IF you haven’t already dusted off your racket and begun to practice out on the courts, you’d better start moving.
Guam’s biggest tennis tournament, the Guam International Tennis Open, is just around the corner. This year’s tournament, presented by Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, the Guam Visitors Bureau, Heineken and DFS, will feature some of the premier tennis players in the region. In last year’s tournament, more than sixty local players joined 25 high-caliber international players from Australia, Japan, Philippines, Saipan, Singapore and South Korea in four different divisions in five categories.
To ensure a smoothly run tournament, the entry deadline is set for Monday, April 16 at 6 p.m. Entry forms are available at Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, the Tamuning-Tumon Municipal Tennis Courts, select sporting goods stores and online at www.guamopen.com, the tournament’s official Web site. The draw will be created shortly thereafter and will be posted both at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa tennis courts and on the tournament’s Web site.
Since its inception in 2004, the Guam International Tennis Open has been the premier tournament in the Pacific region outside of Hawaii sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association, according to the U.S.T.A. website. The tournament has attracted some top players from the region, including top players from the Philippines, Johnny Arcilla and Czarina Arevalo in both the men’s and women’s draw, respectively. For 2007, players will compete for a $15,000 total prize purse.
In addition to premier players from the region, the tournament also has attracted several members of the media from Pacific and Asian regions. Details of previous tournaments have been displayed in a variety of international magazines and newspapers, complete with photos and results.
Tournament matches will be held May 4th through 6th for the 3.0, 4.0 and Masters divisions; Open division matches will take place May 16 to 20. Matches will be played at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa’s Tennis Club. The entry deadline for all divisions is April 16th; fees are $55 for non U.S.T.A. members and $35 for U.S.T.A. members. Payment of the registration fee will secure a ticket to the tournament’s welcome reception, an event T-shirt and a ditty bag, in addition to U.S.T.A. membership for non-members. Entry forms in English and Japanese may be downloaded from the tournament website at www.guamopen.com.
We invite you to be part of the action and international competition. For more information on this tournament, log on to www.guamopen.com or log on to http://tournaments.usta.com.