Anne Keothavong is hoping to inspire a new generation of tennis players to follow the path to the top trodden by players like her and Andy Murray.
Keothavong will spend Saturday morning launching mini tennis as a new sport at the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games.
The British No.1 will be hitting balls with kids from London primary schools and talking to them about mini tennis.
Mini tennis is a smaller version of the game which allows young children to play on different size courts hitting with balls of varying size and weight depending on their age group.
The London Youth Games see the city’s best young sportspeople compete for their boroughs in 30 different sports. Keothavong and her brother James represented Hackney at the London Youth Games ten years ago and she says she is looking forward to seeing how the next generation of Londoners are developing.
“The Balfour Beatty London Youth Games are a brilliant avenue for youngsters to get involved in competitive sport,” said Keothavong. “I took part for Hackney about 10 years ago and enjoyed the experience and I'm delighted to have been asked back to this event.”
Keothavong is not the only professional athlete who gained experience at the London Youth Games. Luol Deng, Linford Christie, Christine Ohuruogu, Bradley Wiggins, Mark Hunter, Chemmy Alcott, Tasha Danvers, Siobhan Chamberlain and Rio Ferdinand are amongst the half a million budding athletes who have taken part.
The 33,000 competitors in the Games are aged between seven and 17 and come from 33 different London boroughs. This weekend will see the 22-day competition reach a climax.