TAMIL NADU TENNIS ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES 100 YEARS WITH WTA 250

Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) turns 100 in 2026, and the celebrations — and games — have begun. Fans have been gifted a WTA 250 event (on till Nov 2) at the SDAT stadium in Nungambakkam, and for the tennis legends gathered in the city as well as living here, it’s a grand slam of nostalgia.

The city’s tryst with tennis, though, began long before TNTA was formed. In the 1830s, says S Muthiah in his book ‘Tamil Nadu’s Quest for gold’, there were plans to set up a court at the old Madras Club (now Express Avenue), but this was shelved in favour of the city’s first swimming bath. By 1876, the club laid out its first lawn tennis court as an experiment; three years later, it had four.

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