International Tennis Day across the Australian Clubs - Thu. 20 June

International Tennis Day 2024 (20 June) around the Australian Clubs marked a number of major milestones:

RMTC - celebrated ITD on the 50th Year Anniversary of our Sherwood Street clubhouse - with a mix of young players developing their game, seasoned players in for their regular matches and senior members (both playing and retired) attending Thursday lunch. Around the dining table there were many long stories of matches from the past with some recalling playing way back 50 years ago to our original court at Exhibition Street. There is a big week of tennis and social events in mid October (19-26 October 2024), so let the Pros know if you can join in the fun!

ITD Social 16 9 2024 001

Wednesday, 3rd Jul

ITD Social 16 9 2024 002

Ballarat Tennis Club - in their 40th Anniversary Year - celebrated ITD with a hallmark high quality real tennis pennant match, with very warm post match conviviality (also a Ballarat hallmark), on a very cold winters night (1C).

Hobart Real Tennis Club - celebrated with a ITD Handicap Singles Tournament, won by Scott Donoghue despite giving away quite large handicaps throughout his matches. 2025 will be a big year for HRTC, celebrating their Sesquicentennial Year (150 Years Anniversary), and commencing with the Australian Open in January 2025 (Men’s & Women’s titles). If you ever wanted to play Australia’s original court, 2025 would be a great year to go!

Sydney Real Tennis Club - Not yet ready for tennis, but well on their way with a new court for ITD 2025. A very recent milestone was lifting an entire croquet pavilion (heritage listed) out of the way to allow earthworks and construction to commence. Sydney will return to real tennis with their opening tournament "The Bilby" will be during Easter 2025 (11-21 April 2025).

Many thanks to:

  • Harry Smithie for his enthusiasm and support in orchestrating all the members throughout the day
  • U.S. Court Tennis Preservation Foundation for the ITD banner and taking the initiative on creating International Tennis Day

June 20 was chosen as it falls on the anniversary of the Tennis Court Oath, becoming a pivotal event at the start of the French Revolution in 1789.

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