In october 2023 we celebrate the 80-year milestone of the Royal Tennis Hall. During this celebration we also acknowledge 80 years of KKDP at the hall!
Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris began in 1901, but the Royal Tennis Club didn’t have its own building until 1943. This marked the first year the tournament was played at the new home of the Royal Tennis Club (Kungl. Tennishallen).
The opening ceremony of the new hall took place on October 22, 1943. Only a short few weeks after the arena was inaugurated, Kungens Kanna was held for the first time at the Royal Tennis Hall, as the King wanted the tournament to be hosted in the new facility. Therefore, he decided to schedule it for the fall instead of the usual spring timing.
Over the years, the tournament has undergone several format changes, but it has always been highly appreciated by players and all those involved. Initially, when the tournament began, it was an international men’s-only event. Drottningens Pris wasn’t introduced until 1950, but it quickly gained popularity. Since that year, it has been known as Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris.
In the earlier years of Kungens Kanna and eventually in Drottningens Pris as well, handicaps were used as a scoring system. This was being used up until 1955. This system helped narrow the skill gap between players. It allowed for junior players to measure their strenghts against the elite seniors.
In 2009, the tournament transitioned from being an international elite event to a junior tournament for 16-17 year-olds, where the winners would each receive a prize of 20,000 SEK.
Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris became part of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour in 2011, and since then, the tournament has rapidly gained popularity. It became the first Swedish junior tournament to achieve Elite Category 1 status, and in 2020, it reached “Super Category” status. Today, it stands as one of the biggest tournaments on the Tennis Europe Tour, attracting the world’s best under-14 players!
