Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport
MONTEGO BAY
THE CHANCES of the Jamaica Open reappearing on the local tennis scene this year are '50/50', according to Tennis Jamaica (TJ) president Phillip Gore.
The former premier event on the tennis calendar has been in hibernation for half a decade and while Gore concedes the lynchpin of the local season needs to be revived, TJ has focussed on other priorities.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
"We are working on it, but right now our priorities have been on the Davis Cup and to get the tennis centre at Eric Bell fixed up so everybody can go and play there, especially the school children," said Gore, at the weekend's Cup tie between Jamaica and Guatemala at Tryall in Hanover.
"We are looking at a date later in the year - maybe November or December. We started out with a lot of ambitious plans and we still do have them but it is first things first," added Gore, who took over the reins of the association from Ken Morgan six months ago.
"If it doesn't happen later this year, then definitely next year."
A renovated Eric Bell Tennis Centre in Kingston would likely host the event but major sponsorship of the Open would be crucial in attracting local stars, including Ryan Russell and Jermaine Smith, and international players from the Futures and Challenger tours.
KEY EVENT
"We would like to tie the Open in with the Futures and Challenger tours," Gore said. "We wanted to have a Futures event here this year but because of the tightness of the schedule and the work involved, we just weren't able to do it," Gore said.
"However, we would hope to incorporate the two tours into the Open. We haven't looked specifically at sponsorship for it, but we will after this (Davis Cup) and the tennis centre," he said. "It (the Open) is something I wanted to get up and running in my first year and it still is. It is important for Jamaica to have a key event which has the top players that the fans can watch. At the moment, I would say the prospects of a Jamaica Open are 50/50."
