After the successful National Tennis League pilot was carried out over the 2011/2012 season in Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria; Tennis Australia have announced the formation of the 2012/2013 Asia Pacific Tennis League (ATL).
The expanded league will feature Men’s and Women’s teams from 5 Australian States as well as a team from the Pacific Islands, New Zealand and China.
Last year players featured in the National conference included former No. 8 in the world Alicia Molik, current Australian No. 2 Matt Ebden, 2011 Wimbledon Junior Champion Luke Saville, Great Britain duo Melanie South and Emily Webley-Smith, Brydan Klein, Colin Ebelthite, Sally Peers, Jessica Moore, Bojana Bobusic, Storm Sanders and Miles Armstrong to name just a few.
This year is looking to be bigger and better with the integration of the additional states and International counterparts with the hype around the potential player lists set to exceed all expectations.
The 5 Australian Conferences will host a qualifying competition with the two top teams battling it out to represent the state. The Western Australian Conference final will be held on Wednesday 28 November. With 450 spectators committing to last year’s final, this year the State Tennis Centre is set to host it’s biggest draw card since Fed Cup in 2009.
The winning team from the state conferences will then be rewarded with a trip to Melbourne in the 2nd week of the 2013 Australian Open where they will compete against the other states winning sides and the 3 international teams in front of adoring fans on the world’s greatest stage.
“Teams have the opportunity to play a ‘wildcard player’ in each round of the qualifying competition which makes them eligible to play in Melbourne if their team is successful. This element brings a real X-factor to the game as you never know who will match up against who” Shane Smedley, Tennis West Competitions Manager said.
It’s potentially a very lucrative league for the players with Tennis Australia committing to invest just under 40K for base player rates for the season across the Men’s and Women’s leagues with an additional 4K up for grabs for the Interstate winners.
A further 95K prize pool will be on offer at the finals conference in January with 15K allocated to the Men’s and Women’s Champions and status as the inaugural Asia Pacific Tennis League Champions.
Please note important dates in the timeline below:
16 – 30 July 2012: Player Nomination Window 1
7pm, 23 July: Information Evening, State Tennis Centre
31 July – 5pm, 20 August: Team EOI period and Player Recruitment Window 1
6pm, 20 August: ATL-WA Commission meeting to determine successful teams.
27 August: Successful teams announced
28 August – 10 September: Player re-nomination window
11 – 24 September: Player Recruitment Window 2 and final squads submitted
8 October: Draws published on Competition Planner
7pm, 7 November: Round 1 ATL-WA Conference. State Tennis Centre
7pm, 14 November: Round 2 ATL-WA Conference. State Tennis Centre
7pm, 21 November: Round 3 ATL-WA Conference. State Tennis Centre
7pm, 28 November: ATL-WA Conference Finals. State Tennis Centre
January 2013 ATL National Finals, Melbourne Park
Click here for 2012/13 ATL-WA Conference Fact Sheet
For further media enquiries please contact Shane Smedley on 0423 399 975 or email [email protected]
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