Tennis Europe has announced that Israel will stage the European Beach Tennis Championships for the first time later this year.
The eighth edition of the event will take place from 22 to 24 October, and will be hosted by the Israel Tennis Association. The Association aims to further promote the sport’s fastest-growing offshoot, which was first introduced in Israel by a group of enthusiasts in 2010 and last year saw national teams take part in the World, European and World Team Championships for the first time, with national players also breaking into the ITF Beach Tennis Top 100 rankings.
The tournament will be held in the city of Eilat, which is located at Europe’s southernmost point and has previously hosted the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Europe/Africa Group 1 competition.
The European Championships is a closed event at which players representing Tennis Europe’s 49 member nations compete for men’s, women’s and mixed doubles titles. Last year’s competition saw beach tennis powerhouse Italy continue its dominance, winning all three titles for a seventh consecutive year, including a victory for the men's world #1s and World Champions Alessandro Calbucci & Marco Garavini (pictured).
Israel becomes the sixth country to host the European Championships. Previous editions of the event have been held in Italy, San Marino, Bulgaria, Turkey and Great Britain.
Entry forms and further information will be sent to member nations in due course.