Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone
Ever dreamt of playing on the famous grass courts of Wimbledon? Who hasn’t!
The Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone, tournament now gives most players an opportunity to follow in their heroes footsteps and compete for the title at Wimbledon.
To enter a Play Your Way to Wimbledon tournament sign up to LTA Advantage and click the link below to find a competition near you:
We're proud to be working with Vodafone and the AELTC to further expand the largest individual mass participation tennis competition in the UK, Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone. This year, the LTA and the AELTC are expanding the competition with the exciting introduction of an adult doubles pathway and disability categories, which Vodafone is proud to support.
Players start by competing locally at an event taking place at a local club, park or school with the winners progressing through to the County and/or Area Finals, and then onto the National Finals at Wimbledon.
New for 2023, in addition to the existing junior pathways there will be two additional Play Your Way to Wimbledon pathways:
- Play Your Way to Wimbledon Adult Doubles (ages 19+)
- Play Your Way to Wimbledon Disability (Wheelchair, Visually Impaired & Learning Disability)
All players must have an LTA Advantage membership number and an ITF World Tennis Number between 23.0 and 40.9 at the time of the event they're competing in. A player’s singles ITF World Tennis Number will be used for the singles pathway and player's doubles ITF World Tennis Number will be used for the doubles pathway.
Once a player has won a venue stage event, they automatically qualify for the County Finals (singles) or Area Finals (doubles) and should no longer compete in another venue stage event in the relevant pathway.
Junior players can enter the singles and/or doubles pathway for the Play Your Way to Wimbledon tournament, with separate competitions for boys and girls. However, players will only be able to compete in one event at the National Finals i.e. if they make it through to the National Finals in both the singles and doubles, they will need to decide which one they compete in, and withdraw from the other (this will impact their partner if they withdraw from the doubles).
Play Your Way to Wimbledon Singles (Juniors)
- Any junior player under the age of 14 and born between 2010 and 2013 can enter.
- Players can only enter a competition in their play county, for example, if they play in Yorkshire, they can only enter a Play Your Way To Wimbledon event in Yorkshire.
- The only exception to this is if the LTA Registered Venue the player is a member/pupil at is hosting an event. This would only be relevant if a player lives in a different county to the venue they are a member/pupil at.
Play Your Way to Wimbledon Doubles (Juniors)
- Any junior player under the age of 18 and born between 2006 and 2013 can enter.
- One of the players from a pair must be from that play county at an event, e.g. if there is an event taking place at a Yorkshire venue, one of the players from the doubles pair must have a play county of Yorkshire.
- The only exception to this is if the LTA Registered Venue the player is a member/pupil at is hosting an event. This would only be relevant if a player lives in a different county to the venue they are a member/pupil at.
Play Your Way to Wimbledon Doubles (Adults)
- Any adult player over the age of 19 and born before 2005 can enter.
- One of the players from a pair must be from that play county at an event, e.g. if there is an event taking place at a Yorkshire venue, one of the players from the doubles pair must have a play county of Yorkshire.
- The only exception to this is if the LTA Registered Venue the player is a member/student at is hosting an event. This would only be relevant if a player lives in a different county to the venue they are a member/student at.
Play Your Way To Wimbledon Disability (Open)
- Any player eligible for open competition can take part in one of the selected open Regional Series events.
- If you believe you are eligible for these events please contact disabilitycompetitions@lta.org.uk to confirm eligibility criteria.
Play Your Way to Wimbledon Singles Pathway
Play Your Way to Wimbledon Singles Pathway competitions are hosted at any LTA registered venues, as well as Schools in England, Scotland, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The venue can choose the match format, which can be anything from tie-break sets to shorter formats such as Fast4 or Timed Tennis.
The winners of these local events will then go through to their County Finals – with the majority taking place on 15 and 16 July 2023, however, some County Finals may take place before this date (County Finals in Scotland will take place on 17 and 18 June 2023).
