Officials at Tennis Emirates, the governing body of the sport in the UAE, have confirmed that plans are in place to build a national tennis centre that will cater to the training needs of local players.
Tennis Emirates, who are this week hosting the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Madinat Jumeirah, unveiled the original Davis Cup trophy, which is visiting west Asia for the first time in history.
The iconic piece of silverware, which is one of the oldest trophies in sport, is displayed at the Dubai Mall (near Bloomingdale’s) until September 18, before it is transferred to Madinat Jumeirah, where the 2015 Davis Cup draw will be held.
This is also the first time the AGM comes to this region and Tennis Emirates secretary general Sara Baker believes it will give a much-needed boost for the sport in the UAE as well as emphasise the importance of creating a national tennis centre.
“I think this is a great push for Tennis Emirates. We have the AGM coming in, we have the Davis Cup draw, we have the Davis Cup trophy…the whole event will increase the awareness on tennis and the importance of having a centre for the Tennis Emirates federation,” Baker told Sport360.
“This will create this media flash that will show that we really have to move with tennis in the Emirates. We do want to target everybody but specifically the nationals; they have to get into this sport.
“So this will attract attention to tennis in the country which is ultimately good for the federation.”
The federation has long voiced its wishes to create a national tennis centre but plans never materialised. However, Baker confirms that a venue will be built and should be up and running my mid-next year.
“We were hoping to have something in place before the AGM but it didn’t work out. We want to do something that will last 30 years down the line so we didn’t want to rush things,” she said. “But we’re definitely after finding a proper piece of land and we’re starting to create a plan for 5-10 years down the line how we’ll want to grow.
“When it can open its doors? By mid-next year, but by the end of this year we should have the plan started and ready to move.
“I think we plan to have a few different centres in different emirates but the main one would be in Dubai since the federation itself is in Dubai.”
Salah Tahlak, chairman of the AGM’s organising committee and tournament director of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, was also at hand at the Davis Cup trophy unveiling and agrees with Baker, that the AGM and all the events taking place around it will help promote the sport here.
“It’s great to have such a valuable cup here in the UAE. It’s the first time it has come to west Asia. It will give a lot of incentive to the UAE national players and hopefully one day, if we have enough players, our name will be up there with the champions who have won this cup,” said Tahlak.
“It puts us under pressure to develop more, to pay attention more to tennis at a grassroots level.”
The AGM takes place from September 16-18 and will bring together nearly 200 top officials from the world of tennis from across the world.
