Borg puts Liverpool on to the tennis map

Jun 18 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

IF THERE is one person who Liverpool should be rewarding for outstanding service to the city, it surely must be Anders Borg, the Norwegian tennis promoter whose tournament has been so successful.

Anyone who watched him walk round and round Calderstones last week, checking that everything was working properly, must realise just how thorough he has been and how much imagination he has.

“I enjoyed it all enormously,” he said afterwards.

“It was a great event and I doubt if any tournament has ever enjoyed a better day than we had on Saturday, with four magnificent semi-finals all involving top players.”

One of the main features this year was the fact that outstanding individuals contested the semi-finals of both the men’s and women’s singles and played some really memorable tennis, even though some of them were not much known in advance.

The ladies event produced a superb final that ended with Caroline Wozniacki rising to the occasion and demonstrating why she as been seeded in the Wimbledon singles.

The men’s semi-finals were even more interesting, with players whom few people here have heard of, let alone seen, but who turned on the style in a big way.

“I believe our Centre Court programme competes with one anywhere else,” Borg said.

“Both our semi-finals and finals were quite outstanding, with some tremendous matches and a lot of character shown.

“Caroline Wozniacki is a super young player who loves coming here and is good enough to go a very long way at Wimbledon.”

One of the things Borg has always concentrated on is atmosphere, with all the players encouraged to enjoy themselves in Liverpool both on and off court.

“Next year we will be the only really big tennis event in the North of England,” Borg said. “What we do is bring in kids in quite large numbers, let them sit on Centre Court and watch some excellent tennis.

“Not surprisingly that seems to help them become enthusiastic and this year we again allowed a couple of 14-year-olds to play on the main court. I can’t think of anywhere else that involves the local children as much and I am sure it is helping to make Liverpool the Northern tennis capital.

“This year we have had hits on our website from all over the world, and we are now well known for our involvement in the game. Next year Birmingham is stopping its tournament and Liverpool will be the main centre outside Wimbledon.

“It has all meant a lot of work from a lot of people but I think Liverpool can be genuinely proud of the way everything has developed.”