The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net WITH the second Bahamas Open less than a month away, executive director Tyrone Olander is hoping that there won't be a repeat of the initial tournament when there were not that many Bahamian spectators in the stands. Olander and his committee members have been on a whirlwind tour around town trying to draw up as much support. Yesterday, they made a stop at the Rotary Club of Nassau during their luncheon at Luciano's of Chicago. As the guest speaker, Olander gave a brief history of the formation of the tournament, which he was able to get the sanction from the ATP Tour as a result of a break in the action for the players from the WTA after they would have played in Indian Wells and before they head to Miami, Florida. Olander, a former journalist and editor of the Bahamas Sporting News, was able to convince the ATP to have the tournament sandwiched in between. "Last year we set a record," Olander told the Rotarians. "All of the main draw players were in the 100 ranking in the world. Only one was in the top 25 in the world. At the end of last year, nine of the top 25 played in the Bahamas Open. So they feel that the Bahamas Open is a good omen for their careers." Olander said they already have an entry list for this year's tournament, set for March 10-17 at the National Tennis Centre, that is unprecedented in any tournament in the world. "We have hundreds of players who have actually signed up for this year's tournament," he said. "Unfortunately, we won't know who will actually be coming until the players have been knocked out of Indian Wells and will be heading to play in Miami." It will open with a huge Women's Legends doubles match-up featuring Monica Seles, Martina Navratilova, Jennifer Capriati, Mary Joe Fernandez and Zina Garrison, who will act as a substitute. "We have a doubles match that these players may not have played in when they were on the circuit," Olander said. "Now that they are not playing, we can actually put them together as they come to the Bahamas to play for the first time ever." This will mark the first time that such players would have been given the opportunity to play in the Bahamas, although the Bahamas has hosted a Bahamas Women's Open Tournament in the past. In addition, Olander said they intend to have about 144 players coming to play in the qualifying round as they attempt to secure six spots into the main draw. With the amount of players expected to be flocking to the Bahamas, Olander said they intend to have more than 3,000 hotel rooms occupied, helping the Bahamian tourism economy. "There aren't too many other events that the Ministry of Tourism is having that will bring in that many room nights," he said. "But the problem that we have here in the Bahamas, especially in those tournaments, we can't market who is coming until they are eliminated from Indian Wells." As for the local flavour, Olander said they also intend to include two Bahamian players into the main draw as wild card entries. "We intend to hold a press conference to inform the public of who those players are," Olander said. "But we know that these players will help to generate more interest in the tournament." Last year, the veteran team of Nikkita Fountain and Grand Bahamian Larikah Russell were awarded a bid into the main draw of doubles as a wild card entry. However, they were ousted in the first round. Olander also noted that prior to the start of the tournament on Saturday, March 10, they intend to honour and induct four Bahamians into the Bahamas Open Tennis Hall of Fame. They are Edith Powell, Vicki Knowles-Andrews, Lady Edith Turnquest and Lady Margaret Symonette. The four players will also have their names inscribed on the unique trophies that will be presented to the winners and runners-up in both singles and doubles. Interested persons can purchase tickets on-line at thebahamasopen.com or from the National Tennis Centre.