‘Rain or shine, we can come and train’: Kallang Tennis Hub serves up an ace for local fraternity (2024)

SINGAPORE – Just like how the afternoon showers gave way to the sun, the local tennis fraternity is hoping the future will be bright for their sport as they welcome the new Kallang Tennis Hub (KTH), which opens to the public from April 15.

On April 12, the media were given a tour of the four-storey, 24,514 sq m building that began construction in 2020 and was completed in 2023 after delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Situated opposite Kallang Leisure Park, it consists of seven indoor courts in air-conditioned halls with a seating capacity of 1,297 and 300 more retractable seats ready to be deployed. There are also 12 full-sized and two junior-sized outdoor courts.

These are fitted with medium-slow surfaces from Laykold, a brand of hard court also used at the US Open.

Two of the three indoor show courts can be configured to host tournaments with Hawk-Eye technology, or electronicline calling,while all the 12 full-sized outdoor courts are also competition-ready.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said in a Facebook post on April 8: “We can look at hosting major tennis tournaments alongside larger-scale community activations, to include our own athletes and junior players, all in the same precinct.

“This will be the home of tennis, and serve as TeamSG’s national training centre for our national athletes.”

The public can also make court bookings on the Singapore Sports Hub website.

It is understood that the authorities are looking to stage Association of Tennis Professionals(ATP) or Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) events, with the possibility of hosting a 250 tournament – the lowest tier on both the men’s and women’s main professional tours. Higher-tier events may also be held at KTH in conjunction with the Singapore Indoor Stadium and OCBC Arena.

Singapore last staged a 250 event, the ATP Singapore Open, at the OCBC Arena in 2021, and also hosted the prestigious WTA Finals from 2014 to 2018.

Singapore Tennis Association (STA) president Jasmine Quek said the KTH “represents an excellent opportunity to enhance the daily training and competitive environment for our athletes”.

She added that the new all-weather facility will not only draw more local and international tournaments but also attract regional players to train or play, even as it seeks to expand its pool of 10 national players, 12 national youth squad players and catchment pool.

“To have players in the region train alongside our players... exposes our players to the standards beyond Singapore,” she said. “This will not only elevate the level of competition, but will also support our athletes as they prepare for major games, including the 2029 SEA Games.”

Singapore’s last SEA Games tennis medal was a women’s singles bronze won in 2017 by Stefanie Tan, who broke the Republic’s 34-year drought in the event. At the biennial Games, Lim Phi Lan is Singapore’s most accomplished tennis player with her solitary women’s singles silver in 1983.

After her first training session at KTH on April 12, national player Audrey Tong expressed appreciation for the covered courts.

The 17-year-old said: “Rain or shine, we can come and train. Previously, when it was pouring, we had to postpone our training. This facility makes it a lot easier for us to get more hours on the court and make sure we optimise our training time.”

The media tour also covered the new wings of the Kallang Football Hub (KFH), whose completion was similarly delayed due to the pandemic. Construction began in 2018 before its completion in 2023.

KFH, which functions primarily as a national training centre, comprises one full natural pitch, three artificial pitches and three futsal courts. Four of these are sheltered, allowing for all-weather play.

The new wings have been home to the National Development Centre since March, while the Lions, Lionesses and junior national teams have trained at the adjacent wing since it was completed in early 2023.

They also feature a high-performance indoor gym with sports science capabilities and youth-specific equipment. These include force plates that can track data relating to strength, power and speed, advanced bicycles and treadmills, weights and a custom-built power rack.

National sports agency Sport Singapore’s (SportSG) chief of sport infrastructure group Lim Hong Khiang said that more facilities will be built and others refurbished “to ensure affordable access to sport facilities in land-scarce Singapore”.

The KTH and KFH are part of the development of the Kallang Alive precinct that was announced by SportSG in 2019, as the area was earmarked for transformation into a destination for sports and world-class entertainment. This is part of SportSG’s 15 recommendations for Vision 2030, which was announced in 2012.

Other plans, including those for a first velodrome, are under review, said SportSG deputy chief executive for development and Kallang Alive Sport Management chief operating officer Daryl Yeo.