The first CTC South American Challenge took place during the weekend of October 11-13 at the Tennis Club Argentino in Palermo.
The tournament was a four-team event bringing together other Centenary Tennis Clubs from the area; Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club and Santa Fe Lawn Tennis Club. A fourth club, Los Olivos, was invited to complete the competition draw.
The competition was held under a spirit of fair play from all the participants both on and off the court. The event was preceded by a welcome cocktail, which gathered the Presidents of the Centenary Tennis Clubs of Argentina together with members of the International Club, Olympic Committee and the Argentinian Tennis Federation.
The competition was played under a round robin format, combining men and women on all teams. The eventual winner was the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.
Amongst the participants were many well-known faces, including Beariz Araujo, (Argentina’s #1 player for many years during the late 1960s and 1970s and former Fed Cup captain), Ricardo Canon (Argentinean #2, former Davis Cup player and twice ATP Tour singles finalist) and Carlos Junquet (a member of the team that reached the Davis Cup final in 1981 when Argentina lost to USA).
During the competition, Argentinian tennis legend Enrique Morea received a replica of the Conde de Godo tournament trophy from the hands of the honorary President of RCTB 1899, Juan Mª Tintore. The gift was a symbolic reminder of the historic match of the first edition of the tournament in 1953, which saw Enrique losing against Vic Seixas 22-20 in the third set.
