Canberra International to be cut from Aussie summer

According to a recent news article published by The Canberra Times, Tennis Australia has scrapped the Canberra International from the busy schedule of Australia’s popular summer tennis season.

The national body said the event, which was first played in 2001, was too difficult to sustain among the higher-profile tournaments in the Australian tennis season leading up to the Australian Open – the opening Grand Slam of the year.

Understandably, Tennis ACT has been left disappointed by the decision and has seemingly been left out of the decision-making process.

“We certainly feel aggrieved and it almost appears the decision was predetermined and this was merely a formality to get it across the line. We had no formal notification that this was under review,” said Tennis ACT president Tony Lane.

Despite the tournament’s growth over the years, including increased crowd figures and prizemoney, Tennis Australia general manager of events Peter Johnston explained to The Canberra Times that the process of eliminating the relatively new Canberra tournament from the series of Australian Open lead-up events was already under way.

“It is part of the WTA, so our decision has to still get ratified by the WTA Tour itself, but we’re in the middle of the process,” said Johnston. “That week is pretty much the busiest week of the tennis calendar. It just got down to the difficulty for us to sustain the event.

“We’ve underwritten the event significantly since the inception and our projections - even though it has grown, the crowds have grown in each year and there was a naming rights sponsorship, Richard Luton Properties, which has since expired - it was down to an economic decision and our capacity to sustain all that tennis that week. It's a painful decision.”

Tennis ACT general manager Gerard Corradini expressed that he would be holding talks with Tennis Australia concerning the issue.

We don’t have all the information from Tennis Australia and we will be seeking that as a matter of urgency,” he said. “We’re clearly disappointed to hear that this decision has been made.”

In its short six year history, the Canberra International boasts champions including four-time Grand Slam winner and 2006 Australian Open finalist Justine Henin-Hardenne and rising 18-year-old Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Montenegro.

Related Article:

Medina Garrigues clinches Canberra International title (Sat Jan 14)

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