Port Pirie will become the longest running Australian Pro Tour event when the 2016 Nyrstar Port Pirie Tennis International gets under way on Saturday 20 February, marking the 25th edition of the event.
Local organiser Neil Lucas said “the longevity of the event was due to strong local and volunteer support”.
“We have been very lucky to have such a fantastic group of volunteers from the inception of the event to now. The number of people who have put in a great amount of time and effort has been amazing,” Lucas said.
Mr Lucas also praised the support provided by local council and sponsors. “The Port Pirie Regional Council has been a strong supporter throughout the past 25 years and we have also been lucky to have support from Nyrstar over the years.”
The 25th event promises another great week of men’s and women’s tennis, with a strong field set to converge on Port Pirie.
The men’s field is headlined by South Australian world No.252 and top seed Alex Bolt, with Queenslanders Gavin Van Peperzeel and Maverick Banes also set to appear and hungry to make their mark. Local favourite Daniel Hobart (pictured) will be hoping to repeat last year’s effort when he made the semifinals, while Port Lincoln’s Darren Polkinghorne will be keen to give his year a boost with a strong performance.
In the women’s event world No.190 Su Jeong Jang will headline the field, but will have Japan’s Riko Sawayanagi and Chinese Taipei’s Ya-Hsuan Lee providing tough competition in one of the strongest women’s fields in history. Kimberly Birrell and Arina Rodionova, fresh from Federation Cup duties for Australia, will be looking to post strong results to continue their good start to 2016.
Tournament Director Ty Allen said he was excited by the strength of the field for the Port Pirie event. “It’s great to be holding the 25th event here in Port Pirie and to have the field we do is quite fitting for the milestone,” he said.
“The women’s draw will be particularly strong this year and in the men’s it’s exciting to see a South Australian as top seed, along with Darren Polkinghorne and Daniel Hobart in the main draw.”
The 2016 Nyrstar Port Pirie Tennis International will take place at Port Pirie and District Tennis Association, Port Pirie, South Australia from 20-28 February, with main draw singles matches starting on Tuesday 23 February.
For more information on the Australian Pro Tour visit tennis.com.au.
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