Malta offers to host Fed Cup and Davis Cup events

Malta Tennis Federation president Tony Cilia Pisani recently attended the International Tennis Federation annual general meeting in Tunis.

The Malta Tennis Federation said the meeting was fruitful after Cilia Pisani met various high-ranking officials in world tennis and with them he discussed the possibility of attracting more support for local tennis.

In Tunis, Cilia Pisani met Paul Smith and Bill Babcock, from the Federation Cup and the Davis Cup administrations respectively, and proposed Malta as possible host for the regional tournaments of these two prestigious events.

Cilia Pisani also had a meeting with ITF chief Dave Miley with whom he discussed plans to set up a National Tennis Centre in Malta.

Miley assured Cilia Pisani of the ITF's commitment in providing the necessary financial backing for the the project, the federation said.

Play and Stay tennis

During the AGM, the Play and Stay tennis training system for juniors was approved. An agreement was reached for the ITF to launch the initiative in Malta. Plans are already in hand to organise its launching later this year.

By means of this ITF project, Play and Stay tennis will be introduced to newcomers with various demonstrations across the islands.

Italian player Nicola Piet-rangeli was invited by the Malta Tennis Federation to assist in this regard.

One other topic which was discussed in Tunis was the organisation of junior tournaments.

Luca Santilli, officer in charge of junior competitions, said that in future the number of tournaments will be reduced as the ITF will be aiming for quality rather than quantity.