Tennis Auckland chairman Simon Vannini was naturally disappointed with the outcome but felt confident some alternatives could be arranged for the New Zealand market. “We are incredibly disappointed that we won’t be able to bring the ASB Classic back to Auckland this summer, but current immigration and quarantine requirements mean it’s just not feasible,” he said. We are working closely with Tennis NZ on some alternative ideas that we think will keep tennis fans excited, and we will continue to ensure tennis remains one of New Zealand’s favourite sports.” As the world continues to battle the pandemic, major sports events have become regular casualties.
NZ s premier tennis tournament set to be cancelled again
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Tennis Auckland chairman Simon Vannini insists planning is underway for the 2022 men s and women s ASB Classics, despite a lack of tournament director or chief executive - 01-Apr-2021
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Press Release – ASB Classic
ASB Classic Tournament Director, Karl Budge, has confirmed that he will be stepping down from his current role at the end of March.
Budge has been in the role for nine years during which time he has led the tournament through a period of unprecedented growth in terms of attendance, revenue, international coverage and transformed the ASB Classic into the must attend event on the Auckland social calendar.
During his time at the helm tennis fans have seen some of the biggest names in world sport take to centre court at the ASB Tennis Arena, including Ana Ivanovic, Juan Martin del Porto, Venus Williams, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka and 2020 champion Serena Williams.
Karl Budge became tournament director of the ASB Classic in July 2012.
Karl Budge felt the time was right to step down as tournament director of the ASB Classic. Budge will be leaving the role at the end of next month, bringing down the curtain on a role he’s had since July 2012. Over his nine years at the helm, Budge transformed the men’s and women’s tennis tournaments into quaint events that would have one or two players people would have heard of each year, into two of New Zealand’s premier sporting events. As well as winning numerous awards for being the best tournaments for their size in the world, Budge was able to bring to New Zealand the biggest stars in the game, including Serena and Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu on the women’s side and Dominik Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Denis Shapovalov, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro on the men’s.