Ireland is to stage a new style world ranking competition following negotiations late last year between the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and members of the ATP Tour.
The fruits of the new project, which aims to establish "futures events" as alternative options to challenger or satellite events, will be introduced here when two separate weeks of play commence at Dublin's Riverview club on June 1st.
The agreement reached by the two primary forces in the game will expand the men's professional tour with single-week ranking tournaments that will accommodate the lesser lights on the world ATP computer and give them an opportunity to make more steadfast progress up the ladder. Tennis Ireland has invested £40,000 in the project and a significant portion of the funding is being provided by the Minister of Tourism, Sport and Recreation.
Now Irish national squad players will have the opportunity to compete on home soil for world ranking points against players on the rise in the world's top 200. Ireland's two most persistent pursuers of points away from home in recent times have been Scott Barron and Owen Casey. Next month's two consecutive weeks of play for points will be of particular interest to Barron and the group of talented young Irish players currently on US scholarships.
The ITF Grand Slam Development Fund will be utilised to supplement other sources of funding. A free admission ticket package, details of which can be obtained from Tennis Ireland (01 668 1841) will be made available to schools and tennis clubs.
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