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Preparations for Tauranga’s Davis Cup competition are well underway with final work on laying the tennis surface inside TECT Arena at Baypark.
Waikato-Bays Tennis CEO Leslie Wilkinson says the floor has been installed and lines are being painted today to ready the courts for Davis Cup team practice this Sunday ahead of the competition with Uzbekistan from Friday next week.
Mark Slane of Hardwood Technology installs the temporary tennis court for next week’s Davis Cup competition at Tect Arena at Baypark.
Leslie says the temporary court surface, which is made up of interlocking tiles that arrived in a 40 foot shipping container, is needed to provide an international standard court and costs nearly $12,000 to install.
“We need to do this to get a court that is as close to a plexipave playing court in the normal court venues.
“It’s the international standard court surface that Tennis NZ has picked as suitable for our players.”
After putting the modular tiles together they were sprayed with Rebound Ace latex rubber coating, before having court lines painted and nets erected.
The temporary court system developed by New Zealand company Hardwood Technology has been used three times before for Davis Cup events in New Plymouth.
Hardwood director Mark Slane says players love the surface.
Leslie says ticket sales have been slower than expected, but was expecting a late surge of interest.
She urged tennis fans to support the event and make it a success so Tauranga is considered for future events.
“It will be really top tennis. Denis Istoman (top Uzbkek player) is number 60 in the world, so you are going to see some really top tennis and the atmosphere at a Davis Cup is incredibly different to any other team’s event.”
Meanwhile, young tennis players competing in the inaugural Waitangi Weekend Junior Tennis Tournament at the BayTrust Tennis Centre in Papamoa will come under scrutiny from members of the New Zealand Davis Cup team on Sunday.
The Davis Cup players will spend time at the tournament watching and talking to the competitors.
Papamoa Club president Robert Naumann hopes the top player’s presence will be inspiring for the younger players.
Posted on 04-02-2012 18:09 | By Pamax
Hey Scambuster, before you and your "naysayer" mates leap into print and criticize Waikato-Bays Tennis’s initiative bringing International teams to Tauranga get your facts straight. This is an important first for Tauranga Tennis and contrary to your view the Eastern European countries are very prominent in Official Davis Cup World Rankings. Serbia is #2 - Czech Republic #5 - Croatia #7 - Kazakhstan #10 - Romania #25 - Uzbekistan #26. New Zealand is #33 on a ranking scale of 132 countries so if anyone is the "Z" team is NZ. Tennis is a massive international sport and regular tournaments here will swell our city’s tourist numbers. Efforts to bring international sports teams here don’t need uninformed knockers like you who don’t have the guts to sign their name when penning their jaundiced views. Max Lewis. Mt Maunganui