The Wimbledon Club is geared up for winter tennis after they officially opened their new three-court seasonal airhall at the weekend.

The additional indoor courts at the site will allow the junior and competition programme to expand while also supporting the high demand for indoor tennis at the club.

The work, which was completed in September, was made possible thanks to a £100,000 grant from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) with support from Sport England, which the club contributing the remainder.

Paul Hutchins, the LTA’s Team Leader for the Olympics 2012, was on hand to open the new airhall along with the Mayor of Merton, Gilli Lewis-Lavender.

Paul Hutchins said: “The facilities here at The Wimbledon Club are fantastic and it’s great to be able to see the local community seeing the full benefit of them.

“The LTA are committed to investing in year-round tennis and by building this new airhall, the club can now offer more and more opportunities to play the sport, which is fantastic.”

Stephan Israel, Tennis Chairman of The Wimbledon Club, added: “The three-court airhall has enabled and accelerated a genuine transformation of our tennis section.

“With a total of four indoor courts in the winter and five outdoor floodlit courts, the club is now in a position to offer year-round tennis to juniors, team players and social players.  

“The recent enhancement of our junior programme, the growth in adult and school coaching opportunities and the renewed enthusiasm to the core of the membership to play more frequently in the winter are only few of the benefits we have already experienced!”

The funding has been provided as part of British Tennis’ facilities strategy which has received substantial investment from Sport England. This makes an important contribution to the drive to increase tennis opportunities for people to participate, compete and get access to coaching at all levels of the game in communities nationwide.

Richard Lewis, Sport England’s Chair, said: “It’s vital that public funding for sport goes into facilities that meet the highest standards, are welcoming, and cater for everyone. That’s how we’re going to get more people using them every day.

“The new facilities at the Wimbledon Club will offer even more accessibility for its members and encourage more people from the local community to get involved in the sport.”

Claire Hamilton, LTA Tennis Development Manager for Surrey, said: “We are delighted to have made this investment in The Wimbledon Club as part of our drive to increase access to quality tennis facilities in Surrey.

“Providing quality facilities will help to attract and retain more players and work towards achieving our goal of increasing participation.

“This investment will also allow us to host more coach education courses in Surrey to improve our work force, and enable us to offer more indoor competitive experiences for our juniors.”

The LTA makes financial support available through its resources and ensures investments will deliver the maximum return for British tennis through more people playing and more hours on the court across Britain. There will be an increase in the number and standard of facilities nationwide which will be available to the whole community at a reasonable, affordable cost.

To find a playing partner, a local court or coach, register at www.allplaytennis.com