This weekend saw Rye Lawn Tennis Club’s annual tennis tournament. In glorious weather, players came from around Rye, from across the country and from all over the world to play on the club’s immaculate and exceptional grass courts and enjoy their beautiful surroundings.
The four-day tournament had 270 entrants and, with so many matches to schedule, it needed efficient and smooth organisation. Who better to achieve this than Chris Gorringe, the former CEO of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) who also ran the Wimbledon tournament for many years, and the chair and trustee of the club Jonathan Jempson. The events includes ladies’ and men’s singles and doubles, mixed doubles, and B group and handicap sections, designed to cater for a much broader range of abilities.
Among the high-level players, were ten students from Harvard and Yale. Students from there have come every four years, since the early 1960s, to play in Rye before going on to take part in the Prentice and Seabright Cup held at the AELTC. The cup, which sees teams from Harvard and Yale play against university teams from Oxford and Cambridge, has taken place every two years since 1921.
Shyla Aggarwal from Yale, who went on to play in the ladies’ singles final, has loved her time playing here. “We arrived in the UK on July 12 and have travelled and played tennis all around including in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Ilkley in West Yorkshire. It has been fun, meeting lots of people and staying with families. The grass courts in Rye are really nice, as the bounce is good. We play doubles too and are randomly placed with partners. To get on the team we apply by writing an essay and, according to our seniority and level of tennis, we get on the tour. It really is a trip of a lifetime.”
Yale and Harvard players dominated the men’s and ladies’ singles and the mixed doubles. A full list of all results can be found on Rye Lawn Tennis Club’s facebook page here.
During the tournament, as well as enjoying top-class tennis, visitors, players, members and supporters could enjoy a wonderful selection of food from Rye Deli, a bar, and drinks from Oxney Organic Estates wine and Shepherd Neame.
Councillor Andy Stuart, mayor of Rye and his wife Niki came down to the club to watch the finals. “We spent a lovely afternoon at Rye Tennis Club watching the men’s and women’s finals: the quality of the tennis was truly outstanding. And the warmth of everyone I met from the club matched the weather! We were made to feel most welcome.”
Many say that Rye’s grass courts are the best outside of Wimbledon and the costs involved to maintain this standard have trebled in the last few years. The club is rightly proud of its high quality facilities and is keen to increase its membership particularly for families and children.
In an exciting development, the club has secured new three-year major sponsorship deals with NFU Mutual Ashford, Tenterden and Whitfield, Shepherd Neame and Mr Fogg’s along with many local companies helping to support the aims of the club.
Clare Crawshay-Williams, a club volunteer who is responsible for sponsorship, marketing and communications, has worked hard to increase links with local businesses. “We are immensely grateful to all our sponsors for supporting the club. Their involvement will not only be instrumental in helping us maintain our exceptional facilities for members and guests, but also enable the club to play an even bigger part in the local community.”
As well as their three headline sponsors, the club has also secured the support of ten other sponsors: Skinners of Rye, Cox & Sons, Camber Holiday Cottages, Adams of Rye, Dermatology Consulting, Georgina Stephenson, Griffith Practice, JD Architects, Oxney Organic and Wisdens.
As part of the club’s commitment to the local community, it offers an affordable opportunity, through Schools Link, for children to learn and play tennis without having to join the club. For a one-off fee of £23, children can take part in the group coaching sessions and holiday camps (which are still charged).
Also this week, is the junior tennis tournament which runs from Wednesday, August 7 to August 9.
On Saturday, August 10 is the Farmer Tournament (open to all) and on Sunday, August 11 the Closed which is just for members. For more details on the events see here.
For further details of the club’s facilities can be found here.
Image Credits: Olli Hopkins , Juliet Duff .