Delahey will not have a team in the Asia Pacific Tennis League this season.
The club qualified for the lucrative event last year but could not attract the sponsors needed to enable it to compete for a second season in a row.
The APTL involves top players competing for teams from throughout Australia and the Asian Pacific.
The winners of each state-based conference progress to the final of the competition at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open.
Delahey Tennis Club head coach Geoff Guy said he hoped the club would be back in the league in the future.
Guy said he felt the club had a solid foundation but he would like to see more local players involved.
“We have a solid set-up here for a good team,” he said.
“Ideally we would love to have … the people from the north-west area play for our team.
“That would make it a bit more home grown. We could probably get away with having one import and the rest being home-grown from the area..”
Guy’s locally-based team would hopefully include sisters Monika and Viktorija Rajicic.
Eighteen-year-old Monika is ranked inside the Australian women’s top 50 and is weighing up whether to tackle a full-time career in the sport when she finishes her exams.
Twenty-year-old Viktorija is ranked 13 in Australia and has been ranked as high at seven. Guy said both would make great additions to the team, should they be available.
He said Viktorija did not go overseas this year, as she did last year, so her ranking had slipped.
“Her form is still really solid … she will play quite a few tournaments now throughout the Australian summer,” he said.
“Hopefully, she will be able to regain some ranking points and get up there a bit.”
Even while not participating in the APTL, Delahey has an action-packed summer of tennis lined up, with the club focusing on getting its teams ready for the Tennis Victoria Premier League.
Guy is rapt with the progress of the club’s junior section. He said playing numbers and results had been outstanding.
“At the moment, the coaching program is full-on,” he said.
“It is great to see everyone enjoying themselves.”
