Tennis Bundesliga (men)

1. Bundesliga (men)

Association	German Tennis Federation (DTB)
First edition	1972
hierarchy	1st League
Record champions	TC Blau-Weiss Neuss (10 titles)
master	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim
Relegated	TV Reutlingen TC Blau-Weiss Neuss
Teams	8 to 11 (nominal strength: 10)
website	www.tennis-point-bundesliga.de
2. Bundesliga ↓

The tennis Bundesliga is the top division in German men's team tennis . It is divided into the 1st Bundesliga, which has been played since 1972, and the 2nd Bundesliga (since 2001).

The first-placed team in the 1st Bundesliga at the end of the season is the German champions. In the previous 44 seasons of the tennis Bundesliga, eleven different clubs have won the championship title. The most successful club is Blau-Weiss Neuss with ten Bundesliga championships.

The Tennis-Point company is the namesake of the Tennis-Point-Bundesliga.

Game mode

The matches are played from the beginning of July to mid-August in a simple round on a total of nine match days.

Each game consists of six pairings. It starts with four singles, followed by two doubles. The winner of a match is whoever has won two sets first. If a third and decisive set is required, this is played in the match tie-break on ten game points.

The matches in the singles result from the world rankings of the players after the French Open in Paris. The two best-placed single players of both teams compete against each other, the two second-placed players, etc. In doubles, the sum of the two doubles players in the club's internal seeding list, which results from the players' world ranking positions, is added. The two doubles players whose total is lower compete against the better doubles of the opposing team.

The winning team receives two points; in the event of a tie, each team receives one point.

Since the introduction of the single-track Bundesliga for the 2005 season, the first place in the final table has been the Bundesliga champion. The last two placed will be relegated to the 2nd Bundesliga and will be replaced by the top two from the divided 2nd Bundesliga.

Up to the 2004 season, the championship was determined by the two best placed in the two Bundesliga groups A and B through semi-finals and final. The last placed of the two groups determined among themselves the relegated.

Because the logistical effort and the financial requirements for a Bundesliga team are constantly increasing, newcomers repeatedly forego their promotion rights, remain in the same division or even voluntarily go back to a lower class. This fact repeatedly fuels the discussion as to whether the highest German tennis leagues should be continued as one or two-tier leagues.

spectator

In the 2008 season around 65,000 spectators were counted at 45 encounters, which corresponds to an average attendance of 1,444 people.

history

The "German Lawn Tennis Association" (later: DTB ), founded in Berlin by Carl August von der Meden in 1902 , introduced the German tennis league in 1972 due to its high number of participants. At that time there were 15 regional associations with more than 800 clubs and around 80,000 members. In 2012 the DTB had 18 regional associations with 1,586,633 members. By founding the Bundesliga, the aim was to make the final round clearer and to make German tennis more popular.

As early as 1970, the Schleswig-Holstein Association submitted the application for the introduction of a Bundesliga for the first time at a general meeting, but withdrew it again during the meeting.

The league, which was finally founded in 1972, was initially played with ten clubs, divided into two groups of five clubs, according to the rules of the ITF . The 1971 Berlin association champions and the three preliminary round winners of the German club championship were qualified. The remaining six clubs were determined in playoffs between the 13 vice champions of the associations and the remaining nine participants in the preliminary round.

The LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin became the first German Bundesliga champion in 1972 with a 7-2 win over Schwarz-Weiß Bonn. It stayed that way for the next four years.

At the 1974 general meeting it was decided to increase the Bundesliga to twelve clubs. In 1979 the Bundesliga was divided into two groups of six clubs each, each of which played a round trip. The players' salaries rose in line with the popularity of the league, which Georg Stoves, Secretary General of the German Tennis Association, called it the "league of big wallets" for the first time.

Due to the Bosman ruling of 1996, foreigners residing in an EU country were also allowed unrestricted employment. Since then there have been players in the clubs that were among the top 25 in the world rankings, such as the Swede Magnus Norman for Blau-Weiss Halle and many others. This was accompanied by an increase in the registration lists. In the 1970s, these included eight to nine names, but the number of participants has now grown enormously. Many foreign players were involved in tournaments over the course of the Bundesliga, which repeatedly resulted in great fluctuations in team reports.

