LIKE just about everything else on the island, tennis facilities took quite a battering from Hurricane Fabian - and some could be out of use for months.

Particularly badly hit were the South Shore venues. The courts at both the Fairmont Southampton and Sonesta Beach Hotels have been closed indefinitely, removing a sizeable chunk of the island's available courts for an uncertain time period.

Damage was also suffered at the Elbow Beach facilities, but they are now back in use, as are all the courts at Hamilton's Government tennis complex, the W.E.R. Tennis Stadium.

All of those venues lost light poles, flattened by the might of sustained winds of more than 100 miles per hour on September 5.

Fences were damaged and considerable amounts of debris ended up on the playing areas.

Mark Cordeiro, pro at the six Fairmont Southampton courts, said his facilities, adjacent to Horseshoe Bay, had taken a pummelling in the storm.

He said the courts would be closed for an indefinite period, for reasons including safety and insurance.

"Some fences were damaged and the light poles are down - the lights will need to be completely redone," Cordeiro said.

"We had waves coming over the wall and we found all sorts of stuff on the courts. We removed 107 wheelbarrow loads of sand and debris in three or four days of cleaning up.

"The hotel has been very supportive and we will work together to get the courts open again as soon as possible."

But people taking lessons with Cordeiro and fellow Fairmont pro Earl Leader can continue their tuition, thanks to the generosity of a facility that fared better in the storm.

"The management and on-site professionals at the Newstead Hotel offered their facilities to the Fairmont team for teaching purposes and we are very grateful for their assistance," said Cordeiro.

Anyone who needs to contact the two coaches while the Fairmont facility is closed can call Cordeiro on 735-7800 and Leader on 735-3000.

The Fairmont Southampton Hotel suffered substantial damage during Fabian and will be closed down for between two and six months.

The Sonesta Beach Resort will shut down until May 2004, and it remains to be seen whether its six courts will be available to the public before then.

Elbow Beach director of tennis David Lambert was away during the storm, representing the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association at the International Tennis Federation conference in Brazil.

He came back this week to find his courts already back in pretty good order, thanks to the efforts of his colleagues at Elbow.

"The Elbow Beach courts are up and running," said Lambert.

"We have lost fencing on the northern side of the courts, because one of the light poles was uprooted and landed on the fence.

"On the other side, the windscreens were all torn down and about 20 percent of the fencing has been damaged and people are working on that now.

"The courts are looking well and that's thanks to the efforts of the crews of people under head pro Eldon Daniels, who removed the sand and debris and used power-washers to clean off the courts. And that's why there are guests playing out there now."

Away from the ocean's edge, the storm caused less damage. The W.E.R. Joell Tennis Stadium complex got off relatively lightly.

Stadium manager Eugene Woods said: "We lost one of our light poles, in a sense we lost two because one is partly down. So for night play we are a little compromised. But we have at least two courts that can be used at night for instructional or casual playing purposes.

"We also had some fencing damage but that is relatively superficial. The courts are playable and we will not deter people from playing."

Mr. Woods said some vegetation had had to be cleared off the courts.

"Our clay courts suffered in that the wind blew away some of the top surface. But those are playable now."

The Commercial Tennis League was due to start its team knockout tournament last week but that was delayed until this week because of the lack of available venues.

And when it did get under way this week, all the matches were played at the Stadium.