1 November 2012 | Tennis SA

After the success of the National Tennis League pilot competition conducted in South Australia in 2011, the nationwide rollout of the concept takes place in November 2012 as the Asia-Pacific Tennis League (ATL) players are now competing for a share in over $100,000 prize money.

The ATL is an innovative elite team based competition taking place comprising of six men’s and women’s teams playing a round-robin format and then the top two teams participating in the SA-Conference Final for the title of SA Champions.

The very best local and some interstate and overseas players have signed up to squads, including touring professionals such as Luke Saville, Colin Ebelthite, Bojana Bobusic and Emily Webley-Smith as well as the most talented young players including Thanasi Kokkinakis, Bradley Mousley, Li Tu, Jack Schipanski, Amy Sneath and Brooke Rischbieth.

Tournament and Competitions Manager, Ryan Peremiczko said “Competition tennis has been the cornerstone of the sport in South Australia, and the ATL concept has already established itself on the local tennis landscape with a great deal of interest amongst clubs and players following the success of the league’s pilot in 2011.”

“We are really pleased that the ATL SA-Conference has attracted the absolute elite South Australian players and excited at the prospect of seeing them go head-to-head, and also seeing how the young crop of players in the squads are able to compete at this level as well.”

“Last year the hundreds of spectators were at Memorial Drive to witness one of the great nights of local tennis at the NTL Final, and we are looking to see a repeat of this on November 30“said Ryan.

The ATL will use an innovative and unique format that includes playing four game sets, no-ad scoring and a variety of other innovative concepts, all driven at making the game exciting for both the players and the spectators. All SA-Conference matches will take place under lights at Memorial Drive, giving spectators the opportunity to witness up to twelve high quality matches running simultaneously at any given time across the courts of the iconic venue.

The teams competing in the 2012 SA-Conference are:

Women’s	Men’s
Flagstaff Freighters	Glenlea
Somerton Park Sharks	Broadview Tigers
The Drive	The Drive
Golden Grove Lions	Trinity Titans
Tea Tree Gully	Tea Tree Gully

The SA Champions progress to the national playoff taking place at Melbourne Park during the Australian Open.  Champions from the ATL Conferences South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales along with representative teams from China, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands will compete for the ATL title and a pool of $96,000.00 in prize money.

The Asia-Pacific Tennis League (ATL) fixture is:

Round	Day	Date	Venue	Starts
Round 1	Thursday	8 November	Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, North Adelaide	6.15 pm
Round 2	Tuesday	13 November	Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, North Adelaide	6.15 pm
Round 3	Thursday	15 November	Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, North Adelaide	6.15 pm
Round 4	Tuesday	20 November	Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, North Adelaide	6.15 pm
Round 5	Thursday	22 November	Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, North Adelaide	6.15 pm
FINAL	Friday	30 November	Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, North Adelaide	6.30 pm

CLICK HERE to download the ATL Rules and Regulations

The 2012 season continues to build momentum with a Junior Asia-Pacific Tennis League (JATL) Pilot launching this Sunday 4 November at Tennis SA Millswood Complex.

The JATL is the 16/U equivalent played between the Adelaide’s strongest boys and girls in the 16/U age group which adopts the same shortened format and rules as the ATL.

Tennis SA National Academy Head Coach Milo Bradley said “The JATL provides a stepping stone for junior tennis players and the teams based format is great to generate team spirit amongst the players.”

The Junior Asia-Pacific Tennis League (JATL) fixture is:

Round	Day	Date	Venue	Starts
Round 1	Sunday	4 November	Tennis SA Millswood Complex, Millswood	9.00 am
Round 2	Sunday	4 November	Tennis SA Millswood Complex, Millswood	12.00 pm
Round 3	Sunday	11 November	Tennis SA Millswood Complex, Millswood	9.00am
Round 4	Sunday	11 November	Tennis SA Millswood Complex, Millswood	12.00 pm
Round 5	Sunday	18 November	Tennis SA Millswood Complex, Millswood	9.00 am
FINAL	Friday	30 November	Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, North Adelaide	2.00 pm

Entry to both the Asia-Pacific Tennis League and Junior Asia-Pacific Tennis League is free.

For further information on the Asia-Pacific Tennis League or Junior Asia-Pacific Tennis League please visit tennis.com.au/sa.

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For media enquiries:
Clare Chapman, Tennis SA , Marketing & Sponsorship Manager (08) 7224 8108
Ryan Peremiczko, Tennis SA ,Tournaments & Competitions Manager  (08) 7224 8109