Welsh Government Minister Jack Sargeant MS hails impact of Lexus Wrexham Open tournament
Pictured: Jack Sargeant MS, the Welsh Government Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership, on court at the Lexus Wrexham Open with rising Welsh tennis star Mimi Xu, who was the eventual champion, French tennis player Harmony Tan and umpire Ben Anderson.
Jack Sargeant MS, the Welsh Government Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership, has hailed the impact of the first Lexus Wrexham Open after visiting the tournament. The ITF World Tennis Tour event, which was won by rising Welsh star Mimi Xu, brought world class tennis to North Wales, with a capacity crowd of more than 600 attending Sunday’s finals day.
Mr Sargeant enjoyed a visit to Wrexham Tennis & Padel Centre, the host venue, during the tournament, conducting the coin toss on court ahead of Xu’s quarter-final match against Harmony Tan. He met tournament officials and also members of the local community, including some of the ball crew from local schools, while he also played padel.
Highlighting the investment made by the Welsh Government in helping to improve the facilities at the Wrexham Tennis & Padel Centre, he said: "I was here a few months ago to see all of the investment in the facility already and now we have had some more investment into the facility to bring a major tennis tournament to Wales with the Lexus Wrexham Open.
“We have seen lots of improvements. We have seen improvements to the reception area and the cafe.
“We have also seen the investment in the padel courts, which I think is a fantastic investment in a growing sport as well, while we have also seen the investment in the centre’s lights which has brought major tennis back to Wales for the first time in almost 30 years, so it’s really good news for the sport and really good news for Wales.
“We have been proud to work with the local authority, to work with the trustees here at the Tennis & Padel Centre, to invest in those facilities so we can host events like this, but also future generations can then enjoy this sport for many, many years to come.
“Hosting an event like this will inspire more women and girls, more people generally, to come and play tennis and padel in their local communities, and that’s what really it’s all about. We are very pleased to be able to make that type of investment here in Wrexham.
“The ticket sales for the opening day of this tournament was the highest they’ve ever been globally for an ITF event, so that’s something to be very proud of, and I would like to thank all of the team who have been involved in putting all of this together and bringing this tournament to Wrexham.”
Mr Sargeant added staging the Lexus Wrexham Open for the first time - the biggest women’s tennis tournament, outside of the grass court season, played in the UK this year - was the latest addition to what’s been a memorable year for Welsh sport.
“We have had a great year of sport in Wales, particularly women’s sport,” he said. "We started off with Lauren Price’s boxing win earlier this year, and the national football team then went to Switzerland for their first-ever major tournament.
“We had the women’s team playing in the Rugby World Cup just across the border, towards the end of the year we have hosted the AIG Women's Open golf tournament, and now a major tennis tournament here in Wrexham in North East Wales. It’s great for the country and it’s great for sport.
“We want major sporting events here in Wales and we want them in North Wales as well, so to host something like this in the heart of North East Wales, to see the players that are here, world class players who will go on to have amazing careers in the sport, it’s great, and to see Mimi Xu here competing on Welsh soil is fantastic after her success at Wimbledon and then coming here and having a great tournament.”