The Circolo Tennis Firenze (CTF) was founded in 1898 by 30 members, partially Florentines and partially British. It was the 5th Italian club to be subscribed to the Italian Lawn Tennis Association founded in Rome on April 16, 1894. Tennis was already practiced in some private villas in Florence, especially at Cosimo Vittorio Cini’s, a famous Tuscan industrial of these times, who from then on acted as the first president of Florentine tennis, for more than 30 years. The municipality rented a part of the big Cascine Park, which had once belonged to the Medici family until 1790.

In the beginning people played on lawn, then two clay courts were built and in 1900 Cini donated the villa, built by the Florentine architect Pietro Berti. Its facade, with minor modification, is still the same. The first male tournaments started in 1900. In 1902 CTF was the first club to have female competition. In 1913, Thodina de Bellegarde, daughter of an official Savoyard settled in Florence, won the very first Italian female championships. She also won the Italian Championships held in Florence in 1914 but then died in 1918 during World War I where she worked as a nurse. A cup that awarded the winners of the Team Championships in third category was dedicated to her name. On May 18, 1910 the representatives of the 12 biggest tennis clubs assembled in the villa of CTF and gave birth to the Italian Tennis Federation. Piero Antinori, citizen of Florence, became its president.

Between 1919 and 1935 tennis developed strongly and the Circolo ended up with 6 clay courts. Still the women were the ones to have great succes: in 1926 Anna Luzzatti was Italy’s no. 2 followed by Margery Maquay, Lucia Strozzi and Gabriella Malenchini, all members of the CTF. The annual Florence Tournament in May listed a lot of participants. It was a sporting and mundane event you cound’t miss with the participation of the best Italian players. Winners were among others Tito de Bono, the great James De Martino and the Florentine player Piero Amici Grossi who was the first player of CTF to be fighting in the highest category.

In 1939 the Club suffered from competition with the Ugolino Golf Courts and decided to build an outdoor swimming pool. The architect Gherardo Bosio, a brilliant Tuscan rationalist of this period, was entrusted with the project. Measuring 25m by 12,5m the pool, still being in working order after 60 years, has its original shape. During World War II everything stood still. The Club was occupied by Americans and used for storing food.

After the war began a long and tough period of reconstruction. Under Federico Dalgas’ presidency the courts got renovated and the May tournament, now also open to strangers, became one of the most important competitions in Italy. From 1953 to 1971 you could see the world’s best tennis players at CTF. Unforgettable matches are: Gardin vs. Merlo and Pietrangeli vs. Nastase. With the beginning of the tennis open the International Florence Tournament, suspended in 1971, restarted in 1973 as the last round of the “Circuito del Mediterraneo” but was finally ceased in 1994 when the directors of Florentine tennis decided to focus on the International Tournament under 18. A tournament called “Città di Firenze” that was carried out for the first time in 1976 and has been repeated every year at Easter since then. Some of the most renowned winners are Jennifer Capriati and Roger Federer.

A large number of Daviscup matches were carried out in Florence. Encounters with: Jugoslavia in 1933, India in 1958, South Africa in 1959, Russia in 1962, Australia in 1993. Florentine’s tennis protagonists of the 50ies were: Renato Gori (for many years on top of the Italian classifications), Manuela Bologna (no. 1 player in Italy in 1952) and Vanni Canepele who won his third Italian singles championship in 1949. Francesca Gordigiani and Alessandra Gobbò came up in the 60ies. Gordigiani won the first Italian singles championship in 1964, Gobbò numerous doubles and mixed titles. From the 60ies until today the following players reached the A-series: Fanucci, Parrini, Patrizia Murgo and Piero Toci (no. 5 in Italy). In the 70ies: Pietro Pennisi, Massimo Ardinghi, Simone Restelli and Ginevra Mugnaini (won the Italian Championships at the age of 16).

The long list of honour of Florentine tennis starts in 1913 with Rhodina de Bellegarde and sums up a whole range of titles won in singles and team competitions. As a recognition of its great engagement and for the participation of its players, the CTF won the F.I.T.-trophy in 1994, 1995 and 2003. This trophy simbolizes the sum of all the obtained results of championships in any category. Every year, from early October until June 15 a special training program for kids between the age of 6 and 16, called SAT is taking place at the CTF. Actually about 130 kids, divided in different categories, are joining these lessons that include physical and technical training. The best of them will become “athletes”: a group of 20-24 children that will be taught by qualified trainers.

The CTF never changed its location – the wonderful Cascine Park. 10 clay courts and 2 artificial lawn courts where you can also play football are at its disposal. The villa does not only offer large rooms for playing cards but also a restaurant. Another restaurant is available in summer at the pool; huge locker rooms for men and women with a sauna and a fully equipped gym are at the member’s disposal. Further projects of enlargement and modernization are in the council’s office. In 2004, the CTF entered the “Club dei Centenari”, an association of only some 30 of the most important and beautiful clubs in the world.