To avoid this, players who were among the top 50 players in the current Champions Race rankings were no longer allowed to play since the 2001 season; In addition, the entry list was limited to 14 players. Of course, the top players had to be paid for. This caused enormous difficulties for the clubs, which also led to voluntary renunciation of participation in the Bundesliga.

This led to another reform of the Bundesliga in 1999. Initially, only eleven teams were played in one group. The bottom of the table was relegated, group winners and runners-up played two finals. After the voluntary withdrawal of three clubs, the league was reduced to ten clubs in the following year, with again two finals of the two top teams and the relegation of the last. In 2001 the next reform came with a reduction to nine clubs. The 2nd Bundesliga was created as a substructure, which, with the exception of 2010 to 2013, is divided into a north and a south group. Since 2005, the leaders of the 1st Bundesliga have also been German champions after the last match day.

The Bundesliga champions and the German team champions

rank	society	Bundesliga championships	Championship years
1	Blau-Weiss Neuss	10	1983 , 1984 , 1985 , 1986 , 1987 , 1988 , 1989 , 1991 , 1992 , 1994
2	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim	7th	1993 , 1996 , 2005 , 2007 , 2010 , 2018 , 2019
3	TC Amberg am Schanzl	6th	1978 , 1979 , 1980 , 1981 , 1982 , 1998
4th	Blau-Weiss hall	5	1995 , 2006 , 2014 , 2015 , 2017
4th	TK Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen	5	2008 , 2009 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013
6th	LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin	5	1972 , 1973 , 1974 , 1975 , 1976
7th	ETUF food	4th	1997 , 1999 , 2000 , 2002
8th	Blau-Weiss Sundern	2	2003 , 2004
9	Badwerk Gladbacher HTC	1	2016
	Dinslakener TG blue-white	1	2001
	Iphitos Munich	1	1990
	HTV Hanover	1	1977

German (team) champions

year	opponent	Result
1972	LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin - Black-White Bonn	7: 2
1973	LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin - HTV Hannover	8: 1
1974	LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin - HTV Hannover	6: 3
1975	LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin - Palmengarten Frankfurt	5: 4
1976	LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin - HTV Hannover	7: 2
1977	HTV Hannover - LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin	5: 4
1978	TC Amberg am Schanzl - LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin	6: 1
1979	TC Amberg am Schanzl - Blau-Weiss Neuss	7: 2
1980	TC Amberg am Schanzl - LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin	6: 3
1981	TC Amberg am Schanzl - Blau-Weiss Neuss	7: 2
1982	TC Amberg am Schanzl - Blau-Weiss Neuss	5: 4
1983	Blau-Weiss Neuss - LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin	6: 3
1984	Blau-Weiss Neuss - TC Amberg am Schanzl	5: 1
1985	Blau-Weiss Neuss - Iphitos Munich	6: 3
1986	Blau-Weiss Neuss - TC Großhesselohe Munich	6: 3
1987	Blau-Weiss Neuss - TC Großhesselohe Munich	8: 1
1988	Blau-Weiss Neuss - Waldau Stuttgart	5: 4
1989	Blau-Weiss Neuss - Iphitos Munich	5: 4
1990	Iphitos Munich - Blau-Weiss Neuss	4: 5, 6: 0
1991	Blau-Weiss Neuss - TC Bamberg	6: 3, 6: 3
1992	Blau-Weiss Neuss - ETUF Essen	7: 2, 8: 1
1993	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim - Blau-Weiss Neuss	5: 4, 5: 1
1994	Blau-Weiss Neuss - ETUF Essen	4: 5, 6: 3
1995	Blau-Weiss Halle - Oberhausen THC	7: 2, 3: 6
1996	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim - ETUF Essen	6: 3, 5: 1
1997	ETUF Essen - Blau-Weiss Halle	5: 4, 5: 4
1998	TC Amberg am Schanzl - TC Bad Homburg	6: 3, 5: 4
1999	ETUF Essen - TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim	5: 4, 6: 3
2000	ETUF Essen - Blau-Weiss Neuss	8: 1, 5: 4
2001	Dinslakener TG Blau-Weiss - ETUF Essen	6: 3, 3: 6
2002	ETUF Essen - Blau-Weiß Sundern	6: 3, 4: 2
2003	Blau-Weiß Sundern - Rochusclub Düsseldorf	8: 1, 4: 2
2004	Blau-Weiß Sundern - Rochusclub Düsseldorf	5: 4, 5: 1
since 2005 is the first German (team) champion
2005	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim
2006	Blau-Weiss hall
2007	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim
2008	Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen
2009	Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen
2010	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim
2011	Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen
2012	Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen
2013	Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen
2014	Blau-Weiss hall
2015	Blau-Weiss hall
2016	Badwerk Gladbacher HTC
2017	Blau-Weiss hall
2018	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim
2019	TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim

