Get ready for the summer of tennis as some of the world’s top 100 players head to the capital.
More than 200 people, including ballkids, volunteers, and staff, will play a part in the Workday Canberra International 2025.
The tournament will run at the Canberra Tennis Centre from 29 December to 4 January.
Tournament director Lawrence Robertson said the competition will welcome back Dominik Koepfer and Nuria Parrizas-Diaz to defend their titles, while also welcoming six top 100 players across both the men’s and women’s field.
There will be a prize pool of USD$320,000.
Tennis ACT chief executive officer Mark La Brooy said the tournament generated more than 3000 room nights, while injecting $2 million in the ACT and region’s economy at a time when the capital was at its quietest.
Tennis ACT head of marketing and commercial Rochelle Kahlefeldt said the focus was on the fan experience.
Ms Kahlefeldt said there would be a Kids Tennis Day on 2 January.
“That’s just a free day for the children to come and experience off-court. There’s stuff for the children to do, and, more importantly, the parents off-court,” she said.
On that day, entry into the venue is free for children, with an array of activities on offer, including face painting, glitter tattoos, tennis games with prizes such as free racquets, and thousands of ice blocks being given away.
Ms Kahlefeldt said there will also be the Live and Loud music site, featuring local artists every night from 5-8pm. A pride day will be held on 30January.
She said there will be 130 players from more than 40 countries, 120 ballkids, 80 volunteers and an additional 20 staff members.
A collaboration between Pink Tennis – Australia’s oldest gay and lesbian tennis club – and Underground Spirits will also be on show with their Let’s Get LOUD(ish) Summer Gin which features a tennis player on the label.
Underground Spirits CEO Claudia Roughley said the drink commemorated, promoted and celebrated the tournament.
“It gets people involved with it; it brings another type of angle to it all – it’s what I love. Gin making, to me, is storytelling, and Canberra International’s got a great story,” Ms Roughley said.
“…(We) came up with some beautiful flavours to tell the Let’s Get LOUD(ish) (story), with that tennis angle-ish, getting into that whole reference of that silent moment is really pretty critical. It’s that moment of high anxiety before that first ball, I love that about it.”
Pink Tennis president and tournament director Geoffrey Dudley said with Let’s Get LOUD(ish), they wanted to create a storyline of the gins that have been part of the tournament – the one for 2024 was Quiet Please Summer Gin.
“It’s trying to build that storyline amongst the generations, so you can collect bottles, and you can be part of the growth of Canberra International,” Mr Dudley said.
Another local business serving up drinks at the tournament will be Braddon-based Midnight Bar.
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