WINS FEED THROUGH TO CLUBS
EVERYDAY tennis fans will not be the only ones crossing their fingers for homegrown success at the Australian Open.
The sport is in a healthy position on the Gold Coast with 29 local clubs – the newest being KDV Sport in Carrara – and more than 600 centralised members, excluding memberships specific to each club.
Tennis Gold Coast president Mike Ford said those numbers have long been steady, with the biggest positive influence having proven to be whenever an Australian makes a charge at a Grand Slam tournament.
“Historically that’s what has happened,” Ford said.
“When we have had players do really well at the Australian Open and the big Grand Slam events, there is more interest. The phone rings more, more people are looking to play.
“Sammy Stosur won (the US Open) in 2011 and there was a spike in people wanting to play the game and young kids wanting to take up Hot Shots tennis.”
While Gold Coast product Stosur has a major title to her name and young guns Ash Barty and Alex De Minaur made the respective finals of the Sydney International on the weekend, Ford believes Nick Kyrgios could be the best chance of sparking the next flood of interest.
Hundreds of senior players aged 35 and over will take part in the Australian Seniors Teams Carnival starting on the Gold Coast today.