The swing Aussie tennis fans might have missed due to major ‘challenge’

Team Australia celebrate after defeating Brazil and Portugal in the BJK Cup qualifiers. (Getty/William West)

On a rainy Sunday morning, a spattering of fans made the steep journey up the hill from Hobart's CBD to the Domain Tennis Centre. The road up to the grounds may not look like much, but once fans arrive in the stadium, they are greeted by what is undoubtedly the most picturesque tennis arena in Australia. Framed by Mount Wellington and the ever-present cruise ships, the green and gold of both Australia and Brazil against the blue court lights up even the gloomiest of days.

For such a beautiful venue and occasion, it is perhaps a shame that only a relatively small number of fans attended Australia's Billie Jean King Cup ties against Portugal and Brazil. The weather, which hindered both ties, may not have helped in this regard, but it seemed as though advance ticket sales were not particularly high either.

Hobart has not been the only place to see some superb tennis action this month, with Brisbane and Sydney also hosting Challenger tournaments. Headlined by stars like Bernard Tomic, Storm Hunter, James Duckworth and Kimberly Birrell (not to mention the doubles duo of Lleyton and Cruz Hewitt), both tournaments only received a small amount of fan support, with the stands of the cavernous Pat Rafter Arena and Ken Rosewall Arena lying largely dormant for the majority of the two weeks. Even the final of the Sydney Challenger, which saw home hero James Duckworth take out the title, only had a few hundred fans in attendance.

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In essence, this reflects the challenge of selling tennis in Australia outside the month of January. Tennis Australia and the state governing bodies have done a superb job of bringing tennis around the country this year, with numerous Challengers in Brisbane (as well as in Canberra, Playford and Sydney), while the Davis Cup saw a packed crowd in Sydney and the BJK Cup has returned to Hobart and Brisbane. There is more top-level tennis on the Australian tennis calendar than ever before, and that's a good thing.

The challenge now is selling that product. For the players, the opportunity to play at home is clearly cherished, with Birrell noting that the opportunity to play in front of her family in Hobart, who rarely get to watch her.

"Speaking from an experience of playing the home ties, it's some of my favourite memories that I've ever had playing on tour and getting to play at home and in our own environments and in front of friends and family when possible, I think it's really awesome and to showcase different cities around Australia as well," she said at the Billie Jean King Cup.

The sold-out Davis Cup tie in September proves it is possible (even if difficult) to sell tennis outside of the month of the Australian Open. I recall a string of ads on every one of my feeds for the Davis Cup, which clearly cut through to the rest of the state. By contrast, I barely saw any mention of the NSW Open, and it seemed most people did not even know the tournament was on.

Yes, the tournament got a little more attention because of the returning Lleyton Hewitt, but it still went under the radar, possibly losing the attention of many tennis fans in the state. Last year, I remember thinking that the final of the tournament, between Rinky Hijikata and Thanasi Kokkinakis, would probably pack out John Cain Arena during the Australian Open, but only garnered a few hundred fans in Sydney.

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No doubt that a tournament on a working weekday is much harder to garner attendance, but with a roofed stadium, the solution might be to play night sessions under the roof. With some more promotion across Sydney and Brisbane, this might be the way to get more people into the stands, especially given that some of the top Australian players are in the tournaments.

Next year, Australia could host a Davis Cup tie in September and will likely host one or two BJK Cup ties as well. Alongside the Challenger swings in February and November, there has never been so much top-level tennis being played in Australia throughout the year. Now is the time to have that tennis played on the biggest stages.

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