16 August 2011 | Tennis SA

Junior Wimbledon Champion Luke Saville and international Colin Edbelthite have registered for the new National Tennis League (NTL) to be launched in Adelaide in November.

The two are expected to the hottest property up for grabs when SA teams start recruiting for the inaugural competition.

The NTL’s Adelaide conference will feature six men and women’s teams to do battle over five regular season matches from November to December.

The final will be held on December 22 and finalised will play the best teams from Victoria and Western Australia at Melbourne Park on January 25-26.

Tennis SA held a briefing session with clubs last week as player registrations opened and Saville and Ebelthite were among the first to commit.

“It’s all go and people are pretty excited,” Tennis SA chief executive Alistair MacDonald said. “Luke Saville has registered but I’m not sure which team he’s going to play for. There are a few who would want him.”

MacDonald said Trinity Gardens, Somerton Park and Rostrevor had indicated they were likely to enter a team in the league’s debut season.

Most matches will be played under lights on Thursday.  

Registrations are now open to enter into the pool of players from which participating National Tennis League clubs can select from.  The player registration period closes 5.00pm on Monday August 22^nd and can be only accessed via the online registration portal. Full details are available in the NTL prospectus.   See below for an overview of key dates.

2011 National Tennis League – Key Information

All players are advised that the registration period to nominate into the pool for the 2011 National Tennis League (NTL) closes Monday August 22^nd.

• The player’s pool has been established in order to give all players the opportunity to register their interest in participating in the NTL, regardless of which teams or clubs they are previously or currently aligned with.  
• The teams that nominate to participate in the NTL may only nominate players from this pool. If you are not registered in this pool by Monday August 22^nd, you will be ineligible for selection.
• Registration is free and can be completed online only. CLICK HERE to be directed to the registration portal.

NTL Key Points:

• 6 men’s and 6 women’s teams selected from local clubs who submit Expression of Interests.
• 5 regular season matches and a 1 week final.
• All regular season rounds played at Millswood complex.
• SA Final played at Memorial Drive.
• National Playoff, involving top 2 teams from each state, played at Melbourne Park during 2012 Australian Open.
• Player payments for each round of the NTL paid directly to players.
• Prize money for the winner and runner-up clubs.
• Full details are available in the NTL Prospectus. CLICK HERE to download a copy.

Key Dates:

• Monday 22^nd of August: NTL-SA Player registrations close & EOI circulated to clubs
• Monday 12^th September: NTL Club Nominations Close
• Thursday 3^rd November: NTL-SA Round 1
• Thursday 10^th November:  NTL-SA Round 2
• Thursday 24^th November:  NTL-SA Round 3
• Thursday 15^th December: NTL-SA Round 4
• Saturday 17^th December: NTL-SA Round 5
• Thursday 22^nd December: NTL-SA Final
• Wednesday 25^th and Thursday 26^th January: NTL National Playoff against NTL-Vic and NTL-WA teams

We believe the NTL is one of the most significant initiatives ever in Australian competition tennis and it comes with Tennis Australia’s full support.