Road to Wimbledon paved in India

 

Originally published on: 27/10/13 00:00

Road to Wimbledon in India gives young tennis stars the opportunity to travel over 5000 miles across the world and play at the All England Club in August 2014.

Mumbai and Delhi will stage dual tournaments in January for 14-and-unders, and the top 16 players will compete at the Junior Masters in Delhi next April. Then, the lucky boys’ and girls’ finalists will head to London and play during the UK National Finals.

The initiative is all part of the All England Club’s efforts to expand the development of tennis, according to chairman Philip Brook. “Launching The Road to Wimbledon in India is a first for the Wimbledon Foundation and represents an exciting, imaginative and important development,” he said.

Dan Bloxham, head coach of the All England Club, will also stage a series of educational tennis clinics in the cities with the Wimbledon Foundation. It is all part of expanding awareness of tennis on the subcontinent, something All India Tennis Association (AITA) president Anil Khanna is keen to promote.

“It is with much pleasure that the AITA have been asked by the Wimbledon Foundation to expand The Road to Wimbledon events in our country,” he said. “We are very keen on extending the opportunities for juniors to play tennis and the direct link with Wimbledon will raise awareness of these opportunities, while at the same time young players will benefit from the educational clinics.”

And former British Davis Cup Captain Paul Hutchins told fans at the launch in Delhi this opportunity to boost tennis into new areas of the world should not be missed.

“With the addition of the tennis clinics to players and coaches, it promises to bring fantastic tennis education and development to two of the major cities in India,” he said.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here