The Centenary Tennis Clubs Association (CTC) this year celebrates the 20th anniversary of its founding. Encouraged by the then president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, in 1996 eight founding clubs came together to provide the bedrock of the association, which has subsequently grown to include 70 of the leading clubs, spread across five continents.
Six of the eight clubs that signed the founding agreement in the officies of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne together with Juan Maria Tintoré, President of the CTC and Brian Tobin, then President of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), also met yesterday at the Real Club de Tennis-1899 where the club is currently hosting the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, one of the the world’s leading clay court tournaments.
The meeting brought together Ota Ungerman (Royal Leopold Club, Brussels), Lars Myhrmann (Kung Lawn Tennis Klub, Stockholm), Jurgen Buttkus (TC Geneva), Guido Schulz (Rot-Weiss Berlin), Donald Macloed (Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club, London) and Petr Simunek (I CLTK Prague and Vice-President of the CTC).
During the meeting, the Committee revised and confirmed the competition calendar for 2016, which is highlighted by the CTC Seniors Winners Group, which will be held in Geneva for the clubs that won their groups in 2015. TC Parioli of Rome will attempt to defend their title in Geneva alongside rivals from Villa Primrose (FRA), Le Tir (FRA), I CLTK (CZE) and KLTK (SWE). Four other European venues – Athens, Odense, Santander and Fitzwilliam – will see another 16 teams in action.
The calendar also includes junior competitions across European in three age categories (Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16), while the veterans have international dates at the Tenis Club Argentino in Buenos Aires, at Delhi Gymkhana in India, Yokohama Japan and at the Wanderer’s Club in South Africa.
Affiliated to Tennis Europe and recognised by the International Tennis Federation, the main sponsor of the CTC since 2010 is EFG International.
