“It is very critical for women to participate in any sport,” said Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula on Friday as Government and Tennis South Africa announced a partnership to revive the Soweto Open tournament.
“A tournament like this will inspire youngsters to take up tennis as a sport,” said Mr Mbalula about women’s involvement at the relaunch of the tournament, which was launched in 2009 and played successfully until 2011, when it was dropped from the international calendar this year due to the challenges of the global financial crisis.
The Soweto Women’s Open will be played at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Complex in April next year, and SRSA together with TSA are pleased to announce that negotiations with the ATP and ITF are at advanced stages for this venture; this will include the actual confirmation of the prize money to be awarded to the winners.
“It is our belief that the Soweto Open in 2013 will attract more spectators than ever before, and will continue to expose many young South Africans, developing players and emerging professionals from the disadvantaged and neglected communities, whilst at the same time uplifting the standard of living and of tennis in these areas,” said Mbalula.
Already there has been great interest from international players who have confirmed their interest in participating in the tournament, which has had champions to the likes of top 100 players Anastasia Seastova of Latvia (2009), and Russians Nina Bratchikova (2010) and Valeri Savinykh (2011).
Follow Tennis SA on twitter and facebook for further developments.
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
