Tennis in Netherlands
Tennis-loving expats in Netherlands will find ample opportunities with over 1,650 tennis clubs in the country and 560,000 players registered with the Dutch national tennis association (KNLTB). Learn more about tennis in Netherlands, playing recreationally or competitively, top Dutch tennis players in history and professional-level tournaments held annually.
RECREATIONAL TENNIS IN NETHERLANDS
DUTCH TENNIS COURTS
The most common tennis court surfaces in Netherlands are clay (gravel), synthetic clay (SmashCourt) and artificial grass with sand (rood zand kunstgras). All three are relatively fast-drying which is important considering the significant level of precipitation the country receives.
Hard courts are not commonly found in Netherlands and those that do exist are primarily indoors.
Tennis parks that are open year-round typically have lighted courts that allow for evening play in winter.
The majority of Dutch people are willing to play outdoors in light-rain and/or low-temperatures.
TENNIS IN NETHERLANDS: CLUB MEMBERSHIPS
Dutch tennis clubs commonly offer either seasonal (Spring/Summer = April-September, Fall/Winter = October-March) or annual memberships.
Some clubs may offer a limited-play membership at a lower cost that allows the member to play only during non-peak hours. All tennis clubs offer discounted child/youth memberships.
A club membership is not the same as an association membership. A club membership only allows you to use the courts while an association membership includes use of the courts plus participation in activities and tournaments organized by an association, as well as automatic membership in the KNVB (Dutch national tennis association).
Locate a tennis club close to you here.
DUTCH NATIONAL TENNIS ASSOCIATION
The KNLTB (Koninklijke Nederlandse Lawn Tennis Bond) is the Dutch national tennis organization. It enforces official ITF playing rules, sanctions local, regional and national tournaments, nurtures top-level talent, organizes teams to represent the Netherlands at international competitions (such as the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup and the Olympic Games), promotes participation in the sport for players of all ages (especially children) and lobbies the government to financially support tennis in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands National Tennis Center is located in Amstelveen (near Amsterdam).
To become a member of the KNLTB, a player must first join a local tennis association (‘vereniging’). The association will submit the player’s registration form to the KNLTB. A player cannot apply for membership directly to the KNLTB.
A player must have a valid KNLTB membership in order to play in local and regional tennis tournaments in Netherlands.
AMATEUR COMPETITIVE TENNIS IN NETHERLANDS
A variety of tennis competitions are available from the club level up to the national level. These include:
INTER-CLUB COMPETITION
This is a popular team competition between tennis clubs within a district or region. A team consists of 4-6 players and can be men only, women only or mixed. A single club can have many different teams representing them. Most competition teams play on Friday evenings, Saturdays or Sundays. Tennis competition is held twice a year: Spring (April-June) and Fall (September-October).
CLUB LADDER
An app (such as ClubLadder by Sportconnexions) is used to manage the ladder. It assigns which players face each other in a round. Once the match has been played, the results are submitted through the app. When a lower ranked player beats a higher ranked player, he/she moves up to take the place of the losing player (who moves down one rung). The new ranking is published at the start of the next round. Club Ladders are usually played twice a year and run for approximately 5 months each.
CLUB TOURNAMENTS
Tournaments that are organized for members of a club. They usually have drawers for men (‘heren’) and womens (‘dames’) in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Larger clubs may even offer multiple drawers per category based on skill level and/or age.
OPEN TOURNAMENTS
These tournaments are open to all players with a KNLTB (Dutch tennis association) membership, so a player does not have to be a member of the club hosting the tournament. The amateur tennis tournament season runs from early June to end of August. The Toernooi website lists all club and open tennis tournaments in Netherlands. The search function allows filtering by location, by district, by date and by event type: mens singles (HE), mens doubles (HD), ladies singles (DE), ladies doubles (DD) or mixed doubles (GD).
A tournament drawer that shows an age range is only open to players that meet the specification (for example 17+, 25+, 35+, etc.).
Tournaments generally allow a player to enter two divisions. This is generally singles and doubles (or mixed doubles). However, if a tournament’s drawers are not noted as ‘actual rating’, the player could register for two singles divisions or two doubles. Registration is done through the Toernooi website and signup closes about a week before the start date. A player’s tournament results are recorded in their KNLTB profile which automatically generates the player’s current ranking (on a scale from 1-10). The average cost to play a tournament is €12.50 (per division).
PROFESSIONAL TENNIS IN NETHERLANDS
TOP DUTCH TENNIS PLAYERS
Professional tennis in Netherlands has seen some success with singles players at Grand Slam tournaments in the Open era. Richard Krajicek captured the Wimbledon title in 1996 while three other Dutch players reached Grand Slam singles finals…Tom Okker (1968 U.S. Open), Betty Stove (1977 Wimbledon) and Martin Verkerk (2003 French Open).
The Netherlands best tennis players in singles during the Open era based on highest world ranking have been:
MEN
- Tom Okker (#3 in 1974)
- Richard Krajicek (#4 in 1999)
- Sjeng Schalken (#11 in 2003)
- Jan Siemerink (#14 in 1998)
- Martin Verkerk (#14 in 2003)
- Paul Haarhuis (#18 in 1995)
- Jacco Eltingh (#19 in 1995)
WOMEN
- Kiki Bertens (#4 in 2019)
- Betty Stove (#5 in 1977)
- Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (#9 in 1996)
- Miriam Oremans (#25 in 1993)
- Manon Bollegraf (#29 in 1990)
- Kristie Boogert (#29 in 1996)
There are currently 4 Dutch singles players in the Top 100 world rankings: Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van der Zandschulp (men’s ATP tour) and Aranxta Rus and Suzan Lamens (ladies WTA tour). Read more about the current top Dutch tennis players.
TOP-LEVEL PRO TENNIS TOURNAMENTS
The Netherlands hosts two top-level professional tennis tournaments each year…
ABN AMRO Open: a men’s ATP 500 series indoor tournament held each February in Rotterdam at the Ahoy arena. The event was first organized in 1972 and the field always includes top players. Past winners include Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. The current title holder (2025) is Carlos Alcaraz (ESP).
Libema Open: a joint women’s WTA 250 and men’s ATP 250 professional tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Autotron in Rosmalen (Den Bosch). It is held in early June as a tune-up for Wimbledon. Past champions have included Patrick Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet in men’s singles and Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Simona Halep in women’s singles. Current title holders (2024) are Alex De Minaur (men’s) and Liudmila Samsonova (women’s).
In addition to those above, the Netherlands hosts several second-tier professional tennis tournaments including:
- Van Mossel Kia Dutch Open: A men’s ATP Challenger event in Amersfoort. Website
- ITF Alkmaar: A men’s and women’s ITF event. Website
- ITF The Hague: A men’s and women’s ITF event. Website
TENNIS IN NETHERLANDS: TERMINOLOGY
SCORING
- love (0) = nul
- fifteen (15) = vijftien
- thirty (30) = dertig
- forty (40) = viertig
- game = spel
- match = wedstrijd
TYPES OF PLAY
- singles = enkelspel
- doubles = dubbelspel
- mens singles = heren enkele (HE)
- mens doubles = heren dubbel (HD)
- ladies singles = dames enkele (DE)
- ladies doubles = dames dubbel (DD)
- mixed doubles = gemengd dubbel (GD)
GENERAL TERMS
- baseline = achterlijn
- court = baan
- court rental = baan verhuur
- fault = fout
- out = uit
- player = speler
- point = punt
- receiver = ontvanger
- regulations = reglement
- second serve = tweede service
- service box = servicevak
- sideline = zijdlijn
- tennis association = tennisveriniging (TV)
- touches = raakt
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