DFS Classic - Priory will have to lift its game

Jun 12 2008

BIRMINGHAM has been told it must improve its game to keep the DFS Classic.

The popular Edgbaston Priory event is under threat after the LTA revealed it loses money.

Already the LTA has axed Surbiton, while next year's events at Eastbourne and Nottingham will operate as a combined men's and women's competition.

Chief executive Roger Draper confirmed that events at Nottingham, Edgbaston, Surbiton and Eastbourne cost the LTA £1.8million when he visited the DFS Classic yesterday.

He claimed: "That's £1.8million that could be better spent on coaching and competition. "We've made it pretty clear what we want from a commercial point of view."

Draper confirmed that the DFS was safe for next year - but Birmingham will have to tender for it's own event in the meantime.

He also insisted the LTA's priority was to protect the Championships at Wimbledon.

And he was also adamant that the LTA wasn't prepared to bankroll events like the DFS.

Priory is hoping Birmingham City Council will step in to support the event and Draper accepted: "They've always been proactive, especially when we've staged the Davis Cup at the NEC. They realise the value this event brings to the region.

"The tennis will always come first - but we're only doing what most businesses or organisations would do."

Draper also refuted suggestions there was a London bias to staging events.

"I want to take tennis around the country, but there has to be a commercial reality."