Under the name of Midlands, the original tournament dates back to the mid 1800s, and this year, will be rebranded as The Shepherd Tennis Tayside Open Championships 2012.
David Bateman, tournament organiser, said: "On behalf of Tennis Tayside, I would like to thank Shepherd for agreeing to sponsor this tournament and ensuring that its long legacy will continue."
Ian Cameron, management partner at Shepherd, said: "Shepherd has a long and valued association with Tayside. Indeed, our association might even extend back further than that of the Tennis Tayside Open Championships!
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"It is because of our long association with Tayside that we are so delighted to be able to lend our support to such an esteemed and hotly-contested tournament."
Whilst its origins stretch back to 1760, the year when Orcadian David Shepherd set up trade as a joiner, it was in 1806 that Robert Shepherd, joiner, master wright and Free Burgess of the city, had extended the business in Dundee as a house factor.
The firm continued to prosper throughout the nineteenth century. Joseph Shepherd headed the operation in 1876 and was joined by Edward Shepherd in 1880, the year when the partnership of J&E Shepherd commenced. Today, Shepherd has offices in Dundee and Perth.
The Shepherd Tennis Tayside Open Championships 2012, which runs at St Andrews LTC from 11th to 13th May and 18th to 20th May, has opened for entries from both juniors and senior tennis players. The Entry Form can be downloaded from entry forms can be downloaded from www.tennistayside.org
Tennis Tayside is the tennis governing body for Angus, Perth and Kinross, Dundee and North-East Fife.
(GK)
