Austadiums Forum

Cheesie-the-Pirate wrote:The collapse of the Dubai economy can't help.

Yes, well you can blame Saudi Arabia on that one as well...

Egan wrote:This probably takes Dubai off the table as a possible venue for the Australian Open...

great sentence there...

Mildura hosting the Fed Cup against Switzerland on grass on ANZAC Day weekend. May think about going...

Egan wrote:Mildura hosting the Fed Cup against Switzerland on grass on ANZAC Day weekend. May think about going...

I'd go if it were a long weekend in NSW but it's not.

Good venue. They hosted Zimbabwe there a few years ago when Flip famously arrived late after deriding Davis Cup.

Jeffles wrote:

Egan wrote:Mildura hosting the Fed Cup against Switzerland on grass on ANZAC Day weekend. May think about going...

I'd go if it were a long weekend in NSW but it's not.

Good venue. They hosted Zimbabwe there a few years ago when Flip famously arrived late after deriding Davis Cup.

Need to implement the WA Legislation that makes it compulsory for it to be a long weekend .

Oh I do remember the Zimbabwe tie. As a kid I was shocked that they used a country town for a major tie.

Hewitt won overnight. His first claycourt win in ten years.

Now he is off to Monte Carlo..

Now it's a first round loss.

Big news today in that Australia may be banned from Davis Cup competition for the next year as they have withdrawn from the tie scheduled for Chennai.

Thanks Chinese Taipei for losing in the last set

I reckon they should play. IPL security takes a lot more than tennis. You're looking after fewer people in a smaller area for a shorter period of time.

Anyway, back to the Fed Cup. Good to see the locals supporting it. There's a photo of the court in this gallery.

http://www.tennis.com.au/pages/PhotosGa ... allery=173

The format and the tennis players are better then what Perth got which helps. But that crowd definitely encourages Tennis Australia to put another tie on in Mildura.

Egan wrote:The format and the tennis players are better then what Perth got which helps. But that crowd definitely encourages Tennis Australia to put another tie on in Mildura.

Not just there but at other venues in regional Australia that don't get tournaments during the summer.

But it seems Mildura has the best regional facility in the country for Tennis?

What other venues could hold a tie such as this around the country?

Egan wrote:But it seems Mildura has the best regional facility in the country for Tennis?

What other venues could hold a tie such as this around the country?

Regional facility. They're temporary grandstands.

Mildura is a large lawn tennis club. That's why TA is attracted to it. You can take up space with practice courts, temp stands etc. There are other large clubs. It would just depend on whether you want to stick to grass or not. if you do, Mildura and Berri host Futures events. If you don't you can go all over the country.

Look at where Futures events are held.

http://www.tennis.com.au/pages/default. ... pageId=213

Nth Qld would have to get a go. Large regional area that has a great climate for tennis but rarely sees big time tennis. Also, great climate during the Aussie winter when these matches are played.

Fed Cup normally goes to Wollongong and Townsville anyways. So they do concentrate on the regions. Rarely are they playing in Sydney and Melbourne.

Very little being said about The French Open but what a tournament it has been so far. My highlights have been:

Hewitt's cracker of a first round match.
Rafa getting knocked out
Roger on the ropes v Tommy Haas.

SAM STOSUR!!!

Looking forward to the womens semis tonight.