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The allplay challenge

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  • Lorraine Kelly
  • Tim Lovejoy
  • Denise Lewis
  • Jamie Theakston
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Tim Lovejoy receives his very first tennis coaching lesson.

The allplay Challenge Cup came to a conclusion on the 1st December as Denise Lewis & Jamie Theakston defeated Lorraine Kelly & Tim Lovejoy at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

For the past six months, all four allplay Challengers have been honing their skills as part of the allplay Challenge and encouraging people to pick up a racket and play tennis as part of the allplay campaign.

Their hard work paid off as they showcased their tennis talent in front of an excited crowd at the AEGON Masters event.

Under the watchful eye of former British No.1 Greg Rusedski, who provided live commentary and coaching at the Royal Albert Hall, Denise and Jamie emerged as the winning pair, registering a 8-5, 8-3 win.

What was it?
Famous faces who had hardly played tennis before, went on a 6 month journey to learn to play tennis with the help of friends and family, Challenge mentors and weekly lessons from an LTA coach.

Where did it take place?
Launched in London, our Challengers embarked on weekly coaching with all sessions taking place at local courts which anybody could play at. It all culminated in a finale match in front of an audience of thousands at the AEGON Masters, at the Royal Albert Hall, in December. 

The mixed doubles best of three tie-breaks took place at the AEGON Masters on Thursday 1 December at the Royal Albert Hall.

When was it happening?
Their progress was tracked from June through to December with updates tracking their progress on allplaytennis.com with media interviews, photos, video clips and updates on twitter and facebook.