The Estonian government is not considering funding the organization of a WTA tournament in Tallinn – Tennis

Estonian Culture Minister Tiit Terik has expressed disappointment at such a turn of events, which is likely to mean that the WTA 250 tournament scheduled for October in Tallinn will not take place.

Alars Hints ERR, president of the Estonian Tennis Association, also acknowledged that “the tournament in Tallinn is now a thing of the past. It is difficult to predict if and when there will be such an opportunity again”.

According to the information available to the ERR, two weeks ago the President of the Tennis Union sent a letter to the Tallinn municipality confirming that sufficient private sector funding had been raised. The municipality confirmed its readiness to invest and support the tournament on Tuesday.

The Minister of Culture told the Estonian public broadcaster ERR that the government could not discuss the issue of funding for the tournament at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday because the Prime Minister Kaja Kallas had not put it on the agenda.

“Yes, Estonia is having a hard time with the security situation, but the fact that the government did not address the issue of the WTA tournament is sad, although it was not a big surprise, as Kaja Kallas has already stated her position on the issue of the WTA tournament,” Minister.

Kallas has previously said in a blog post that the national economy would not benefit from such a tournament, but that it would require state funds of 2.7 million euros in three years, and this is the last of the four levels in the structure of the WTA competition. The Prime Minister admitted that Estonia’s best tennis player Kontaveita, who ranks among the top ten in the world, and the country’s second racket, Kaija Kanepi, would not take part in such a tournament, because, for example, a higher-ranking tournament would take place in Moscow in October. . Last year, Estonia’s first racket won the final of the Moscow “WTA 500” tournament.

Last week, Kontaveita expressed support for hosting the WTA tournament in her native Tallinn.

The Estonian Tennis Association was offered the opportunity to host the WTA tournament for three years in a row from 2022, but the WTA wanted a response shortly, so given the geopolitical situation, the pandemic and other current issues, it did not deserve special attention on the government’s agenda.

The organizers of the event suggested that it be held with the support of the state, Tallinn municipality and the private sector, but Minister of Culture Terik acknowledged that municipal and / or private sector funding was unlikely to be enough to run such a tournament.

Last November, the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Kanepi tournament took place in Habnne, near Tallinn, and both Kontaveit and Kanepi took part in a demonstration tournament in July 2020 in the Tondi district of Tallinn.

The WTA 250 Series is a fourth-ranked WTA event, with an even lower-ranking ITF event.

The four Grand Slam tournaments form a top-of-the-line tournament, while the WTA 1000 and WTA 500 take second and third place respectively.

At the end of last year, the second half of the world ranked in the top ten after a very good season. Meanwhile, after winning the St. Petersburg WTA 500 in the second week of February, she has reached sixth place in her rank, the highest ever and the highest ever for an Estonian tennis player.