Tennis: Auckland tournament honoured

Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic won this year's Heineken Open. Photo / Nick Reed

A big thumbs up has come the way of Auckland's Heineken Open tournament with it being named Best Fan Experience at the ATP awards this week.

It is the second consecutive year the tournament has won the award.

"The Heineken Open Auckland is an outstanding on-site experience for everyone, whether you are an avid tennis fan or not," said Alison Lee, executive Vice President ATP International. "The tournament provides the perfect balance of tennis and entertainment which is why people pack out the venue, two sessions a day for the whole week and return each year.

"I tell other promoters around the world to check out the Auckland tournament to see how well they have combined different elements to appeal to visitors."

The Best Fan Experience award from the ATP caps off a great year for the New Zealand Festival of Tennis, which also saw the ASB Classic voted best international tournament by the WTA players earlier in the year.

"This is great global recognition for the experience we are trying to provide for our fans," tournament director Karl Budge said. "In a time where attendance at sporting events has declined, we have been able to continually increase numbers. The on-site experience and diversity being a key driver along with the star players we have been able to attract.

"To have the two most important groups of people - players and fans say they love us, is a great sign for the tournaments. It certainly makes recruiting top talent a lot easier which hopefully means the fans will flock in their numbers," Budge said.

The awards were announced at Wimbledon.