expected to compete in a big international tennis tournament at Wilding Park next February. The event will be part of a satellite circuit sponsored by Air New Zealand, and it will give young players the chance to earn A.T.P. points, which are vital to their future on world tennis circuits. The Christchurch event will be known as the Air' New Zealand Masters, and will be held from February 5 to 8. Other tournaments on the circuit are planned for Auckland, Whangarei, North Shore and Blenheim, and they will fit neatly into the period between the Benson and Hedges international open

in Auckland in January and the BP national championships in Wellington in February. The American and Australian players expected to be lured to New Zealand by the $25,000 circuit will be in the 18 to 23 age group. All are expected to be “good quality” players. The executive president of the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association, Mr lan Wells, regards the move an important breakthrough in th? progress of the game. “For a number of years the association has been committed to get a satellite circuit off the ground,” he said. “We are extremely pleased that this has now occurred and next year’s circuit will, we hope, be the forerunner of an annual event.” Mr Wells said that a

women’s circuit would be organised to run at the same time as the men’s. “Naturally, this will be on a much reduced scale, as there is only a fraction of the number of women players to men, and there

is no comparable structure in the women’s calendar.” Mr Wells revealed that Christchurch also had a chance of again acting as host for a Davis Cup tie — but it was a chance in which luck would play a big part; “New Zealand is expected to be the eighth seeded nation in the nonzonal competition, and we

will be drawn to play against one of the beaten semi-finalists from one of the four zones. The venue for the match will be decided by the toss of a coin.

“If it is New Zealand, then the match is likely to be played next March, in Christchurch.” Mr Wells said that a first-round win to New Zealand would lead to a second-round match in either April or June, depending whether the tie was played in New Zealand or overseas. A first-round loss would mean New’ Zealand was committed to playing another first-round loser. The defeated teams in this round would be demoted, and replaced in the top group of 16 nations by the four zone winners. “This means we have

tw’O chances of seeing a New Zealand team in each year’s competition,” Mr Wells said. “We would be extremely unfortunate if the toss of a coin denied us the opportunity on both occasions.” Mr Wells disclosed that the N.Z.L.T.A. had hoped to promote a big international tournament in New Zealand in December, but negotiations with the principal party involved, Television New Zealand, had not been clinched. A pay-out of more than $lOO,OOO had been envisaged in a bid to capture the interest of top players on their way to Australia. The association, however, was still exploring the holding of the event on a much reduced scale — possibly eight players competing in a mini-tour-nament.