The WTA Auckland Open (currently sponsored by ASB Bank and called the ASB Classic) is a professional women'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 New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The tournament is played annually, in the first week of January, 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 the suburb of Parnell, just east of the Central Business District. It is an International level tournament in the

Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. The association governs the WTA Tour, which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women, and was founded to create a better future fo ...

(WTA) World Tour. The equivalent men's event, the ATP Auckland Open, is played in the following week, immediately ahead of 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 ...

owing travel restrictions for international visitors to New Zealand. 2014 Australian Open - Ana Ivanovic

History

In 1886 the first open tournament held in

was the Auckland Championships it was the precursor event to this one, but was not always staged. In the 1920s major new tennis venues were built in Auckland for the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association (now called Tennis Auckland), as well as Wellington and Christchurch comprising both grass and hard courts. In 1920 when the Auckland Lawn Tennis Association 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 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 1942 the Auckland Championships were discontinued. In 1954 a second version of the Auckland Championships was revived that is still being staged today. In 1956 Auckland hosted its first new 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 ...

, known as the 'Auckland Invitation'.Romanos (2013) In 1959 the tournament was renamed as the New Zealand Invitation before returning to its former name in 1960. 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. In 1963 this event was rebranded as the Auckland Wills International tournament. In 1969 its official name was altered again to the New Zealand Open. In 1971 its official name was changed to the New Zealand Centennial Open for one year only before returning to its former name until 1981 when the event was separated into the ATP Auckland Open for men and the WTA Auckland Open for women. Between 1979 and 1989 the men's editions of the tournament were part 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 ...

. From 1969, the first edition in the open era of tennis, until 1981 the joint tournament was known under its sponsored name 'Benson and Hedges Open'. When the event was split into two tournaments the men's sponsorship continued as the Benson and Hedges Open. Then from 1998 until 2015 it was named the 'Heineken Open'. There was no women's events for the years 1983 to 1984 and 1986. In 1987 the women's event resumed and its sponsorship name was the Nutri-Metics Open until 1989, then called the Nutri-Metics International in 1990, then the Nutri-Metics Bendon Classic from 1991 to 1992, then the Amway Classic from 1993 to 1996. In 1997 it was branded as the ASB Classic a women's tournament. 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.

Finals

Singles

Event names

This tournament had just its official names from 1956 to 1968 with no sponsorship. In 1969 following the start of the open era sponsorship begins and the event carries both its official designation and its sponsorship title.

Official

The tournaments sponsored names have been as follows:

References

External links

Auckland Overview WTA Tour TennisOfficial website
{{navboxes, title=Previous women's tournament categories , list1= {{WTA International tournaments {{WTA Tier IV tournaments {{WTA Tier V tournaments Tennis tournaments in New Zealand Sports competitions in Auckland Hard court tennis tournaments WTA Tour WTA 250 tournaments Recurring sporting events established in 1986 Summer in New Zealand