The ATP Auckland Open, commonly known by its sponsored name ASB Classic, is a professional men's

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 ...

tournament in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

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 ...

. The tournament is played annually 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 ...

, in Parnell. It is part of the

ATP World Tour 250 series The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam to ...

of the

Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, a ...

(ATP) World Tour. The tournament is held annually in January a week before the first

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

tournament of the season, the Australian Open. The Auckland Open is expected to return in 2023 after the 2021 and 2022 events were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

owing travel restrictions for international visitors to New Zealand.

History

In 1920 when the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association (now Tennis Auckland) was looking for a permanent base, the only available site was a tip in Stanley Street. Undeterred, the local clubs raised the-then enormous sum of 1,800 pounds to prepare the site and build new

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

s. For the next 30 years the Tennis Centre in Stanley Street was home to local tennis matches. In 1956 Auckland hosted its first permanent international

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, the 'Auckland Championship'. The tournament was a joint men's and women's event until 1981. From 1969, the first edition in the open era of tennis, until 1995 the tournament was known under its sponsored name 'Benson and Hedges Open'. From 1998 until 2015 it was named the 'Heineken Open'. By the 1960s the shuttle bus fare from town to Stanley Street was sixpence. Admission was five shillings for the first three days and 7/6 for finals and semifinals – a whole tournament for the equivalent of $4. By the 1970s, 25 cents got you all-day parking next door at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 1 ...

. The tournament was played on outdoor

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...

s from its inaugural edition in 1956 until 1977, switching to hard courts in 1978. Between 1979 and 1989 it was a tournament of the

Grand Prix tennis circuit The Grand Prix tennis circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players that existed from 1970 to 1989. The Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis (WCT) were the two predecessors to the current tour for male players, the ATP Tour, with t ...

. After being separated for 34 years, the WTA and ATP merged the event in 2016 and both tournaments are now known collectively as the ASB Classic.

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Feb ...

will still be a sponsor but will have a diminished role in anticipation of new tennis regulations restricting alcohol sponsorship. Both the 2021 and 2022 Auckland Open were cancelled due to the

. In regards to the 2022 cancellation, organizers cited New Zealand's strict quarantine rules as making it intractable for players, officials, and all other required staff to be admitted into the country.

Past finals

Men's singles

Men's doubles

Notes

References

External links

* * {{coord, 36.854, S, 174.773, E, region:NZ-N_type:landmark, display=title Grand Prix tennis circuit Hard court tennis tournaments Recurring sporting events established in 1956 Tennis tournaments in New Zealand ATP Tour 250 Sports competitions in Auckland Summer events in New Zealand