Adelaide's home of tennis ready to take next step towards international event

Adelaide will again have a tennis complex that meets international standards with building work about to start on the roof ahead of next year’s Australian Open lead-up event.

Next Generation general manager Stephen Wishart, Tennis SA chief executive Steven Baldas, sports minister Corey Wingard, senator Anne Ruston, Tennis SA president Kent Thiele and tennis great Todd Woodbridge as stage one of the Memorial Drive redevelopment was completed this week. Picture: Peter Mundy

• Memorial Drive to get $10m upgrade, roof
• Memorial Drive roof will change tennis in SA

The Memorial Drive tennis complex is on the brink of expanding ahead of its ATP and WTA blockbuster event in January next year.

A $10 million building project of a lightweight roof over the centre court will begin in the next few weeks and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

The news of that development comes as Tennis SA yesterday completed stage one of the revival of Memorial Drive, which means it now meets international standards and has training facilities across grass, hard court and clay.

More importantly, it is now ready to complete the final stage of works, which means it will be ready for next year’s lead-up event for the world’s best men and women the week leading into the Australian Open in Melbourne.

An artist’s impression of the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre roof.

Doubles great Todd Woodbridge, who won one of his two singles titles in Adelaide, could not have been more impressed with The Drive as he visited Adelaide on Wednesday.

He said it was the ideal place for players to prepare for Australia’s only Grand Slam event in Melbourne the week after Adelaide and expected the women’s event in particular to be one of the strongest on the annual tennis calendar.

Woodbridge was chuffed that world-class tennis was returning to Adelaide.

“It’s great that it’s back — and a double whammy, too, (men and women),” Woodbridge said. “And the week that Adelaide now has with the women guarantees a fantastic field.

“I mean Sydney (which had the event before) over the years has had possibly the best field of any tournament in the world in that condensed 32 draw.

“Adelaide will be a premium tennis event and it’s pretty exciting.

“Looking at all the new facilities and how improved it is, with the roof about to start (being built) in the next week or so … it’s really been impressive.”

The strength of the men’s event will not be clear until the weeks leading up to the event.

Much of it will depend on how the new World Tennis Cup, played in Brisbane and Sydney, unfolds and how many of the men’s elite players are still looking for matches the week ahead of the year’s first major.

But Woodbridge was convinced it would be the ideal preparation for Melbourne.

“It will all depend on where people are placed with their form,” Woodbridge said. “But that’s always been the case.

“But it sits in a week now that if you need to play then you will be in Adelaide.

“It’s a quick stopover to Melbourne.

“I think of all the conditions, Adelaide is the most similar to Melbourne.

“It is the perfect preparation. Brisbane’s fantastic but they are different conditions; it’s humid and it’s hotter and a different type of preparation.”