The Ace Classic tennis tournament is set to come to Pakenham in 2026 after two years at Bunyip Tennis Club.
The central location of the 18-court Pakenham Tennis Centre will accommodate the increased popularity and professionalism of the tournament as organisers seek to continually expand.
Run across the Australia Day weekend, the four-day event – increased from three days last year – will have at least a $7,500 prize pool in 2026 with optimism that the draw will again attract high quality players.
The prize pool of previous editions have lured multiple top 1000 players which provides benefit to the tennis community in the south east.
“There’s not many opportunities you get as a local player to be even in that same space as top 1000 players,” Tournament Director Chris Millidonis said.
“For juniors coming up through the ranks, an opportunity for them to play against high quality players is really good and provides a chance to network and connect.
“The tennis community is really good at helping others along the way.
“There are so many benefits having the cross between local and professional players.
“Even if juniors are playing against highly credentialed players, if they can pick up a couple of games here or there, that can help their (Universal Tennis Ranking) which can help them get accepted into tournaments or have a higher seed.”
As part of the growth, the 2026 Ace Classic is set to include a consolation tournament, enabling players eliminated early in the tournament to gain further match practice.
The long term goal of the tournament is to attract top 200 players eliminated in the first week of the Australian Open, with that bold ambition highlighting the significant work being done behind the scenes to make the Ace Classic the best possible product.
“Moving it to Pakenham gives it the most potential to grow in future years,” Millidonis said.
“It’s big for the Pakenham Tennis Community.
“Being more central and closer to the Australian Open when there are a lot of people in Melbourne provides some really good opportunities.
“We want to keep growing the event.
“We hope to run it really well too, we want to look after the players.
“We want the players to feel welcomed and are treated well so they are likely to return.”