German team champion

Participant of the Bundesliga

(Participants in the 2019 Bundesliga season are printed in bold)

society	season	Years in total
TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim	1975–1984, 1986–2002, since 2004	43 years
TC Blau-Weiss Neuss	1979–1994, 1996–1997, 1999–2016, 2018	37 years
Rochus Club Düsseldorf	1976–1977, since 1991	31 years
ETUF food	1974-1985, 1987, 1990-2003, 2008-2009	29 years
HTC Blue-White Krefeld	1972, 1974–1979, 1981, 1999–2000, 2002, since 2005	27 years
TC Amberg am Schanzl	1975-1987, 1991, 1994-1999, 2009-2012	24 years
LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin	1972-1984, 1986-1991, 1995, 1997, 2000	22 years
HTV Hanover	1972-1982, 1984-1986, 1989-1996	22 years
TC Blau-Weiss Halle	1994-1999, 2004-2018	21 years
TEC Waldau Stuttgart	1973, 1975-1977, 1979-1994	20 years
TC Rüppurr Karlsruhe	1977–1990, 1992, 1998, 2004–2005	18 years
Iphitos Munich	1977-1988, 1980-1986, 1988-1993, 1996-1997	17 years
1. FC Nuremberg	1987–1990, 1992–1996, 1998, 2005–2007, 2010–2012, 2015	17 years
Clipper Hamburg	1972-1980, 1982-1987	15 years
TK Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen	since 2004	16 years
TC Bamberg	1981-1982, 1984-1992, 2002-2004	14 years
Red-White Hagen	1980, 1988, 1990-2001	14 years
RTHC Bayer Leverkusen	1982-1994	13 years
TC Großhesselohe	1983, 1985–1989, 1993–1995, 2003, since 2019	11 years
Erfurt TC red and white	2006-2008, 2010-2014	8 years
Dinslakener TG blue-white	1997-2003	7 years
Badwerk Gladbacher HTC	since 2014	6 years
SV Wacker Burghausen	2000-2003, 2012-2013	6 years
Oberhausen THC	1995-1999, 2003	6 years
Frankfurt TC Palmengarten	1975-1980	6 years
KTHC stadium red and white	since 2015	5 years
TV Reutlingen	2006–2008, 2014, 2018	5 years
TC Blau-Weiss Berlin	1972-1975, 1979	5 years
TC Grün-Weiss Luitpoldpark Munich	1972-1976	5 years
Blue and white Sundern	2001-2004	4 years
Post cellar Weiden	1995-1998	4 years
Black and white Bonn	1972-1975	4 years
TK Blau-Weiss Aachen	2016–2017, since 2019	3 years
TC Weinheim 1902	since 2017	3 years
Bremerhaven TV 1905	2009, 2013–2014	3 years
TC Ladenburg	1972, 1976, 1978	3 years
Black and yellow Heidelberg	1972-1974	3 years
Solingen TC 1902	2007-2008	2 years
TC Max Aicher Piding	2005-2006	2 years
KHTC Mülheim an der Ruhr	2000-2001	2 years
TC Bad Homberg	1998-1999	2 years
TC Schießgraben Augsburg	1973-1974	2 years
Eintracht Frankfurt	1973-1973	2 years
TC Bruckmühl-Feldkirchen	2013, 2016	2 years
TuS Sennelager	since 2019	1 year
TV Espelkamp-Mittwald	2009	1 year
TK Sinzig	1993	1 year
TC Weissenhof Stuttgart	1989	1 year
TEV Kelkheim	1988	1 year
TC Ravensburg	1985	1 year
TC Weiden (Cologne)	1983	1 year
TC Constance	1981	1 year
TC Vilsbiburg	1978	1 year