Tennis

Tennis has been played at Eton since the game first developed but in recent years numbers have risen and it has become one of the most popular sports played at the School in the relatively short Summer Half. In Summer 2003 tennis was given the status of a major sport at Eton for the first time, alongside Cricket, Rowing and Athletics. This has meant that boys can elect to play tennis rather than other sports instead of in addition to them.

A major fundraising programme has been undertaken by Old Etonians and parents. As a result (to date) 15 of the 20 hard courts have been resurfaced. 10 artificial clay courts were finished in October 2008 and 5 championship acrylic courts were put down in 2007. There are 5 remaining tarmac courts waiting to be finished off in acrylic; it is hoped that the funding will be found to do these in the summer of 2009. Other plans are being considered.

A major part of the fundraising campaign has seen the employment of a Director of Tennis. Since this post was funded we have been lucky enough to have Robin Drysdale at the helm. Robin is an Old Etonian himself, so he knows more than most how Eton tennis has not progressed perhaps as much as it should have since his time. In fact, Eton last won the Youll Cup in 1970 when he was in the winning team. Since that time he went on to be in the Davis Cup team for Great Britain, quarter finalist at the Australian Open in 1977 and to compete at Wimbledon on many occasions. His wealth of experience, both at a playing and coaching level has now been maximized to help benefit a very good crop of young Etonians, and it is hoped we can get this post fully endowed so that Eton retains a Director of Tennis in perpetuity.

There is an annual pre-season coaching trip to the Harry Hopman Academy (Saddlebrook) in Florida and in July 2008 some of the top players in the school went on a highly successful tennis tour to California.

There are normally three pairs in a team (who play singles and doubles) and at least four teams per block, with two matches a week on average. The fixture list includes Harrow, Winchester, Charterhouse, Radley, Sevenoaks, Bradfield, Cranleigh, and Reed’s. Eton tennis is very strong: those schools such as Repton and Millfield that award tennis scholarships have dominated the Independent Schools Championships, but Eton still holds its own against most other schools. There is fantastic support from the Old Etonians, and two of our most enjoyable fixtures are the games against them, one at The Queen’s Club and the other hosted at Eton on the Fourth of June.  The courts are sometimes used by the County for squad practice and matches, and matches have been organized against clubs and adult teams in order to improve the overall standard of play.