World Tennis Tour Event Announced For Hamilton

18 October 2019

Tennis NZ today announced confirmation of a World Tennis Tour US$15,000 professional women’s event to take place at the Waikato Tennis Centre in Hamilton from 10-17 February 2020. Players from across the world are expected to take part in the event, which will have official WTA World Tour rankings points up for grabs.

“We’re so excited to bring this event to Hamilton. Outside of the ASB Classic, it’s been a long time since professional tour events have been held in this country. We’re committed to growth of tennis here in NZ and hope this event can become a permanent fixture on the Waikato sporting calendar.” Said Tennis NZ CEO Julie Paterson.

Local support for the event has been critical to it being secured for Hamilton. “We’re indebted to our event partners Waikato Tennis Trust and Perry Foundation for their support and for working with us on a protracted timeline to get this event across the line.” Said Paterson.

Waikato Tennis Trust believe Hamiltonian’s should be excited to host elite female tennis in town. “It’s fantastic to have the World Tennis Tour coming to Hamilton. We hope the event will be well supported not just by our tennis community but by fans from across the region. We’re keen to work with Tennis NZ to grow this event over time and hope it can become a real highlight for Hamilton each year.” Said Waikato Tennis Trust Acting Interim Chairman Ralph Blackburn.

The tournament is the final event of the 2019-2020 NZ Summer of Tennis series, with the marquee ASB Classic event in Auckland supported by a US$15,000 World Tennis Tour Men’s event in Te Anau in early January, a Fed Cup international women’s teams event in Wellington from 3-8 February and the Hamilton World Tennis Tour tournament.

The announcement of a women’s World Tennis Tour event forms part of Tennis NZ’s commitment to increasing the profile and promotion women’s tennis in 2020. Other initiatives include home fixtures for the NZ women’s representative side and a focus on increasing the number of females in coach and leadership roles within the sport.

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