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Record number of participants taking part in N.S. tennis open

Record number of participants taking part in N.S. tennis open

The Nova Scotia Open Tennis Championships are on at the Waegwoltic Club in Halifax and this year organizers have a good problem: A record number of participants are playing for a trophy that was first presented in 1901.

"There are 550 matches and eight days to play them," said Roger Keating, executive director of Tennis Nova Scotia.

Tennis in Nova Scotia is experiencing phenomenal growth.

Growing tennis

Tennis Canada said from 2008 to 2015 there was a 35 per cent increase in the number of children playing the sport.

"We do a lot of grassroot programs and are in a lot of schools, so we are trying to grow the sport from the bottom up," Keating said.

For junior players like Niket Sampalli, part of the motivation is watching the success of Canadian superstars Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard.

"Raonic's success and Bouchard, it makes you want to play," said Sampalli.

More courts needed

The sport's burgeoning popularity has sparked the need for more courts.

Craig Bethune is leading the charge for an expanded training centre at the Daniel Nestor Tennis Centre in Bedford. It took a big step forward recently with a recent Halifax regional council vote.

"With HRM voting 17-0 to support a tennis facility that will be accessible, it shows there is an appetite in the province to build a facility that would be just like the Canada Games Centre," Bethune said.

'Sport is taking off'

In another positive sign, private organization Head Start Tennis is tearing up the old courts at Northcliffe Tennis Club and building new ones. Jamie Power, co-owner of the organization and a tennis coach, is excited to invest in the sport.

"The sport is taking off. There are so many people playing and so many kids playing the sport," said Power.

Keating said watching tennis explode in popularity is great.

"The growth of tennis in this province is going through the roof, in the past five or six years the numbers of under-10s and under-12s we have is just growing," said Keating.

The tournament wraps up on Saturday.