By Nangamso Mabindla
22 November 2007

INTERNATIONAL tennis players will be in East London early next year, to compete in the 2008 South African Tennis Open.

South African Airways' chief executive officer, Khaya Ngqula, made the announcement at Selborne Tennis Park on Wednesday, 21 November. He was flanked by Buffalo City Executive Mayor Zintle Peter; the MEC for sports, recreation, arts and culture, Noxolo Ntantiso; the chief executive of the South African Tennis Association (Sata), Ian Smith; and other partners.

South African Airways (SAA) is the tournament's sponsor. The prize money is R4-million.

Ntantiso said it was exciting that Eastern Cape was becoming a destination for big sports tournaments.

"We have already secured the rights to host the annual Vodacom Challenge in the Nelson Mandela Metro, and now we will be hosting an international tennis event where we will see some of the world's leading tennis players battling it out in Buffalo City."

The province is also the Ironman of Africa; Nelson Mandela Metro has hosted the full Ironman event for the past three years and Buffalo City is hosting the Ironman 70.3 in January 2008. Ironman is a swim, cycle and run event that attracts athletes and spectators from all over the world; its popularity is growing rapidly.

"The metro will also be a host city for the 2010 World Cup and Buffalo City a base camp for some of the teams," Ntantiso said.

She called on the provincial government and all its partners to work together to ensure that the tennis tournament would be a success. "We are hoping to host this event for the next three years; we will be discussing with SAA and Tennis South Africa [this] possibility."

Ngqula said that the event would put Buffalo City on the world map as over 100 million households around the world would be watching it.

"This is Buffalo City's time; the world's eyes will be on East London and I am sure this will be a successful tournament. We also want tennis to reach the rural areas and I am sure with events like these and the proper development structures, we will be able to take [the sport] to rural areas."

He committed the airline to developing tennis, saying that over the next three years it would invest over R100-million in the sport.

Smith thanked SAA for its support, saying that out of the five sports the airline supported, two involved tennis.

"SAA is the official airline for the ATP and it also sponsors the South African Open, showing that tennis is a top priority at the airline. It has also helped us to support Roger Federer's Imbewu Project in the metro," Smith said.

The ATP is the international Association of Tennis Professionals. "Tennis has a great future in the country."

Talking about those who would take part in the tournament, Smith said that it would feature some of the top 100 players in the world.

"We are allowed to have a wild card from number 11 to number one; we will be negotiating with one of these players. We are hoping that we will be able to lure one of them to the SA Open," he said, adding that it would cost millions to bring one of the top 11 players to the competition.

The SA Open would not be the only tennis in East London next year; the city would also host the National Club Champs, in which 144 players from different clubs would participate.

The SA Open runs from 12 February to 17 February 2008.