The Tennis Bundesliga or 1. Bundesliga is the top level of the German tennis league system. It was formed in 1972. Contested by 10 clubs it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga (formed in 2001). Seasons are usually played in the months of July and August.
Each team plays nine matches, one against each other team. A match between team consists of four singles matches followed by two doubles matches.
The company Tennis Point sponsors the league and has acquired the naming rights in 2009, which resulted in the official title of the competition being Tennis-Point-Bundesliga.
The 2019 season was the 48th season of the competition. 53 clubs have been part of the league since its inception. The most successful club is TC Blau-Weiss Neuss, winner of 10 championships. The reigning champions are TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim.
The 2020 season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Competition format
Every club plays each other club once. In any given matchup four singles matches are played (usually a pair of matches followed by another pair) and then two doubles follow. All matches are best of three sets with the third set being a tiebreak to ten points, dubbed the Champions Tiebreak. In case both teams win three of their matches their matchup is considered a draw, however, sets and games are used as tiebreakers in the overall league standings. At the end of the season the team with the most points is crowned German champions.
Clubs
Ten following clubs were scheduled to compete in the 2020 season of the Bundesliga. However, as the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic the same lineup of teams will just be used for the 2021 season. Sponsors' names are often part of the Bundesliga teams names. Thus for example the Rochusclub fields a Bundesliga team which itself is referred to as Allpresan Rochusclub Düsseldorf.
Team Location Surface Main sponsor Aachen Clay Lambertz Cologne Clay Düsseldorf Clay Allpresan Krefeld Clay Timberland Finance Mannheim Clay Mönchengladbach Clay Badwerk Pullach Clay Neuss Clay Rosenheim Clay Sennelager Clay Hämmerling
Champions
ClubWinsWinning years Blau-Weiss Neuss 10 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994 TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim 71993, 1996, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2018, 2019 TC Amberg am Schanzl 6 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1998 Blau-Weiss Halle 5 1995, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2017 TK Kurhaus Lambertz Aachen 5 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 LTTC Rot-Weiß Berlin 5 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 ETUF Essen 4 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 Blau-Weiss Sundern 2 2003, 2004 Badwerk Gladbacher HTC 1 2016 Dinslakener TG Blau-Weiss 1 2001 Iphtos München 1 1990 HTV Hannover 1 1977
External links
Official website Bundesliga at DTB