Tennis tournament set for this month

Tennis tournament set for this month

With government and governing body restrictions slowly lifting, Caesarean Tennis Club are intending to stage a month-long open singles event at Grand Vaux – allowing players of all abilities from across the Island to return to something resembling normality on the sporting front.

The graded event, backed by Ingram Advocates, will offer monetary reward for all finalists from levels 5-2 and at least £100 for all semi-finalists at the top-ranked level 1. Strict health measures will be in place to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission, including marked balls for each player, no handshakes and reduced changeovers. Jersey’s ATP and ITF professionals Scott Clayton and Stuart Parker – currently without international events – could be among those featuring.

The sport’s national governing body, the Lawn Tennis Association, have permitted the return of singles matches although doubles play is still banned, unless it is alongside members of your own household.

‘We’ve based it on tournaments in France where any level can play, from beginner up to advanced,’ CTC head of tennis Andrew Evans explained.

‘You start off at your level and if you keep winning you can move on to the next level. It’s something slightly different and each set will be first to four games with a tiebreak at 3-3. Matches will be quick and hopefully people will enjoy it.

‘Tennis is one of the better sports in terms of being able to keep a distance from each other, we’ve just got to be careful with the tennis balls. We’ll have two marked for each player with their initials and everyone will have to wash their hands before and after play. It could be a little bit more time-consuming but it’s very doable.’

Evans confirmed that the club are also working on a junior league for later in the summer.

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