Global tennis aces descend on Rye

There is a strong international presence among more than 270 entries for the four-day Rye LTC Open Tournament which gets under way today (Friday).

Europe is well represented this year with six Italians (headed by Alessandro Miotto, Alfredo Caturano and Enrico Mazar), four Germans (headed by Klaus-Holger Kille) and three French players (headed by Thibaud Charron).

Entries have also been received from Austria, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Belgium, the Netherlands, India, Zimbabwe, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

They will be joined by players drawn from the leading clubs in the UK, including the All England LTC (Wimbledon), Queen’s, Roehampton, the Lansdowne and the Hurlingham.

Well-known players due to compete include former Davis Cup talent Robin Drysdale, Dutch international Alex Soeters, Queen’s Club number one Jon Tassell, New Zealand international Mark Hadley, Peter Dowdeswell and Chris Gorringe.

A strong ladies’ entry includes Surrey county player Arabella Martin, Queen’s Club first team player Karen Hazzard, reigning world ladies’ senior singles champion Anthea Stewart, Antonia Smallbone, Philippa Coates, Queen’s Club first team player Annabel Watson, another Queen’s Club first teamer and Middlesex county player Catherine Hall, Surrey county player Julia Lowis and Anna Gorringe.

The finals of the men’s and ladies’ singles are due to take place on Monday, starting at 2pm. These will be followed by the finals of the other events.

The open tournament is the highlight of the Rye International Tennis Festival which continues until Sunday August 12. The junior tournament will run from August 8-10, the closed tournament will be held on August 11 and the mixed doubles tournament will bring proceedings to a close on August 12.

See today’s Rye Observer for the full article.