Petco Park Hosts The Davis Cup

U.S. vs Great Britain will play on a special red clay court in center field

The green grass in center field at Petco Park looks a little different this week.  It's red.  It's clay.  It has a net.

The Davis Cup is coming to San Diego.  This weekend, the U.S. will take on Andy Murray and the British in Petco Park's first ever tennis event.

The players are here, and their first impression of Petco's first attempt seems to be a good one.

"I think this is one of the most unique and beautiful settings that we'll experience in our lifetime," said U.S. Team Captain Jim Courier. "This is spectacular to be able to be in this ballpark and then just have an incredible tennis facility pop up out of nowhere."

Construction of the temporary tennis stadium started earlier this month.  Red clay was trucked in and temporary grandstands built to seat roughly 8,000 fans for the three-day event.

This all comes as Petco Park approaches its 10th anniversary.  When San Diego voters initially approved Prop. C to fund construction of the ballpark, one of the promises made was that the facility would be used for more than baseball.

Over the past 10 years, Petco Park has hosted a handful of concerts, including the Rolling Stones, as well as an international rugby tournament, the World Baseball Classic, and events during the week of Comic-Con.  Is that everything voters had hoped for?

"I think we would all like to see it used more," says George Mitrovich, who led the citizens initiative to get Prop C passed.

Mitrovich says, overall, he thinks the promise to voters has been kept, but he'd like to see a stronger marketing effort made to attract more events.

"I think there has to be a cooperative effort, and I think the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, I think they need to be a part of that," Mitrovich said. "I think it has to be a coalition working together."

If attracting more events to Petco Park is all about marketing, this weekend won't hurt.  The Davis Cup will be watched all over the world.

The event starts Friday.  The final match, if necessary, will be played Sunday at 11 a.m. PST.

The U.S. is 11-7 against Great Britain in Davis Cup play.  The two teams tied in 1990.  The British have not beaten the U.S. since 1935.

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