TENNIS will move to a different level under the watch of Minister of Culture Youth and Sports, Charles Ramson Jr.
On Sunday, he told a gathering of players and officials at the launch of the Guyana Tennis Association (GTA)-organised ITF-sponsored Safe Tennis Tournament, that the sport would move to new heights.

“I’ve moved tennis into one of my core sport for the country, I’ve divided it (sport) into core and none core, which means it becomes a key priority area for us on behalf of the Government of Guyana.”
The Minister said that the reason he decided to prioritise tennis is because it “has the same kind of engagement” as some of the other sport, such as cricket, football and basketball.
Traditionally, tennis has not been a very popular sport in Guyana. Globally, it’s however ranked in the top 10 in popularity with an estimated 60 million men and women playing the game (ranked seventh globally by Topend Sports).

Vice President of the GTA, Cristy Campbell, in her remarks at the Le Ressouvenir Tennis Court on the East Coast of Demerara, thanked the Minister for his interest in the sport.
“Foremost, the GTA extends gratitude to Minister Ramson for always accommodating our sport. Noteworthy is the fact that majority of our dialogues thus far have been initiated by the minister.”

GRATEFUL
Campbell noted that the players and officials were grateful to return to the court. She credited Shelly Daly and Andre Lopes for the coordination of the tournament, which is being held on weekends.

She also thanked the ITF for sponsoring the event and the coaches and players of the GTA for their continued support.
Rain hindered the first weekend of competition, but there were some notable standouts including Lopes, who won his opening matches.
He defeated Donnie Anderson 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday, while he made light work of Wayne Baker 6-0, 6-2 on Sunday.
A few other matches were held over the weekend. Some 21 persons are battling in the male-only tournament.