And, according to tournament director Hugh Raymond, such has been the interest in the competition that he has been swamped with applications to play, including Russian tennis players whose first question has been: ‘where is Jersey and how do you get there?”It will be the first indoor tournament of the season, after they return from Portugal,’ he said.
‘The top-listed 21 players are guaranteed a place.
Then there are three wild cards which go to the host country, which in this case is Great Britain.
That takes it up to 24, with another eight places which up to 48 players have to fight for.’I’ve been amazed at how many people want to come here; head office have been the same.
It isn’t just the players, either.
The referees and umpires have also been first to put their names down.
People hear through the grapevine that Jersey’s a nice place to come to; they find out about the facilities and the Island, and they also know that the matches will attract more spectators here than in other events.’I’m looking forward to it, and if all goes well, there is the possibility of bigger events to come.’Among the top 21 players in the main draw are 12 from the world’s top 200 placings, including the Czech Republic’s Renata Voracova, at 129 plus Kelly Liggan, ranked 181, from Ireland.
