Tennis in Netherlands
Tennis-loving expats in Netherlands will find ample opportunities. There are over 1,700 tennis clubs in the country and more than 560,000 players registered with the Dutch national tennis association (KNLTB). Here you will find information about tennis in Netherlands, playing it recreationally or competitively, some of the top Dutch tennis players and professional ATP/WTA tournaments held annually.
DUTCH TENNIS COURTS
The most common tennis court surfaces in the Netherlands are red clay (gravel), synthetic clay (SmashCourt) and artificial grass with sand (rood zand kunstgras). All three are considered to be fast-drying which is an important factor considering the substantial amount of precipitation the country receives each year. Outdoor hard courts are a rarity in Holland.
Tennis parks that are open year-round typically have lighted courts for playing at night.
The number of tennis clubs that have indoor tennis courts available is quite low as Dutch players are used too playing in light rain and low-temperatures.
DUTCH TENNIS CLUB MEMBERSHIPS
Dutch tennis clubs commonly offer seasonal rather than annual memberships; Spring/Summer (April-September) and Fall/Winter (October-March). Some clubs may offer a limited-play season membership at a lower cost that allows the member court time during less busy periods. All tennis clubs offer discounted child/youth memberships.
Getting a membership at a tennis club does not automatically provide membership in a tennis association that uses the club’s facilities. These are usually two separate entities and membership in the association requires a separate application. The additional association membership fee is usually quite small and is not a requirement to use the courts, only to participate in events the association organizes. There may also be more than one tennis association using the club’s facilities as its ‘home’ base.
You can locate tennis clubs close to you here.
DUTCH NATIONAL TENNIS ASSOCIATION
The KNLTB (De Koninklijke Nederlandse Lawn Tennis Bond) is the Dutch national tennis organization. It is the second largest sports association in the Netherlands after football (soccer). The KNLTB enforces official ITF playing rules, sanctions local, regional and national tournaments, nurtures top-level talent, organizes teams to represent the Netherlands for international competitions (such as the Davis Cup, Billy Jean King Cup and the Olympics), promotes participation in the sport for players of all ages (especially children) and lobbies the government to financially support tennis in the Netherlands.
The Dutch National Tennis Center is located in Amstelveen (close to Amsterdam).
To get a Dutch national tennis association membership, a player must be a member of a local tennis association (‘vereniging’). The association handles the processing of the player’s KNLTB registration. 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.
AMATEUR TOURNAMENTS & COMPETITIONS
A variety of tennis competitions are available from the club level up to the national level. These include:
CLUB LADDER
A new player always starts at the bottom of the ladder. He/she challenges a player ranked no more than 5 rungs above. If the challenger wins, he/she moves up to the other player’s spot, pushing that player down one rung.
INTER-CLUB COMPETITION
This is a team competition between tennis clubs within a district or region. A team consists of men and women and matches are played in singles, doubles and mixed. The inter-club competition runs for 10-weeks and is organized twice a year, in Spring (April-June) and Fall (September-November).
CLUB TOURNAMENTS
Tournaments organized for players within a club. They usually have drawers for men (‘heren’) and womens (‘dames’) in singles and 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 the player does not have to be a member of the club hosting the tournament. The amateur tennis tournament season runs primarily from early June to end of August. The Toernooi website lists all club and open tennis tournaments in the 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). Events showing an age after the event type indicates that only players that age or above can register for it.
Tournaments generally allow a player to enter a maximum of two divisions. This could be a singles and doubles, two doubles or two singles. Registration is directly through the Toernooi website and signup generally ends about a week before the tournament start date. A player’s tournament results are recorded in their KNLTB profile which automatically generate the player’s current ranking (on a scale from 1-10). The average cost to enter a tournament is €11.50 (per division).
PROFESSIONAL TENNIS IN NETHERLANDS
TOP DUTCH TENNIS PLAYERS
Dutch professional singles players have had some success at the Grand Slam tournaments during the Open era. Richard Krajicek captured the Wimbledon title in 1996 while two other Dutch players reached Grand Slam finals…Tom Okker (1968 U.S. Open) and Betty Stove (1977 Wimbledon). More recently, Kiki Bertens reach a Grand Slam semifinal (2016 French Open) and Botic Van der Zandschulp reached a quarterfinal (U.S. Open 2021).
The Netherlands best tennis players (i.e. those who achieved the highest world rankings in singles during the Open era) have been:
MEN
- Tom Okker (#3 in 1974)
- Richard Krajicek (#4 in 1999)
- Sjeng Schalken (#11 in 2003)
- Jan Siemerink (#14 in 1998)
- 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 2 Dutch men’s singles players in the Top 100 of the ATP world rankings: Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor, and 1 Dutch women’s player in the Top 100 of the WTA world rankings: Aranxta Rus. Read more about today’s top Dutch tennis players.
PROFESSIONAL TENNIS TOURNAMENTS IN NETHERLANDS
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 (2023) is Daniil Medvedev (CAN)
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 (2023) are Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (men’s) and Ekaterina Alexandrova (women’s).
In addition to these, the Netherlands hosts several second-tier professional tennis tournaments including:
- Van Mossel Kia Dutch Open: The 4th edition of this ATP Challenger men’s event will be played 17-21 July 2024 in Amersfoort. Website
- ITF World Tennis Tour Alkmaar: The first edition of this men’s and women’s ITF event was played in 2018. This year the tournament runs 25 June-02 July. Website
- ITF World Tennis Tournament The Hague: The first edition of this men’s and women’s ITF event was played 26 June-03 July 2022 in The Hague. Website
DUTCH TENNIS 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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