Tennis ACT boss Ross Triffitt says Canberra will be in the "box seat" to host Davis Cup ties when its $27 million facility is finished next year, with officials already starting to lobby Tennis Australia for the rights to host the country's best players.
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Australian greats Todd Woodbridge and Wally Masur have backed the capital to become a regular fixture on the tennis calendar following the introduction of Canberra's biggest tournaments in a decade.
Tennis ACT unveiled its plans on Monday for the next three years, including an ATP $50,000 challenger tournament for men and a $50,000 ITF event for women in November next year.
It is hoped a raft of different events will inject $13 million into Canberra's economy over the next three years.
But Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties loom as the biggest prize for Canberra as ACT deputy chief minister Andrew Barr and Triffitt prepare their bid to host the prestigious events.
Teenage tennis star Nick Kyrgios will also be a key factor in the capital's hopes of hosting Davis Cup from next year.
"This facility does really put Canberra in the box seat for Davis Cup and Fed Cup soon," Triffitt said.
"We will commence bidding as soon as the facility has finished. We're anticipating the first tie will likely be in September [2015] depending on the draw and we'll bid every cycle after that."
Masur launched his career from Canberra, training at the Lyneham facility in 1971 before taking on the world's best and reaching No. 8 in the world.
"But in 40 years nothing changed. I think this Canberra facility has the potential to be fantastic," Masur said.
"The absolute way forward to grow the game is to spend on infrastructure and it's going to be successful here."
The ATP challenger and ITF tournaments will be two of Australia's top ranked-professional events outside the Australian Open.
The Lyneham project is a four-way joint project between Tennis ACT, the ACT government, Next Generation clubs and Tennis Australia.
There will be 32 courts, including an indoor tennis centre, 12 clay courts, four synthetic grass courts and eight Plexipave surfaces.
The development is on track to be finished by June next year.
It's also perfectly timed for Nick Kyrgios' decision to relocate his base back to Canberra after soaring up the world rankings following his impressive Wimbledon campaign.
"It's good to see Canberra come alive again ... it's been hard to find venues for Davis Cup in recent years," Woodbridge said.
"It's a great opportunity for Davis Cup and Fed Cup here. Canberra used to be a venue nobody wanted to come to. You'd play and get the hell out of there. But this is a world-class facility now."
Barr said: "It gets Canberra back on the tennis map. It's exciting for the sport. Davis and Fed Cup are the pinnacle, but they're not the only events we can get here."
