Clubs planning for 2021 are invited to express an interest for sanctioning of tournaments.
Please submit your proposed dates and court/venue availability for inclusion in the tournament calendar to [email protected].

For more information about the Process for hosting an AR Tournament in 2020, click the links below:

2020 Australian Ranking Tournament Rules and Regulations

2020 Sanctioned Tournaments. What is Tournament Sanction?

2019 Agreement Disclaimer

2019 Tournament Director Workshop Presentation

Australian Ranking tournaments were again very sort after and it is a good reminder for all approved tournaments to keep raising the quality of their tournament each year. Tournament offers a valuable opportunity for players to play competitive matches, building a large base of players to help the sport achieve our ONE Grand Slam Champion objective. There are currently just over 6100 players with an Australian Ranking, plus many more unranked players that compete in Australian Ranking tournaments throughout the year.

Tournament information and tips below:

• Avoiding School Clashes – All Australian Ranking Junior Tournaments will avoid any clashes with a school day (play to start after 4pm if necessary) within the State/Territory that the tournament is being held. The majority of Junior Tournaments will be held in the relevant State/Territory school holidays.

**Australian National Junior Championships, ITF Junior tournaments and School Sport Australia events will be exempt and may need to be played during school term due to a number of logistical and operational reasons.

• 2019 Australian Ranking Regulations – Tournament Directors should be familiar with this document which can be found here.
• How can I get more entries earlier? – It shouldn’t come as any surprise to you that recent statistics shows us that anywhere between 60-95% of all tournament entries are received in the last 7 days before closing. Receiving the bulk of your entries so close to the deadline makes planning your tournament more difficult. Please consider implementing some sort of early-bird promotion, as trials have shown that 30-40% of all entries occur before the end of the early-bird promotion. Also having money in your bank account before the tournament starts will also help you pay your bills quickly.
• Understand today’s customer– People that enter tennis tournaments, particularly in the junior category are very different to those of the past. E-mail, social media and instant messaging apps are powerful communication tools and internet access only gets easier and quicker each year, especially on handheld devices like Smartphones, iPads and Tablets. These tools mean it is easier for people to compare your tournament to others, even non-tennis events. Feedback from customers received throughout the year is telling us that they value high levels of communication and customer service. You may not be able to make everyone happy when they leave, but just remember that there are different groups of people competing in your tournament, some will be totally committed to the game of tennis and looking to achieve every child’s dream, but there are also groups that enter just to have fun and socialise with others. Each group needs to be dealt with in a different manner.
• What can my tournament add-on to create value? – Research other sporting or entertainment events in your local area and look at what they are doing to create value and an incentive for people to enter their event. You may be surprised what these events are offering and see an opportunity. We see events offering free t-shirts, show-bags, drinks, lunch vouchers and much more. With new and redeveloped tennis clubs popping up each year and Australian Ranking tournaments always in high demand, don’t expect that just putting a tournament on by itself will lead to commercial success in the future.
• Tournament Feedback Surveys & Online Reports – There is now a permanent link to a Tournament Feedback survey on the tournaments.tennis.com.au website which will provide us with great data that will allow us to provide regular reports on the health of the AR tournament circuit to you during the year. Also the Tournament Director and Referee report forms must now be completed online after the tournament, a link to these reports will be sent out closer to the tournament date.

Sanctioning requirements:

• All Tournament Directors require a National Police Check and Working with Children’s Check
• All Tournaments are required to submit a tournament match plan (completed in the template that will be sent to tournaments that complete an online application)
• Payment of any outstanding invoices (MA sanction fees, TA officiating invoices, etc.)
• Provide updated images of main clubhouse and tennis courts being used for the tournament