Playing the AEGON British Tour

Who can play the AEGON British Tour?

The AEGON British Tour tournaments are open age group category with a mixture of adults and juniors competing. The tournaments are grade 1 (Tier 1) & grade 2 (Tier 2) and therefore aimed at performance players with a rating of 6.1 or better.

Tournament Format

Both men’s and women’s singles events are run at each tournament. Most tournaments start on a Monday. Pre-qualifying and qualifying draws feed through to the main draw which commences on the Wednesday with the Finals normally scheduled on the Saturday. Matches are scheduled during the daytime. Please check Tournament Schedule for exact days and dates, as these may vary. In 2012 we are running two events on a Thursday to Tuesday format at University venues, to avoid Wednesday BUCS matches. At these two events qualifying will be Thursday & Friday, with main draw starting Saturday.

Some of the tournaments are stand alone AEGON British Tour competition with men’s and women’s singles. However, some of the tournaments in the summer (such as Ilkley, Tunbridge Wells, Newcastle, West Worthing & Sutton) are part of a larger tournament and therefore offer other events as well (this will be viewable when entering the competition online).

Draw Format

Wild Cards

1-4 wild cards per main draw may be awarded at the discretion of the Tournament Director providing the wild card applicant is within the main draw acceptance cut-off for that tournament. In certain circumstances and if there are spaces in the main draw, this number may be increased at the discretion of the AEGON British Tour Tournament Director. A wild card may be awarded to a player who has not entered the tournament. For wild card requests please contact the AEGON British Tour Tournament Director.

AEGON GB Pro-Series / Pro events

The following rules apply when there is an AEGON GB Pro-Series/ ITF Pro-Circuit, ATP/WTA Tour and an AEGON British Tour in the same week:

• If a player is in the main draw of a Pro event (AEGON GB Pro-Series/ITF Pro/ATP/WTA) singles or doubles they cannot compete in an AEGON British Tour in the same week.
• If a player is in the qualifying of a Pro event (AEGON GB Pro-Series/ITF Pro/ATP/WTA) they may also compete in an AEGON British Tour in the same week as long as they have lost in the qualifying of the Pro-event before playing their first match in the AEGON British Tour. If the player then qualifies for the main draw of the Pro event then they must withdraw (free from penalty) from the AEGON British Tour.

Scoring

All singles matches are the best of 3 tie break sets. Tier 1 finals will be appointed a chair umpire to officiate the match. A referee will be on-site for the duration of all tournaments.

Leader board

A leader board will operate for AEGON British Tour tournaments. The points allocated to each tournament follow the AEGON British Tennis rankings point’s distribution for grade 1 & 2 tournaments (only main draw points count). Points gained from ALL AEGON British Tour events played count towards the Leader Board. This breakdown is as follows:

Points are assigned to the losers of the round indicated above. A player needs to have played and won a match to receive points allocated for losers of last 16, and beyond.

For information on how players qualify for the year end Masters, see the AEGON British Tour Masters page

Prize Money

Information on Prize money for 2012 can be found to the right of this page.

Tier 1 & Tier 2 Breakdown

In 2012 there are 36 events, plus the end of year Masters.

The following table highlights the main differences of the two Tiers:

Feed Up to AEGON GB Pro-Series

Wild cards to AEGON GB Pro-Series tournaments will be awarded as follows (men only):

• Winner of ABT Tier 1 will receive a wild card into the main draw of a men’s AEGON GB Pro-Series tournament ($10k or $15k) - to be determined by the Men’s Tennis Team.
• Winner of ABT Tier 2 will receive a wild card into the qualifying draw of a men’s AEGON GB Pro-Series tournament ($10k or $15k) - to be determined by the Men’s Tennis Team

Week 32 Ilkley/ Tunbridge Wells

In week 32, there is an AEGON British Tour event at Ilkley & Tunbridge Wells from 30 July-4 August 2012.

Whilst a player may enter both, they may only play in one, and MUST withdraw from the other BEFORE the Withdrawal Deadline.