DUNDALK TENNIS CLUB SECURES MAJOR INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR TOURNAMENT

Dundalk Tennis Club has just announced that it has secured a major underage tennis event for this summer which will see up to 400 of the world’s brightest and best court stars of the future coming to the town for a week.

The club’s director of tennis, John McGahon, said the event was secured for Dundalk after a lot of hard work and input from a number of people and the event - a world ranking one for junior tennis players - will give people the opportunity to see some of the rising stars of the future.

Mr McGahon said: ‘ This event is an opportunity for players to increase their world rankings on their way to the junior sections of the world ranked events such as RolandGarros, Wimbledon and the Australian Open junior events. We have a qualifying event here which starts on July 31 and runs to August 4.

‘Some of the world’s top players, including Nadal, Murray and Djokovic have come through these tournaments on their way to turning professional. This Dundalk event will feature the next generation of talented tennis players who are going to be the ones to watch. The winners at these events usually go on to compete at the junior sections of the grand slam tournaments’.

Dundalk Tennis Club boasts one of the best academies in Ireland and Mr McGahon and others from the club were successful, for the third time, in bringing the event to Dundalk, which boasts around 400 members in total and nine courts.

There is an open night every Thursday to give people ‘aged from five to 90’ the opportunity to try tennis, which, Mr McGahon said, ‘is a sport for life’.

He said: ‘By securing this junior event, we wanted to promote the sport and give local people the opportunity to see some great tennis. We liaised very closely with Tennis Ireland and the International Tennis Federation and there will be around 200 competitors, along with parents and officials which could meant between 500 and 600 people in Dundalk over the course of the event’.

Dundalk Tennis Club has put together a committee and are currently organising social events for the players and coaches, as well as looking at a number of other possibilities such as an official opening ceremony and a civic reception.

Mr McGahon is also trying to get sponsors on board for this major event and said that on previous occasions, players were treated to a welcome reception at the club, with the Crowne Plaza used as a base.

He said: ‘We would like to hear from people who are interested in getting on board with us and sponsoring this event. We want to hear from people who want to get involved with it and we intend doing a lot of promotion. It will provide people in Dundalk with a free opportunity to see some great tennis’.

Anyone interested in sponsorship or helping with the event can contact the club at 042 9335327 or email: info@ dundalkracketsclub.com.