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As Murray Mania Mounts, Could This Finally Be the Year for British Tennis?

With Wimbledon kicking off a week on Monday, Murray Mania is beginning to mount. Nearly half a million Brits play tennis every week and there are now more people playing tennis than cricket and rugby.
Leisure - 10 June 2011   Download IconContent available for download:  
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Nearly half a million Brits play tennis every week on Britain’s 23,000 tennis courts – and there are now more people playing tennis on a weekly basis than cricket, rugby union and rugby league combined. In contrast, Britain hasn’t had a Grand Slam Champion in men’s tennis since 1936 and women’s tennis since 1977 – still seen by many as the true measure of success.

Recent research shows that tennis in schools is growing, with 80% of schools offering tennis and 47% of schools having a link with a local club or place to play tennis. New initiatives have placed 250,000 rackets and 500,000 balls in the hands of primary school children and an extra 12,880 teachers and coaches have been trained up to deliver tennis programmes in school.

Nearly 500,000 people went through the turnstiles at Wimbledon last year - consuming 28,000 kg of strawberries with over 7,000 litres of fresh cream and enjoying 190,000 glasses of Pimms over the course of the two week tournament! Over half the UK’s population (29.3m) watched coverage from SW19 on television and with more than seven million tuning in to Andy Murray’s semi-final defeat against Rafael Nadal, it’s expected that Murray Mania will take hold of the country once more this summer. Could this finally be Andy’s year?

. Introduction:

With only a matter of days until Wimbledon, Murray Mania is starting to build momentum and while nearly half a million of us pick up a racket every week to play tennis, there hasn’t been a British grand slam champion since Virginia Wade won Wimbledon in 1977. With Andy Murray leading the way, that seems set to change sooner rather than later – especially given four out of five schools are now offering school children tennis programmes as part of PE lessons.

So, just how can we really lend our support to Andy this summer – and what can be done to encourage even more of us to pick up a racket?

Joining us in the studio to discuss this further is Mark Taylor, a tennis expert from Esporta.

. Suggested Questions:

What can you tell us about tennis habits in our area?

So, why we haven’t had a grand slam winner for so long?

How can we encourage even more people to pick up a racket and why is tennis a good way to keep fit?

Is tennis accessible enough to all?

What do you think of Andy Murray’s chances at Wimbledon this year?

And how can we support him?

How can our listeners get involved and where can they find out more information?