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

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

tournament in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. The tournament is played at the

ASB Tennis Centre The Manuka Doctor Arena (formerly ASB Tennis Centre) is a tennis facility located in the Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell district of Auckland, New Zealand. The centre was opened on 18 November 1922 by the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association (now Ten ...

, 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 (t ...

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 and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...

(ATP) World Tour. The tournament is held annually in January a week before the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

. The ASB Classic returned 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

causing travel restrictions for international visitors to New Zealand.

History

In the 1920s major new tennis venues were built in Auckland for the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association (now Tennis Auckland), Wellington and Christchurch in the 1920s comprising both grass and hard courts. 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. The local clubs raised the-then significant sum of 1,800 pounds to prepare the site and build new

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

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 concen ...

, the 'Auckland Invitation'. 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. The tournament was played on outdoor

grass court A grass court is one of the 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. While grass courts are more tra ...

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 ITF Grand Prix Circuit was a professional tennis tour for male players founded in 1970 as the ILTF Grand Prix Tennis Circuit it was administered by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and ran annually until 1989 when it and the rival ...

. 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 (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch 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 February 1864, ...

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 in New Zealand