Tournament manager Steve Longworth said the championships would have a strong turnout — an encouraging sign given border restrictions and COVID-19 uncertainty.
“We’ve got good entries — we’ve got 270 players, which is more than last year by about 25; it’s good because at one stage it looked as though with the effect of borders and COVID restrictions it’d be quite small,” he said.
“We’re following all the protocols that are there, so it’s great we’re going to be on some tennis courts.”
Longworth said after lockdowns restricted and cancelled much of the 2021 tennis season in Shepparton, the championships would be a great opportunity to start 2022 off well.
“Just terrible with the uncertainty, and then the rules about whether you could play tennis or you couldn't; we’re back on the courts now, which is great.”
After a number of Shepparton District Junior Tennis Association and Goulburn Murray Lawn Tennis Association matches were cancelled earlier this month due to extreme heat, Longworth said officials would have their eye on the temperature gauge as well as COVID-19 protocols throughout the tournament.
"Because of the heat we’re probably going to start quite early. We do have heat rules, once we get to 36 degrees for those under 16 they have to come off and have a rest, and for those over 18 it’s 38 (degrees),” he said.
The introduction of the Universal Tennis Rating system by Tennis Australia will also see a slightly different championship format this season, with seeded players grouped with each other to ensure a fairer and more competitive tournament.
“We’ve got 79 or so entries in the Open Men’s singles but everything is now grouped depending on the UTR,” Longworth said.
“The main reason for that is if you’ve got a UTR of six and you play someone with a UTR of nine, it won’t affect your rating or count towards your ability, you’ve got to be within two UTR points to get credit for your win or loss.”
The championships will kick off on Sunday, January 2, at 8.30am at Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club, running through to Wednesday, January 5.
