Wimbledon: How Cambridgeshire tennis club is inspiring the future
But it's not just about the tennis that aims to help people to join
With Wimbledon in full flow, one grassroots club in Cambridgeshire hopes to take advantage on and off the court.
Ely Tennis Club has more than 200 members, and sets up open days for people to meet and join in.
A Sport England Active Lives survey found a rise in people playing tennis between November 2021 and 2022 compared to the same time 12 months before.
That’s a rise of 43 per cent to 915,000 adults, the biggest increase since the survey began in 2015-16.
Anna Petrova, player at Ely Tennis Club, feels Wimbledon is making its mark:
“I believe people are starting to play tennis more and with publicity that Wimbledon has, we all know about it before it starts, it gives opportunity for people to think about (playing).
“Seeing the great players giving their all to win that title is priceless; I don’t think how one could not be inspired to play seeing them playing on grass.”
One day, Anna hopes to be playing at SW19 but she hopes by extending her four-year stay at Ely, she can try and inspire people to play in Bulgaria where she originally moved from.
“I come from a country where tennis is not very famous - when I go back and I want to introduce tennis to people, it’s not famous,” she said.
“The UK is the perfect place for tennis; many people love playing tennis here so in future, we will have massive support for the game.”
Players from the age of 3 to 93-years-old have played at Ely Tennis Club, and Wimbledon does seem to be inspiring people of different backgrounds to play.
Rachel Peacock is the club chair and believes it’s a sport for everyone to enjoy:
“Wimbledon has a great effect, causes all this interest and people take up tennis very often in the summer having watched these players perform.
“It’s nice to spread the word about how wonderful tennis is.
“I think a lot of people don’t realise how inclusive tennis can be and how you can adapt the game for people who are beginners, have disabilities.
“Tennis is for everybody.”