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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-02-12 Daily Xml
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Tennis

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:30): My question to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment is: can the minister tell the chamber how South Australia is positioning itself on the international tennis calendar?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (15:30): I would like to thank the honourable member for his ongoing interest in international sport and particularly tennis. As members opposite would recall, on 2 February this year the Marshall government announced a partnership between Tennis Australia, Tennis SA and the South Australian government to deliver a redeveloped Memorial Drive facility and to secure for five years the hosting of an ATP and WTA event. This exciting announcement positions us on the international tennis event calendar, securing an internationally sanctioned combined men's and women's tour event.

The ATP/WTA event will take place over seven days in the second week in January, commencing in 2020. It will directly precede the Australian Open, with 12 to 14 day/night sessions to be held in a multiple match format across multiple courts. The ATP/WTA event has been locked in for the next five years, with events being staged from 2020 to 2024. The event is expected to attract more than 120 of the world's top singles and doubles players and offer a minimum of $2 million in total prize money. It is also expected that this event will attract approximately 50 ATP and WTA officials, 100-plus accredited media, 60 event staff and some 200 volunteers.

The WTA event is one of the highest profile and strongest female tennis events in the world. It will see one of the strongest fields outside the grand slams playing here on our own Memorial Drive courts. The week-long tournament is estimated to attract a total attendance of some 80,000 per event and deliver between $6 million and $8 million in visitor expenditure into the state's economy. The ATP/WTA event will be broadcast to a global television audience from some 200 countries.

A $10 million grant will be provided to Tennis SA for the construction of a canopy over the centre court of Memorial Drive. The canopy will increase the capability for the venue to host a range of events year round and accommodate year-round training for South Australia's developing tennis talent and its current high-performance athletes and provide community access to undercover facilities.

This investment complements the $10 million provided by the federal government to deliver new satellite courts across the Memorial Drive precinct that are necessary to host international tennis events. The canopy redevelopment at Memorial Drive will not only provide upgraded facilities for the ATP/WTA event, it will increase the capability of the venue to host a range of events year round, including live entertainment, concerts, community events and a live site for the Adelaide Oval for the likes of the AFL, NRL, cricket and soccer. This is fantastic news for our state, fantastic news for tennis, and I look forward to seeing the event next year.

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