Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic opened the year successfully defending Switzerland's Hopman Cup championship.
Switzerland secured another world-class honor this month.
More: Wawrinka Won't Play Laver Cup
The Roy Emerson Tennis Weeks at the Gstaad Palace in Switzerland once again ranks as the world's top tennis camp in the Tennis Resorts Online rankings of the Top 100 Tennis Resorts and Camps for 2019.
Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina ranked as the top tennis resort.
The rankings are based on reviews submitted by tennis vacationers over the past year.
Each was asked to evaluate the properties they knew first-hand on the basis of more than 20 criteria that contribute to a quality tennis experience. Those range from the tennis staff, programming, instruction, game arranging, and junior tennis sessions to such creature comforts as lodging and cuisine and amenities like spa and fitness centers, children’s programs, and other recreation.
The staff at Tennis Resorts Online then compiles those reviews, overweighting the tennis elements, to be sure, but factoring in all the criteria to come up with our final rankings. Finally, the overall standings aside, they supplement the Top 100 list by highlighting the top tennis venues in each of 16 categories.
Three of the top five-ranked tennis camps in the world are headed by Hall of Famers.
In addition to Emerson's Tennis Weeks in Gstaad, which has been called one of the world's most scenic tennis camps, Cliff Drysdale at Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, Florida and the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in Texas also made the Top 5.
Top 5 Resorts
1. Kiawah Island Golf Resort, South Carolina
2. Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa, California
3. Wild Dunes Resort, South Carolina
4. The Resort at Longboat Key Club, Florida
5. Bio-Hotel Stanglwirt, Austria
Top 5 Camps
1. Roy Emerson Tennis Weeks, Switzerland
2. PBI Tennis Camp, Bio-Hotel Stanglwirt, Austria
3. Cliff Drysdale Tennis at Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, Florida
4. John Newcombe Tennis Ranch, Texas
5. New England Tennis Holidays at Sugarbush, Vermont
The complete list can be viewed at tennisresortsonline.com/top100.
Photo credit: Gstaad Palace Facebook