POPULAR Australian tennis star Casey Dellacqua will return to Sunraysia as guest speaker for next week’s Mildura Grand Tennis International ladies’ luncheon.
Dellacqua, who had a career high singles ranking of 26 and was No.3 in the world for doubles, has fond memories of Mildura, having won the women’s singles and doubles titles at the Grand International in 2010.
Mildura Lawn Tennis Club (MLTC) announced Dellacqua as its celebrity guest this week as players start arriving for the Pro Tour event, which starts with qualifying on Monday followed by main draw matches on Wednesday.
Dellacqua, who worked as a commentator for Channel 7 at this year’s Australian Open, joins a list of high-profile tennis personalities who have spoken at the MLTC ladies’ luncheon, including former doubles grand slam champion Todd Woodbridge and former world No.4 women’s singles player Jelena Dokic.
“We have a strong partnership with Tennis Australia, we work with them to look for a really high quality guest speaker for each year’s event and this year we have been lucky enough to secure Casey Dellacqua for our ladies luncheon,” MLTC president Chris Hobart said.
“She is a very well credentialled Australian tennis player, she’s a great ambassador for tennis, she’s a great ambassador for women’s tennis and she’s a former title holder here in Mildura.
“It will be nice to welcome her back and hear some her tennis stories and I guess hear some of her life stories.”
Dellacqua, who retired in 2018, enjoyed a distinguished career in which she won more than $6 million in career prizemoney.
Among her career highlights include a grand slam mixed doubles title at the French Open in 2011 and seven grand slam doubles appearances, as well as fourth round appearances in singles at the Australian, French, Wimbledon and US Opens.
She has also won a host of other ITF singles and doubles championships.
Dellacqua is perhaps best known for her doubles partnership and close friendship with current world women’s No.1, Ash Barty, who is also a former winner of the Mildura Grand Tennis International, claiming the title as a 16-year-old in 2012.
The pair played in four grand slam doubles finals and were runners-up in each.
Hobart said this year’s Pro Tour had again attracted a strong field of Australian and international players across both the men’s and women’s draws.
“We certainly do seem to attract a quality field to our event – we have been very fortunate across time, the loyalty of players and them wanting to come and play at our event,” Hobart said.
“I guess that is a testament to the club and its members and our curator who keeps the courts in such great condition.
“There is always a huge body of work to actually put the infrastructure in place and that will happen over the course of the week.
“It is great to have some of the players beginning to show up already.
“You have players who are inside the top 200 in the world and they are here playing in our backyard.”
