A total of 470 players, competing in different age categories from Under-8 and above, took to the courts over three weeks at Zayed Sports City (ZSC) and more than 15 champions were crowned on Friday’s finals day.
It was the highest number of entries in the competition’s four-year history with trophies up for grabs in 20 categories (10 junior, four Open and six Cup).
With Open aimed at ex-professionals, coaches or advanced players and Cup for recreational and social, only 80 of those 470 participants were females.
Women’s Open champion Magali De Lattre took her fourth title, while Tanya Nanda (U-14), Anaya Singh (U-18 and Girls Cup), Maria Karachaliou (U-12) and Virginie Afota (30 plus) were among the other females to taste victory.
While Meeuws was pleased with the number of entries, the 37-year-old wants to increase the participation in the women’s game.
“The challenge is to get them involved in tournaments who do not usually play in tournaments before,” said the Belgian.
“The great thing about the Abu Dhabi Wilson Tennis Cup is that it is divided into Cup and Open divisions. The Open is for advanced players, while the Cup is for social and recreational. It’s open for any ability because we believe a tournament isn’t just about winning. At the end of the day, it’s about participation and developing.
“Females need to realise that this is a fun and social experience. Winning is not everything.”
Organised by ZSC and supported by PSS Academy, Wilson and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the community tournament – one of the biggest in the region, continues to go from strength to strength.
This year saw almost 600 matches played with the youngest player just six-years-old, while the oldest was 58.
It’s part of the organisers’ vision in promoting tennis and living a healthy lifestyle and is also a learning curve for the players especially for the juniors.
Their U-8, U-9 and U-10 events were round-robin, providing the opportunity to gain as much match practice as possible.
“For the younger kids, it’s crucial to get this exposure and get used to this tournament environment. They will get used to different things like dealing with a referee and wind conditions and playing against kids they don’t know,” added Meeuws.
“What I’ve been impressed with the most is the behaviour of the players. There was great sportsmanship. There was fair-play, smiles and they had plenty of fun. The standard of play was great but the sportsmanship and fair play was one that made me really happy.
“We want to develop grassroots and at these community events, this is where you build friendships.”
