Sponsorship

The Sopot Tennis Club is one of the oldest tennis clubs in Poland, and in Europe. Such history places the club under certain obligation. The more that tennis traditions in Sopot reach as far back as to the turn of the 19th century. The history of tennis in Sopot began in 1897, when the first tennis courts were built, and the Sopot Lawn Tennis club seat’s construction began at what is now the Ceynowy street. Since the 1930s in Sopot and in the Free City of Gdańsk, Polish tennis players were winning matches not only with the best German players, but also with entire Europe’s finest.

In August 1992 the first Polish international WTA tournament, Prokom Challenger Poland, took place. The prize pool amounted to USD 25 thousand. The tournament attracted over 60 female tennis players from 12 countries. The event marked the beginning of cooperation between the Sopot Tennis Club and Gdynia-based PROKOM. Next year, the tournament was renamed to Prokom Polish Open, and the prize pool increased to USD 75 thousand. In 2001 a tournament for male tennis players was added, and until 2004 WTA and ATP tournaments were organized together. Since 2005, only the ATP tournament takes place in Sopot. Tennis players of both sexes from the very top of WTA and ATP rankings participated in the tournaments. They included: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Petra Begerov, Rita Grande, Conchita Martinez, Anke Huber, Jiri Novak, Carlos Moya, Dominik Hrbaty, Fabrice Santoro, David Sanchez, Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfis, and Nikolai Davidienko. Idea Prokom Open, then Orange Prokom Open, was a small Wimbledon by the Baltic Sea.

The Sopot Tennis Club organizes around 50 events each year. Our goals would not be possible to achieve without our sponsors and patrons. For regardless of the Club’s best efforts to reach new donors for individual projects, long-term financing is critical to pursuing training goals of the Club. With this regard, we feel obliged to emphasize the commitment of PROKOM Software SA (currently ASSECO Poland SA), who still continues to sponsor us. This sponsorship allows us to plan our activities in advance, basing on realistic financial forecasts.