Spotlight on Tennis Europe

In the first of a new series of features on tennis organisations we shine the spotlight on Tennis Europe

Tennis Europe, comprised of 50 European member nations, is the largest regional association of the sport’s governing body, the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Based in Basel, Switzerland, the non-profit organisation cooperates with its members to sanction, manage and support over 1,200 international tournaments each year and works with the global governing body to run the ITF Pro Circuit and Senior Circuits across the continent. Maintaining excellent relations with the ATP and WTA Tours, European Union and the wider tennis industry, Tennis Europe also organises a number of independent competitions and events, such as European Championships for juniors, seniors and beach tennis, and the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.

The Tennis Europe Junior Tour (TETJ) celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2015 and has long been the platform of choice for the launch of a successful pro career, including for legends of tennis such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Martina Hingis among a host of others.

The appeal of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour extends well beyond its home continent, and in 2015 players came from over 100 countries worldwide to participate. Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Juan Martín Del Potro and Sania Mirza also got a first taste of European competition on the tour.

The tour is divided into three age groups; 16 & Under, 14 & Under and (since 2000) 12 & Under. In 2015, these three categories combined for a total of some 360+ tournaments, staged across 45 of the 50 member nations. The exponential growth of the tour – which last year saw participation from over 12,000 players – represents an astonishing diversification of its original 43 tournaments over two age groups.

The breadth of the TEJT provides a wealth of invaluable data which Tennis Europe collects, collates and analyses via its partners at SPORTS MARKETING SURVEYS INC and turns into the Tennis Europe – The Next Generation Report. This is regularly updated and was released most recently in November 2015, including comparisons of most recent information to equivalent data from 2008 and 2012. It is now available in seven languages and paints a highly detailed commercial and social picture of the sport in Europe.

The report has information on everything from the influences on why these players took the game up, to the role of coaches, national federations and the star players on the ATP and WTA Tours. Most importantly for manufacturers, the selection of their tennis equipment and the brand image of these providers were also assessed, providing a unique insight into this group of elite junior players.

As well as the Next Generation report, Tennis Europe and SPORTS MARKETING SURVEYS INC also produce the biennial European Tennis Report, which provides another rich vein of data for the tennis industry. It contains figures on clubs, courts, players (recreational and licensed), coaches, tournaments and tennis trends in all 50 member nations of Tennis Europe with base data supplied by their national governing bodies.

Some information that will not generally be known includes:

Tennis Europe Statistics

Source: 2015 European Tennis Report – Tennis Europe / Sports Marketing Surveys Inc

For more information on Tennis Europe go to www.tenniseurope.org or contact Jonathan Jobson. 

Click here more information on exclusive surveys and reports produced by Tennis Europe and SPORTS MARKETING SURVEYS INC, or contact Keith Jenkins.