[petey_pan]

Originally Posted by Dani12

Is that the Salisbury in Queensland or SA?

SA

[Chris93]

What date does the first tournament start?

[TS]

Originally Posted by Territory

Cairns, Darwin and Alice Springs might be far apart in distance but each has a very good major airport and they are an easy 2 hour flight apart.

To get to Esperance (for example) players have a 6 hour bus ride from Perth or something stupid like that. And can you get to Mt. Gambier and Port Pirie without a crappy 2-3 hr bus ride/car trip?

Hmmm, I suppose so.

Esperance is lovely but a total bitch to get to. Margaret River, also lovely, but also a bitch to get to for the tennis gal on the go (especially from Esperance!).

[ozfan44]

Originally Posted by TS

Hmmm, I always scratched my head at the logistics of the Cairns-Alice-Darwin swing. Just too damn far. Shame to see Mt Gambier go It's been around forever and a real institution for these 25K events! Also, more aesthetically pleasing than Port Pirie. Kalgoorlie's gone too. Bet the players aren't too heartbroken at having to go wine it up at Margaret River instead
Forgive my ignorance but where is Salisbury?
Nice to see Cairns survive. Nice centre court they have there.

Marg River I may go on a holiday down there and watch some of that, definately a better attraction than Kal but harder to get to....
Port Pirie is a shithole....ive heard so many players say they wish they'd move that event to somewhere else...

Originally Posted by TS

So overall, instead of the usual 9 we're down to 7, plus an extra $10K. Still pretty good, but it means less of an inflated rank for some.

Shame, we need more events a 50k to attract some better quality players down here not less events...

Originally Posted by Territory

Cairns, Darwin and Alice Springs might be far apart in distance but each has a very good major airport and they are an easy 2 hour flight apart.
To get to Esperance (for example) players have a 6 hour bus ride from Perth or something stupid like that. And can you get to Mt. Gambier and Port Pirie without a crappy 2-3 hr bus ride/car trip?

Esperance has a wa regional airline so some of them that can afford it can fly from Perth...


again the circuit is stop start 2 events here....break....one here...break....2 here...break.... bad scheduling..

[louloubelle]

Originally Posted by ozfan44

Marg River I may go on a holiday down there and watch some of that, definately a better attraction than Kal but harder to get to....

Why dont they make the entire tour a big wine booze fest...with bit of tennis.... Marg River to the Barossa then down to Coonawarra then to Avoca Victoria then finishing off at the Yarra Valley

[Territory]

Originally Posted by louloubelle

Why dont they make the entire tour a big wine booze fest...with bit of tennis.... Marg River to the Barossa then down to Coonawarra then to Avoca Victoria then finishing off at the Yarra Valley

And then Milton tennis centre in Brisbane used to be right near the XXXX brewery

[Vicky88]

Ugh if you think Port Pirie is a shit hole you haven't been to Salisbury. Hope everyone remembers to lock their cars and not leave any valuables in them when they are in Salisbury as they are likely to be gone when they get back.

[Vicky88]

Have you ever taken a look at how expensive it is to fly to Alice Springs? Unless you won the damn tourney you would struggle to break even on that leg which may be why they cut it. Pity about the courts in Darwin, was good when they played two challengers back to back.

[ozfan44]

Originally Posted by louloubelle

Why dont they make the entire tour a big wine booze fest...with bit of tennis.... Marg River to the Barossa then down to Coonawarra then to Avoca Victoria then finishing off at the Yarra Valley

Great Idea

Originally Posted by Territory

And then Milton tennis centre in Brisbane used to be right near the XXXX brewery

XXXX

[Allez-y]

The Pro Tours need to be within easy reach of a capital city and not in remote regions which are hard to get to and more costly for travel. Easier access enables participation for all players nationally, and from overseas, ie better competitive standards. There needs to be more opportunities for players to compete at different levels, and across the whole year, eg range of 10ks, 25Ks, and some 50Ks as is found overseas. 7-9 hour journeys from a capital city or from one Pro Tour location to another is crazy, and the facilities in remote regions are limited. Regional locals are typically not that interested in tennis compared to mainstream sports like "footy" codes or netball. The current system of putting Pro Tours way out in the boonies is of limited value other than for a few local hotels, and causing players additional unnecessary costs to compete.

[TS]

^ Word.

Agree, 100%.

Sadly, I don't think it will ever change.