Women's pro tournament at Waikoloa in jeopardy
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
As O'ahu prepares to celebrate the delayed opening of a world-class tennis complex, a world-class women's tennis event is in jeopardy after one year on the Big Island.
Eric Kutner, owner and tournament director of the WTA's $140,000 Big Island Championship, has not found a title sponsor for the second tournament, scheduled Sept. 7-15 at the Hilton Waikoloa Village.
Sandrine Testud won the inaugural event last year, defeating Justine Henin.
"The tournament is definitely in jeopardy," says Kutner, who is looking for at least $60,000 to keep the event going.
Unlike other professional sporting events, which often come here with large national sponsors and television coverage, tennis tour events are usually owned by promoters. They secure the dates from the tours and assume the risk and reward.
If the tournament does not survive, Kutner and Hawai'i could lose their week on the WTA schedule. That would not bode well for future events here.
Ron Romano, executive director of the U.S. Tennis Association's Hawai'i Pacific Section, spoke with Kutner in person Thursday.
"From a USTA perspective, with the event just four weeks away, we'd hate to see this (cancellation) happen," Romano said. "I wanted to know how we could help. When I found out more, it's really a sponsorship issue, a money issue, and that's his role as promoter to line that stuff up. We help with other things.
"The bottom line is, if we didn't have that event or any other event last-minute like this, potential events could see there was a bad experience here and it may hurt future events. Plus, it would disappoint players and the community and everyone else."
Kutner and his Total Eclipse Sports company, based on the East Coast, also produce the Hilton Waikoloa Village USTA Challenger. That tournament has been played here since 2000 and the last two champions, Andy Roddick and James Blake, now play on the U.S. Davis Cup team. The Challenger could also be in danger if the WTA tournament is canceled, according to Kutner.
He calls bringing professional tennis events to Hawai'i "my dream, my vision." He also admits the past three years have been difficult, despite the support of devoted backers such as Hilton Waikoloa Village.
Kutner says his operation has always been lean, with only officials and players getting paid. Still, his inability to find sponsors has created financial hardship each year. His sponsorship problem worsened after 9/11, which happened during the inaugural Big Island Championship.
One of the major problems, according to Kutner, is the Big Island location. Most potential sponsors are on O'ahu. Ironically, the ideal site might now be on O'ahu. The 20-court Central O'ahu Regional Park complex was scheduled to open this month but has been delayed. A grand opening celebration, possibly in November, is in the works.
Total Eclipse has eagerly followed the progress of the Central O'ahu Regional Park site and Kutner has expressed interest in bringing new events to the complex, but also wants to keep tournaments at Waikoloa — if he can.
