Summer of Tennis serves off from July 12-August 31

THE executive of the Tennis Association of Trinidad and Tobago (TennisTT) are promising a bumper and exciting seven weeks of tennis action as they prepare to host the third edition of the Summer of Tennis from July 12-August 31, with local, regional and international players all set to battle for top honours.

Summer of Tennis was launched at the National Racquet Centre in Tacarigua on July 5 – the venue which will serve as the host arena for the nine regional tournaments.

TennisTT president Hayden Mitchell says the goal is to make Trinidad and Tobago "the hub for tennis in the Caribbean," and he sees the Summer of Tennis as a great opportunity to expose the country's young tennis talents to regional opponents and local spectators.

"We want to have tournaments at all levels. We also want to be able to have development happening in the country," Mitchell said, at the launch.

"It's one thing to host the tournament, but we want to make sure we have development happening so the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago can also benefit from all the events we will be doing...this is just one piece of the puzzle."

Players will be able to gain regional and international points and also get the opportunity to gain promotion in their respective competitions.

"These events are in direct alignment with the national sports policy and the national sports Caribbean policy," said Jermille Danclar, TennisTT's executive director.

The busy tennis schedule will start with the SR4 under-12 Development Team Championship, which will be held from July 12-19, and gives regional players the chance to qualify for the subsequent Confederation of Tennis of Central America and the Caribbean (COTECC) under-12 Summer Bowl from August 10-15. The COTECC under-12 Summer Bowl will be held alongside the COTECC under-14 competition.

The popular Davis Cup Group IV tournament will serve off from July 20-27, with the Billie Jean King Cup to be held from August 3-10. Dubbed the "World Cup of tennis" by Danclar, the Davis Cup will be hosted by Trinidad and Tobago for the third straight year, with the Billie Jean King Cup being hosted for the first time.

Both tournaments are set to be streamed live on TTT, as well as TennisTT's YouTube channel.

Countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the US Virgin Islands will be competing against their Trinidad and Tobago counterparts. The Trinidad and Tobago team will feature top talents such as boys' junior champion Kale Dalla Costa and national women's champion Jordane Dookie, and Mitchell hopes the TT players can claim the precious ranking points which will be at stake.

"Our goal is to have a top 100 player, whether it be International Tennis Federation (ITF) or Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Our aim is to have a top 100 player in any of those events."

Dalla Costa and Dookie will be joined by many other players representing the red, white and black, and the quartet of Aalisha Alexis (19), Alijah Leslie (20), Charlotte Ready (18) and Tim Pasea (18) were unveiled to the media as members of TT's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King teams for the summer of tennis.

The ITF under-18 and Masters Summer Bowl and Carnival Cup will bring the Summer of Tennis activities to an end.

All game days will start at 10 am and admission is free to the public.

Sport Company of TT CEO Sport Company of TT and Gabre-Jesu McTair, director of physical education and sport at the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, also spoke at the launch.