THE GUYANA Tennis Association (GLTA) will serve off its season for this year on Saturday, April 11, with the rebranded Assuria Open Singles Classic formerly called Assuria Invitational. According to a release from the governing body for tennis in Guyana, the tournament was rebranded as an Open Singles-only tournament, to increase its number of participants and popularity among players, a decision that was influenced by the loss of two of the top-three Men’s seeds in Jeremy Miller and last year’s Champion Gavin Lewis.

Both players have migrated from these shores and the GLTA has since added two new categories, the Men’s Over 45 Singles and Novice Medley Singles in addition to the Ladies’ Open Singles, Men’s Open Singles and Men’s Over-35 Singles which existed before.
This year’s tournament would be played at two venues, the National Racquet Centre in Woolford Avenue and the Le Resouvenir Tennis Court.
At the recent sponsorship meeting, the Surinamese insurance giant was represented by General Manager, Yogindra Arjune and Operations Manager Clyde Muntslag who both recommitted the support of the company towards the development of tennis in Guyana, while expressing their desire to see tennis participation grow laterally throughout communities outside of Georgetown.
However, the management team voiced their concerns about the insufficient spectatorship for the sport in Guyana and the GTA is fully aware of this trend which developed with the loss of the Pegasus Open from its calendar in 2013 – a tournament which was the source of excitement for several years.
Local tennis lacks a ‘home’ where players and spectators can frequent, foster comradeship and partnerships and witness matches being played in the evening under floodlights.
Current and former presidents of the GTA, Grace McCalman and Ramesh Seebarran respectively were both in attendance where they lamented the numerous annual attempts by all recent presidents to seek better tennis facilities which would allow the sport to grow exponentially.
This includes Wilfred Lee and Christopher Ram for a total of 11 years since the reestablishment of the association in 2004 from a defunct state and there are several new and potential players who frequently make contact with the GTA about where to start playing but many reconsider when they learn of the overriding constraints of facilities and the fact that all play ceases with sundown at public facilities.
In spite of all the shortcomings, Assuria’s management sees the need to provide necessary support to ensure that the tournament is once again successful and that it brings out the best in our advanced players.
It is the intention for this tournament to evolve into one of international standard starting with the introduction of Surinamese players into the tournament, but this can only happen when there is significant improvement to the available tennis infrastructures and supporting framework.
Registration forms have been distributed via the GTA Facebook page and at clubs and the due date is tomorrow with the draws being done at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) on Thursday at 17:00hrs.
The Opening ceremony for the tournament will be held at the National Racquet Centre at 09:00hrs this Saturday and all officials and players are asked to attend, with the first match serving off at 09:30hrs. The GTA extends an invitation to all to come and witness the action and give support to their favourite players.