AFTER a 15-year hiatus, Hi-Pro is partnering with Tennis Jamaica as main sponsors of the 2014 Hi-Pro All Jamaica Tennis Championships, scheduled for August 16-23 at the Liguanea Club in Kingston.

The announcement was made at a press conference at the Liguanea Club yesterday.

The championships will feature the island’s top players vying for over $500,000 in cash and prizes in six categories — men’s singles and doubles, ladies’ singles, junior veterans (35 years and over), senior veterans (45 years and over) and the over 35-years doubles.

In the men’s category, the singles winner will receive $150,000, while the loser will get $75,000. All semi-finalists will pocket $20,000 each, as well as $10,000 for reaching the quarter-finals. The doubles winners will get $9,500 each.

Meanwhile, the winner in the ladies’ singles will pocket $40,000 and the runner-up will receive $20,000.

Entry fee for men is $2,500 and for ladies it is $1,500, and the deadline for registration is tomorrow.

Dayne Patterson, retail business development manager at Hi-Pro, said that his company is proud to partner with Tennis Jamaica and so sponsoring the tournament was never a problem.

“We are proud to partner with Tennis Jamaica, the governing body of tennis in Jamaica, in highlighting our local talent and we endorse their initiative of bringing back the national championship title.

“Tennis Jamaica is dedicated to developing tennis in Jamaica and we believe this championship is critical to motivating our youth to pursue excellence in the sport, and sponsoring the event was never in doubt,” Patterson said.

“We at Hi-Pro are pulling out all the stops to make this event a memorable one for both the players and spectators,” he added.

President of Tennis Jamaica, John Bailey, welcomed the partnership with Hi-Pro.

“This tournament is very significant to tennis development in Jamaica and we are very delighted to have it back as it has been out because of the lack of financial support. It is the major local tennis championships in the country and we thank Hi-Pro for the support, as well as other sponsors, and we are looking forward to a great tournament,” said Bailey.

Bailey also noted that over the years the All Jamaica Tennis Championships was the premier tournament that produced top-ranking players and was considered the local equivalent of the US Open and the French Open.

Other sponsors of the event are Reggae Jammin, first-time sponsor JMMB Merchant Bank, Hi-Lyte Sports Drinks, Jamaica Broilers and the Liguanea Club.