The first mention of lawn tennis appeared in the novel of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, which in 1875-78 was printed by parts in the Russian Gazette magazine. It is well known that the great Russian writer was an enthusiastic fan of all sorts of physical exercises. So it is no coincidence that he was also the first promoter of a new sport, which was very popular those years.
The first court was built in Saint Petersburg in 1866. Date of the tennis birth is considered to be August 28, 1878, when enthusiasts demonstrated to the public a game which was called lawn tennis. After then the manifesto On the Development of Lawn Tennis in Russia was issued.
It took another 30 years before the first All-Russian tournament was held in July 1897. Even foreigners - Austrians and the French - wanted to take part in the competition. But apparently, fearing the unstable political situation in Russia, they didn't dare to come to Russia.
The first champions of Russia were Georgy Bray and Nadezhda Martynova. The first national championship was held so successfully that it turned into an annual event. In 1913 Russia became a full member of the newly created International Federation of Lawn Tennis, and the Russian Championship was included in the list of the world’s largest international tournaments. All these events gave a strong impulse to the development of tennis in Russia. Tennis courts were built in many cities and countryside, in the estates and manors.
A Lawn Tennis magazine was published in Saint  Petersburg. There were many pictures of famous Russian people, including numerous members of the royal family, holding a racket in hand on the tennis court.
Russia’s tennis pride is Marat Safin, a famous Russian tennis player, Honoured Master of Sport of Russia. He reached the world number one ranking during his career. Marat Safin is the Knight of the Order of Merit. He has been a professional player since 1997.

Russian sport fans already got used to Russian female tennis players’ supremacy on the international sports scene. The same can be said about Tatarstan’s female tennis players, they were the first to top podiums at sporting events. The most prominent victory was earned by Ksenia Lykina at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade; she claimed two gold medals at once. We can also mention the names of such junior tennis players as Sabina Shaidullina, Polina Novoselova, Anna Smolina. Ekaterina Yashina, a holder of the Russian Cup and ITF Juniors Circuit U18 Yeltsin’s Cup, is also in the list of top tennis players of Russia. Tatarstan hosts more and more tennis competitions every year, the number of participants and status of these competitions increase as well. The Kazan Kremlin Cup has gradually transformed from region-wide tournament into a nationwide sporting event, then obtained the status of the Russian Cup stage and became part of the ATP Challenger Tour. Several years ago Almetyevsk hosted the men’s and womens’ Cup of Russia, and the Kazan Kremlin Cup acquired the status of an international men’s tennis tournament. In 2010 the competition changed its location. After having being staged on the courts of the UNICS Culture and Sports Complex and Basket Hall, the Kazan Kremlin Cup now found its new home in the Tennis Academy which had been solemnly inaugurated in 2009 on the sidelines of the 1st All-Russian Forum Russia – Country of Sports.

By summer 2012 Kazan has already hosted three tournaments of Kazan Kremlin Cup. The men’s tennis in 2011 gave Kazan’s tennis fans a chance to enjoy the Davis Cup World Group Play-offs where Team Russia played against Brazil. Moreover, 2012 Tatarstan Open, the third edition of the international women’s tennis tournament, is due to be held in the Kazan Tennis Academy in August 2012.