Tennis New Zealand (commonly known by the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

Tennis NZ or TNZ) (formally the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association) is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Founded in 1886, it is one of the world's oldest tennis associations. It is affiliated to both

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there a ...

and

Oceania Tennis Federation Oceania Tennis Federation (OTF) is the regional governing body of tennis in Oceania. It was formed as a regional association of International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, w ...

. Tennis NZ has six geographically divided regional centres. Tennis NZ operates all of the New Zealand's national representative tennis sides, including the

New Zealand Davis Cup team The New Zealand men's national tennis team represents New Zealand in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by Tennis New Zealand. New Zealand currently compete in Group II of the Asia/Oceania Zone. They have played in the World Group ...

, the New Zealand Billie Jean King Cup team and youth sides as well. Tennis NZ is also responsible for organising and hosting tennis tournaments within New Zealand and scheduling the home international fixtures.

History

The history of tennis in New Zealand dates back to the 1870s, the decade when the development of modern tennis began. The first ''New Zealand Tennis Championships'' were played at Farndon Park in Clive,

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

, in December 1885. New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association (NZLTA) was formed at a meeting held in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in December 1886. Shortly after its inauguration, the New Zealand Association became affiliated with the

Lawn Tennis Association The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Founded in 1888, the LTA promotes all levels of lawn tennis. It believes that tennis can provide "physical ...

(

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

). In 1904 New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association amalgamated with six Australian state tennis associations to form the

Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia (LTAA) was the tennis organisation formed after the amalgamation of New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association (now Tennis New Zealand) and six Australian state tennis associations in 1904. New Zealand split from the ...

. New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association played a significant role in the origin of the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

. Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia created the tournament called ''The Australasian Mens Championships'' (which later became Australian Open) in 1905 and was first played in Warehouseman's Cricket Ground and it was decided that championships would be hosted by both Australian as well as New Zealand venues. New Zealand hosted the championship twice—

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

( 1906) and

(

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

). The geographical remoteness of both the countries (Australia and New Zealand) made it difficult for foreign players to enter the tournament. In Christchurch in 1906, of a small field of 10 players, only two Australians attended, and the tournament was won by a New Zealander (

Tony Wilding Anthony Frederick Wilding (31 October 1883 – 9 May 1915), also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wildin ...

). Lawn Tennis Association of Australasia was one of the twelve national associations of tennis which established the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) in a conference in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, on 1 March 1913. From 1905 until 1919, New Zealand and Australian tennis players participated in the

International Lawn Tennis Challenge The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

(Davis Cup) under the alias of "Team Australasia", the team claimed a title six times ( 1907, 1908,

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

, 1911,

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

), however, there were attempts to severance this

trans-Tasman Trans-Tasman is an adjective used primarily to signify the relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The term refers to the Tasman Sea, which lies between the two countries. For example, ''trans-Tasman commerce'' refers to commerce betwee ...

partnership, in order to allow New Zealand players to represent their nation on international tennis events. In 1922, New Zealand dropped out from this partnership and on 16 March 1923 New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association was granted affiliation to the International Lawn Tennis Association and thereby became eligible to enter the International Lawn Tennis Challenge in its own right. New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association filed its first challenge with

United States Lawn Tennis Association The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...

for 1924 International Lawn Tennis Challenge. Tennis New Zealand was the founding member of Oceania Tennis Federation in 1993.

Structure

Governing staff

Constitution

The constitution of the organisation was adopted on 12 August 2006 in the ''Special General Meeting'' in which the main purpose of the organisation is defined as to promote, develop, enhance and protect the sport of tennis mainly as an amateur sport for the recreation and entertainment of the general public in New Zealand.

Affiliates

Regional centres

Tennis NZ consists of six regional centres which are affiliated to the national body. They control their own activities subject to any requirements which may, from time to time, be legislated for by the national body.

Organisations

Tennis NZ affiliates several different tennis related private organisations, which are: *Aotearoa Maori Tennis Association (AMTA) - national tennis body of

Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...

. *NZ Tennis Umpires Association (NZTUA) - national body, which governs tennis officiating in New Zealand. *Tennis Coaches NZ (TCNZ) - New Zealand's association for professional tennis coaches. *International Lawn Tennis Club of NZ - member of Council of International Lawn Tennis Clubs, established in 1956 and has around 130 members. *NZ Wheelchair Tennis - Hamilton based organisation affiliated with International Wheelchair Tennis Association (IWTA) governs

Wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, ...

in New Zealand. *Seniors Tennis NZ - national association for tennis players aged 35 years and above.

Tournaments

Tennis NZ annually organises range of events from local tournaments to national and international events. Tennis Auckland hosts two major events of international tennis tournaments each year at the

ASB Tennis Centre The ASB Tennis Centre is a tennis facility located in the Parnell district of Auckland, New Zealand. The centre was opened on 18 November 1922 by the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association (now Tennis Auckland) on grounds leased from the Auckland City ...

, Parnell, just prior to Australian Open: * ASB Classic - is a most prominent women's and men's tournament of New Zealand. This ATP Tour and

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

event is an International series tournament and is played on outdoor hardcourts during the first week of the tennis season.

References

External links

Official websiteTennis NZ website
oriented towards children {{Authority control

Tennis in New Zealand Sports governing bodies in New Zealand Sports organizations established in 1886 1886 establishments in New Zealand