Tennis: Clay courts would be coup for province, says tennis coach

Clay courts will help to 'establish top tennis players in NZ', says professional tennis coach Simon Winter. Photo / File

The possibility that New Zealand's first clay court tennis complex could be built in Napier is exciting, says a professional tennis coach.

As part of its expansion plans for Park Island, Napier City Council is investigating the prospect of including a world-class complex with a mix of indoor and outdoor courts, plus a "No1" court for high-profile matches with an up to 5000-spectator capacity.

"This would be a huge thing for Napier and will help us to establish top tennis players in New Zealand," Hawke's Bay tennis coach Simon Winter said. "Around 80 per cent of the world's top players developed their skills on clay courts."

Napier City Council chief executive Wayne Jack said Napier would be the first city in the country to have clay tennis courts.

Tennis New Zealand supported the idea and the next step would be to talk to the clubs and stakeholders here, Jack said.

Winter said clay courts promoted patience and strategic play and could be used all-year round.

"Clay courts are the best surface for player development. This would be an absolute coup for Napier. I'm fully supportive of it. Australia invested significantly in clay court facilities over last few years with the aim of producing more world class players and they are now seeing the results," he said.

Tennis Australia headquarters at Melbourne Park include a new clay court facility, which opened in November 2012.

The Napier council voted to proceed with a feasibility study at its meeting yesterday, with the view that the Bay can benefit from international clay-court competitions as well as hosting national events.