County Final champions are then invited to compete in the National Finals at Wimbledon from 6-12 August.
Play Your Way to Wimbledon Doubles Pathway
Competitions are hosted at any LTA registered venues, as well as Schools (juniors only) in England, Scotland, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
The venue can choose the match format, which can be anything from tie-break sets to shorter formats such as Fast4 or Timed Tennis.
The winners of these local events will then go through to their Area Finals – with the majority of which taking place on 24 and 25 June 2023.
Regional Final champions are then invited to compete in the National Finals at Wimbledon from 6 - 12 August.
Play Your Way To Wimbledon Disability Pathway
Competitions are hosted as part of Regional Series Tournament (singles) held between January – May 2023.
There are 2 – 4 Regional Series Tournaments take place prior to the Finals for players to compete in across the following categories: Wheelchair (men’s and women’s), Visually Impaired (men’s and women’s, B1, B2, B3, B4-B5 categories) and Learning Disability (mixed) events.
The Winners and Runners Up from each event are then invited to compete in the National Finals at Wimbledon from 6 – 12 August.
Venue stage events will take place from 1 March – 4 June 2023
The majority of County Finals will be played on the weekend of 15–16 July, however, several County Finals will be played before this date. Please note, County Finals in Scotland will be played over the weekend of 17–18 June. You can view the dates and venues for singles below:
Area Finals will be taking place over the weekend of 24-25 June.
Play Your Way to Wimbledon National Finals take place at Wimbledon from 6 – 12 August 2023.
Events will run from 1 March – 4 June. Venues have until 20th March to apply to run an event, therefore, the majority of events taking place may not appear until after this date.
- Sign up to Advantage to get your ITF World Tennis Number.
- Search for your next tournament here.
- Select which event you want to enter.
- Complete the online entry process.
- Then you’re all set and ready to go – it’s that easy.
Speak to your local venue to find out if they are hosting an event or find and enter a Play Your Way To Wimbledon event near you here:
All results from Play Your Way to Wimbledon matches will go towards improving your ITF World Tennis Number.
You can find and follow all the draws, scores and results from Play Your Way To Wimbledon here:
The 2023 Venue sign up period has now closed.
All venues hosting a Play Your Way to Wimbledon competition must be LTA registered venues (clubs, parks & schools).
Venues can run an ‘Open’ event for all eligible players to enter by creating their event on the Competition Management System (CMS) or a ‘Closed’ event for members only. We strongly encourage all venues to run ‘Open’ events, to allow local players the opportunity to compete in the event.
Details
- Venues can run a maximum of one ‘Open’ event and/or one ‘Closed’ event at their venue during the competition period
- Venues can run Singles and/or Doubles events for boys, girls, men, women or all
- All events run by venues must be open to all eligible players
- Organisers can choose a format relevant to their venue, however, we recommend delivering the event over half or one day using a quicker format, such as fast4
- Player entry will be on a first come first served basis
- All venue stage events will be Grade 6 if ‘Open’ and Grade 7 if ‘Closed’
- Venue events must take place between 1 March – 4 June 2023
- Venues that publish or enter the event by 20 February will receive a venue pack w/c 27 February
- Venues that publish or enter the event by 20 March will receive a venue pack w/c 27 March
Venue Entry Flyer (Clubs & Parks)
Venue Quick Start Guide - How to create an Open event online
View previous winners here
Benefits for Organisers:
- Receive a free organiser pack to help you stage your event
- The winner (and possibly the runner-up) of your event to represent your venue at the County Finals
- The organiser (and guest) invited to Wimbledon to watch the National Finals in August
Benefits for Players:
- Compete in a fun, social competition with the opportunity to qualify for your County or Regional Finals and then progress to play in the National Finals on the grass courts at Wimbledon
- Be part of the biggest tennis tournament in the UK
- All players receive a Wimbledon certificate and prize for competing in a venue event
- Fantastic prizes on offer at the National Finals