Sydney International

The Sydney International , sponsored as the Apia International Sydney as of 2012, is a professional tennis tournament in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The tournament is played annually at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in Homebush. It is one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world, dating to 1885. The tournament is currently noted as an ATP 250 point event.HistoryThe model for the Sydney International was formed in 1885 when colonial officials decided there was a need to discover the best tennis player in each of the colonies and to use the tournament to assist with selection to the Australasia Davis Cup team, however the first time the tournament was played as a permanent annual event was in 1935. Between 1970 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour and an Grand Prix Championship Series tournament from 1970–1971.Change of locationThe Sydney International was played at the White City complex, close to the Sydney CBD, from 1922 until 1999. Since the 2000 edition, the event has been played at the Sydney International Tennis Centre, in Homebush, a suburb of Western Sydney, which was constructed for the tennis events at the 2000 Olympic Games. The venue consists of 15 outdoor courts and a centre court along with an administrative building, for the whole of Tennis NSW