Roehampton’s refurbished tennis courts offering free sessions for all ages

Refurbished tennis courts at the popular Roehampton Playing fields are now officially open to the public with a series of fun community events running over the summer to mark the occasion.

The five revamped courts are the result of a new partnership between Wandsworth Council and the Lawn Tennis Association which has led to an investment worth around £105,000 by the UK Government and the LTA Tennis Foundation in the Dover House Road playing fields.

Looking forward, the council, the Roehampton Playing Fields Community Trust and the borough’s leisure and culture contractor Enable, will all work with the LTA and local coaching provider Emma Wells Tennis to deliver a range of activities across the site.

This will include weekly organised free tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience, where equipment is provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or their own racket. Local Tennis Leagues will also provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active through local competition.

The project is part of a nationwide programme managed by the LTA to refurbish public tennis courts and open up the sport to more people. The scheme will see thousands of existing park tennis courts upgraded for the benefit of communities across the country.

Park tennis courts are vital in providing opportunities for children and adults to get active, delivering significant physical and mental health and wellbeing benefits to participants. Accessible facilities in parks are particularly critical to opening up the sport to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls.

Judi Gasser, Wandsworth’s Cabinet Member for Environment said: “I’m delighted that these new tennis courts have opened to offer local people really top-quality facilities to play the sport. I’d like to express my thanks to the LTA Tennis Foundation for their investment in our borough.

“I’m pleased too to learn that there will be free weekly sessions at the playing fields that whole families can attend with equipment provided. This scheme will deliver fantastic community benefits and hopefully nurture a future Wandsworth-born Wimbledon Champion.”

Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said: “We are delighted to be working with Wandsworth Council to improve their park tennis facilities and provide more opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and get active. This investment is part of the UK Government and LTA’s Parks Tennis Project and will mean that courts will be available for people to use for years to come. We will also be working closely with Wandsworth Council and its partners to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court and open up our sport to many more people.”

These revamped tennis courts are also available for booking on the LTA website: 
https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/RoehamptonPlayingFields

The courts opened on Sunday 11 June 2023.