THE Guyana Tennis Association (GTA) One-Guyana single’s tourney was launched yesterday at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue, where it was confirmed that this two-week tourney will feature a record-breaking prize purse of $2million up for grabs.

Present at the launch inside the facility’s conference room were President of the GTA, Cristy Campbell and Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle.

In her address to the media, participants and officials, Campbell explained that, “It’s always a pleasure to share a space with like-minded individuals that have the same common goal of advancing sport in Guyana.”

“Our interest today is Tennis. It is a remarkable achievement for us at the GTA to see this tournament that we have been planning for a while to manifest here today. This is the biggest prize purse money in the history of Tennis competitions in Guyana and I am advocating for fair play and good sportsmanship.”

“I can’t emphasise how important fair play is to us. In addition, conduct is not just on the court but off the court as well.”

Campbell concluded by saying that, “It would be remiss of me to not acknowledge the contributions of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. It’s because of their support that we can see this tournament with the attractive cash prizes.”

Meanwhile, Steve Ninvalle shared that, “The longest journey begins with the first step.”

“The NSC (National Sports Commission) is pleased to be supportive of this effort because of the fact that over the past year we have seen a meteoric rise in tennis programmes. This is something we want to continue and if there is anything we can do at the NSC please reach out to us.”

“This facility here (The Racquet Centre) has just been refurbished by the Government of Guyana (GoG) and there will be another similar facility soon.”

The two-week long competition is sponsored by the NSC and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport in collaboration with the GTA. Matches will be played at the National Racquet Centre, Woolford Avenue.

This tournament will feature four categories: Men’s Open Singles, Ladies’ Open Singles, Men’s 35 Singles, and the Men’s 45 singles.
Matches will be played from this Monday through Friday from 15:30hrs to 18:30hrs, and on weekends from 14:00hrs to 18:30 hrs. Best-of-three sets is the format for all categories.