Columnist Ron Kantowski: Renewed love affair with tennis

Monday, Jan. 24, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

I'm not what you would call a big tennis fan. Maybe I'll watch the four majors, beginning with the quarterfinals, but that's about it. Unless, of course, Kournikova is playing in one of those made-for-TV celebrity matches in high definition.

That said, I've written at least a dozen columns asking why Las Vegas, perhaps the quintessential country club city, isn't a major player on the national and/or international tennis scene.

Other than the Sweden vs. U.S. Davis Cup matches at Caesars Palace in 1995, a one-off appearance of the women's Federation Cup at Mandalay Bay in 2000 and Jimmy Connors and Roscoe Tanner tripping over their beards at the MGM Grand Garden on the short-lived senior tour, there hasn't been much of net value around here since the Alan King Classic went away in the mid-1980s.

But perhaps the best strategy for bringing the pros back to town is first providing amateurs with a place to play. Other than three private clubs that have survived expansion on the Las Vegas Strip and a couple of public parks where the courts either have long lines or dandelions growing between the cracks, there just isn't anywhere for the average Joe or Joan to hit a few balls.

"We have no tennis courts," said Marty Hennessy, dean of the local club pros and now director of tennis at the Sterling Club at snazzy Turnberry Place.

But that's about to change. Although it has been a better kept secret than Andre Agassi's home telephone number, a massive $15 million, 23-court tennis complex is rapidly nearing completion at the corner of Buffalo and Washington in northwest Las Vegas.

Actually, to say the complex, which also will include 11 soccer fields (seven of which will be covered with synthetic turf) is situated at the corner of Buffalo and Washington doesn't do it justice.

When it opens in May, there will be tennis courts and soccer fields almost as far as the eye can see. Right now, there are light stanchions for tennis courts and soccer fields almost as far as the eye can see. The complex, which encompasses 130 acres, stretches nearly all the way from Buffalo to Durango Drive, or more than a mile.

This new facility is probably going to put Las Vegas back on the tennis map faster than one of Lleyton Hewitt's service aces. It will feature a 3,000-seat, sunken center stadium court that, along with all those auxiliary courts, should attract national amateur championships as well as smaller professional tournaments such as the challenger and satellite tours.

It also will mean the end of criss-crossing town to stage large scope events such as this week's Mike Agassi (Andre's dad) No Quit Championships, a junior tournament that will utilize/tie up the courts at UNLV's Fertitta Tennis Complex, Bally's and The Meadows for much of this week.

Let's just say this new complex is going to be quite a racket for local kids who wield them.

"It's going to save on expenses for our kids plus bring in more competition for them to play," Hennessy said. "It's going to benefit us in that we'll have more national tournaments here. The same thing with (local) leagues. It's a lot easier to run a league and a lot more fun at a massive facility."

That's what brought the Las Vegas Parks and Recreation Department and politicians such as Lynette Boggs McDonald and Larry Brown to center court. The tennis part of the project will be called the Darling Tennis Complex in honor of longtime local tennis patron Fred Darling, whose $1 million gift got the ball rolling so local government could whack it across the net.

"This is a true public-private sponsorship that can serve as a model (for similar projects)," said John Chambers, Park and Rec's manager of leisure services. "I hate to use the 'Field of Dreams' analogy, but we believe if you build it, they will come."

The new complex will only add to the momemtum for tennis being generated by programs such as Team Agassi at the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club, according to local enthusiasts.

Youngsters who only started playing the game recently here are quickly rising to regional and even national prominence, said Ryan Wolfington of VegasTennis.com.

"Now kids are starting to move to Las Vegas for tennis instead of kids moving away for tennis," Wolfington said. "With this new tennis center, more affordable and accessible tennis will be offered to everyone.

"Thanks to patrons like Fred Darling and a city council committed to this project ... I know it is just a matter of time before tennis tournaments from all over will want to bring their events to Las Vegas."

A logo on the VegasTennis.com Web site proclaims it is "Bringing tennis alive in the valley -- one match at a time."

But with 23 state-of-the-art courts at a single site, the pace to "bring tennis alive" is about to pick up.