About Us
The Past
Polonia Open Tennis is an amateur tennis tournament which has been held in South Florida (Winter Tournament), Westchester County, NY (Zywiec Cup) and New York City (Summer Swing Tournament) and New Jersey (Red Clay Open).
The original tournament was an annual winter event organized by a group of Polish-American athletes associated with the Riverdale Tennis Center of New York City. The origins of the tournament go back to 1998, when the Tournament Founder and former Director, Arthur Bobko, came forth with the idea to bring together Polish and Slavic people from all over the world to discover and enjoy tennis and the outdoor sporting lifestyle found all year round in Florida. Arthur gathered the support of a number of Florida sports fans. The first Polonia Open tournament was held in 2000 in Sarasota with 74 tennis players from the USA, Poland, Canada, England and Germany and a separate Golf event was part of the attraction of the tennis tournament. Pawel Gasior, current President of the PAGA, helped organize the first Golf tournament with 18 players. The event was a great success -- and Polonia Open was born.
Over the last quarter century, the tournament has been enjoyed by over 5,000 players and guests, with participants from the USA, Poland, England, Canada, Germany, and Sweden. Over the years, our event program has come to include the Winter Tournament at the Emilio Sanchez Academy in Naples, Florida, the "Summer Swing" event in New York City at the prestigious USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and other events like the Zywiec Cup, which took place in Fall 2012 at the Willowbrook Swim & Tennis Club in Mount Kisco, NY. Since 2019, the Summer Red Clay Open at Packanack Lake Tennis Club in New Jersey has also been enjoyed annually. Polonia Open has also added Kids Programs and Adults Tennis Camp sessions to the Tournament format, creating more opportunities for enjoyment of the sport across all generations, both young and old.
In 2015, the Polonia Tennis Association Foundation became an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization, an important step to help us raise funds to grow the work of the organization to promote tennis tournaments, scholarships and tennis education to bring the love of the sport of tennis and the fellowship of the Polonia to the next generation of players!
The Present
In 2025, we mark the 25th Anniversary of Polonia Open Tennis!
Every year, the Winter, Summer, and Red Clay tournaments continue to bring players from across the country from the Polish-American community and beyond. Our tournaments are organized by Founder Arthur Bobko and Robert Nova-Nowomiejski.
The Future
Looking beyond our quarter-century milestone, Polonia Open Tennis will continue to grow and evolve, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated organizers, our passionate participants and tennis enthusiasts, and our growing list of committed sponsors.
Join us!