The continuing growth of tennis in Wales will be reflected on the sport’s biggest stage this month, with people from Wales playing key roles at the 2009 Wimbledon championships.
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Tennis Wales, the sport’s governing body in Wales, has seen major progress in recent years, with a big jump in the number of junior tournaments staged, a doubling of licensed coaches, a 40 per cent increase in club membership, and more juniors competing at national level.  It will not be known if any Welsh players will compete in Junior Wimbledon until the last few days before the tournament, but there will be significant involvement elsewhere at the All-England Club.

Newport’s Phil Evans, an International referee and Chief umpire, will be part of the chief umpire’s team at the Championships. In his 20th year as an official at Wimbledon, he will be the line umpire evaluations coordinator, overseeing the evaluation of line umpires’ performance, and arranging the teams for the top matches.
“For the last two years, I have had an off-court role, and I admit I have missed the on-court excitement,” he said. “But being part of the chief umpire’s team is very exciting in itself – it can be very high-pressure, especially when the weather disrupts the schedule.”

Several on-court officials from Wales are also expected to take part in the Championships: Becky Broughall, Judy Carter, Peter Durham, Matthew Griffiths, Emily John-Davis, Eirian Jones, and George Martin. Cardiff-based broadcaster Sam Lloyd will be the female voice of Radio Wimbledon, the station which broadcasts locally and to hundreds of thousands of listeners worldwide via the internet, during the Championships. The host of the annual Tennis Wales Awards, and director of Lloyd Bell Productions, Sam is also an enthusiastic player at Esporta, Cardiff. 

“This will be my 12th year on Radio Wimbledon,” she said. “You really have to do your homework on the players, and think on your feet too. “You are usually at the microphone for three or four hours at a stretch, and if it rains, you have to be very creative to fill the air time.”

Tennis Wales Chief Executive Peter Hybart, said: “It’s great to see people from Wales continuing to play such key roles at Wimbledon. The Championships are without doubt the sport’s supreme showcase, but I’m equally pleased to see the huge growth in people playing the game in Wales – both recreationally, and especially in competition.”