Mother of four young tennis enthusiasts Stacey Beetson from Bomaderry said she wasn’t the only one who had been utterly crushed by the lack of Channel 7 reception.
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“My kids and I watch the tennis every year. All of them play and they love it,” she said.
“I guess you could say their interest has grown since watching the greats on the telly but this year we haven’t been able to see any of the key players.
“I haven’t even been able to watch Samantha Stosur or Roger Federer. It’s very disappointing.
“We’ve never been to Melbourne so we make a point of watching the Australian Open. We so look forward to watching it every year.
“At first I thought there was something wrong with my aerial but then I read about the issues and we’ve noticed those problems, especially on hot days.”
With only three days of the Australian Open left, Ms Beetson said the family has had to make do with watching the restricted tennis coverage on paid TV.
Eldest daughter Emily Beetson said she loved tennis so much she had a tennis themed 10th birthday party last week.
“I like watching the tennis so I can learn from my favourite players,” Miss Beetson said.
“I love playing tennis. I play every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“My favourite players are Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt, an oldie but a goodie.”
Miss Beetson said she hoped to one day be a professional tennis player like Stosur.
Shoalhaven District Tennis Association secretary Vicki Pritchard said she noticed a significant influx of new players who sign up this time of year.
“Term one is normally really busy with almost a 50 per cent increase in newcomers after the Australian Open, but this drops off in the winter months,” Ms Pritchard said.
“I wouldn’t say tennis is a strong sport in the area because there are lots of other sport options. I think the main sporting interests here are soccer, rugby league and netball,” she said.
Ms Pritchard said the association was holding an open day on February 1 to try to encourage new players to sign up.
“We will be running social tennis and even singer Danny Ross from Kangaroo Valley will be coming along because he is a huge tennis fan.”
