Tennis club to serve a winner
The picturesque Cottesloe Tennis Club has been in existence for almost 80 years, but it has never looked quite like it does now.
Work is well under way to transform the grass court club into the venue that will host the world group play-off tie between Australia and Uzbekistan next month.
The grandstands, which will seat about 4000 spectators, are close to completion, with organisers turning their attention to making sure the facilities are ready for the players, who are due to arrive a week out from the start of the tie.
Tennis Australia Davis Cup operations manager Paul Daly said the process of getting the venue ready for the international event had started in the past few weeks.
About 300 people will be involved in staging the event, with close to $1 million invested in the process.
"The weather has been OK so it hasn't impacted the bump-in too much and it's starting to really take shape," he said. "Bringing in that kind of quantity just means it takes a lot of time and a lot of manpower to get it all done."
Mr Daly said Cottesloe would be one of the more memorable Davis Cup venues ever produced in Australia. He said building the infrastructure from scratch at a suburban club was unique, but rewarding.
Mr Daly praised the club for preparing the immaculate main court as well as four practice courts.
Australia lost their first round tie to France in February and must win the play-off to retain a position in the elite world group of 16 nations.
Tickets are on sale for the tie through Ticketek. Teams will be announced 10 days out from the event, which runs from September 12-14.
