Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) is a national governing body of tennis in Sri Lanka founded in 1915, which represents Sri Lanka on associations like the International Tennis Federation and the Asian Tennis Federation. Its main aim is to popularise tennis in all parts of Sri Lanka as a professional sport and to produce top tennis players from Sri Lanka.[2]
History
Tennis in Sri Lanka was introduced during the British Rule with the founding of the Ceylon Lawn Tennis Association in 1915. The CLTA was originally headquartered at the ‘Challet’ in Nuwara Eliya and was conducting the Nationals on clay courts located at where Hill Club now sits. CLTC held tournaments in Colombo too, especially at the Colombo Lawn Club.[3] The Governor of Ceylon, Robert Chalmers, 1st Baron Chalmers, was the first president of the association. From establishment of the association until 1946, there was a practice at the CLTA to have the Governor of Ceylon, as administrative head of the British colony, as its President.[3] The first Sri Lankan to become CLTA president was Dr. C. H. Gunasekara in 1947 until 1949.[3] It takes pride as being the oldest national tennis association in Asia.[4]
Tennis as a sport has not garnered the popular support of the common folk in Sri Lanka, whose first love in sports is still cricket but SLTA is contributing all its resources to make tennis a popular game. They strive towards developing tennis as a professional sport, encouraging all citizens to play tennis for better health in life and to produce better world ranking tennis players from Sri Lanka.
