Above: Pakenham Regional Tennis Centre.
By Justin Robertson
THE plexicushion courts on Webster Way will become the home of 128 junior international tennis players this week, as the Pakenham Regional Tennis Centre will play host to the Australian Open Junior Qualifying rounds.
It’s the first time the tennis centre has held the qualifying tournament and operations manager Melony Grand-Court said it was the biggest tennis event Pakenham would see.
“We are very excited to have this event in the lead-up to the Australian Open – it’s going to be fantastic,” Grand-Court said, adding that the centre only opened in March of last year.
“We did host the Victoria junior hard-court champs in the lead-up to Christmas, but now it’s one step bigger, we have international players arriving now to hit on the courts and practise leading up to Thursday.”
Pakenham’s 18-plexicushion courts is the only centre to have the same surface as Melbourne Park and was the ideal location – according to Cardinia Shire Council and Tennis Australia – leading up to the main draw later this month.
“It’s a great opportunity for all the junior tennis players in the area to come out and have a look at the quality tennis that will be on display,” Grand-Court said.
“From here on in, we’ll be talking with Tennis Australia to see if we can make this an annual event.”
For the 64 boys and 64 girls competing, the format for singles will include the best of three sets, while for the doubles it will be best of two tie-break sets.
The first qualifying round of 32 matches and second round of 16 matches for both boys and girls will take place this Thursday 20 January starting from 9am.
The final qualifying round of eight will start on Friday at 9am.
