Historic tie will be played at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre; Tickets go on sale March 5
Toronto, February 19, 2013 – Tennis Canada announced Tuesday that the Miele Canadian Davis Cup team will return to the site of its historic victory against Spain for its upcoming Davis Cup by BNP Paribas quarter-final tie versus Italy. The Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia will once again host the world’s largest international team tennis competition from April 5-7, 2013 as Canada will look to improve on its already record-breaking season by advancing to the semifinals.
“What our team accomplished earlier this month in Vancouver was outstanding and we are so excited to have made history and be competing in the Davis Cup quarter-finals,” said Canada’s team captain Martin Laurendeau. “We cannot underestimate how much the crowd support and atmosphere in that stadium helped us claim victory and we want to ride that momentum. We’re thrilled to be going back there in April.”
“While we did consider other options for this tie, the recent success made the choice an easy one for us and the team,” said Michael S. Downey, president and CEO, Tennis Canada. “We need to do what’s best for our team and its chances to win and based on the overwhelming support, response and solid research statistics we had from the tie against Spain, Vancouver was the obvious choice for a return visit against Italy. There will be many future opportunities to bring Davis Cup to different markets across Canada and expose the sport to the largest possible number of people.”
A survey conducted by Charlton Strategic Research on approximately 500 ticket buyers from February’s tie produced outstandingly positive results, including 95% of the respondents rating their overall experience at Davis Cup as either “excellent” or “very good”. Furthermore, 97% of respondents said the event either “exceeded” or “met” expectations while 70% said they would be “very likely” to attend another Davis Cup tie in Vancouver. The facility itself rated highly as well with 67% of people saying they preferred Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre to other Vancouver venues. A majority of 58% of people surveyed were first-time Davis Cup ticket buyers, illustrating the large tennis fan base that exists in Vancouver and British Columbia.
The tie against Spain set a Canadian Davis Cup attendance record with an astounding 17,805 spectators taking in the action over the course of the weekend. The same seating capacity of approximately 6,200 will be used for the tie against Italy and there will be no change in ticket prices from the February tie.
“UBC is thrilled to be a host of world-class tennis again in April,” said Kavie Toor, Associate Director of Facilities and Business Development for University of British Columbia Athletics and Recreation. “We are confident we will have great crowds, a great atmosphere and the right environment to cheer on Team Canada in its first-ever quarter-final tie versus Italy. This event will be another chapter in the growing history of Canadian tennis in Vancouver.”
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in sport with 130 nations competing in 2013. Only 16 countries entered in Davis Cup competition qualify for the World Group each year.Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, March 5, 2013 and will be available through Ticketmaster. For more information regarding ticket sales, visit www.tenniscanada.com/daviscup.
