Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone
Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone, returns in 2025 and we want to get as many players enjoying competitive tennis at their local venue as possible. In order to make the competition more appealing and inviting to recreational players, particularly those who might not normally consider entering a competition, we have adjusted the ITF World Tennis Number bandings for some of the pathways.
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.
Venue Stage – For players that want to compete in a fun, Wimbledon-inspired competition with other players from your local area.
County / Area Finals - Venue stage winners progress through to this stage to compete against winners from other venues in their area.
Disability (Wheelchair, Visually Impaired & Learning Disability) – Players can compete in selected regional series events, with the winners progressing to the National Finals.
National Finals - Hosted at the AELTC, winners from each County / Area Final come together to compete for the PYWTW title.
2025 venue sign up is now open
Hosting a venue stage event is a great way to bring players together and give everyone the chance to be part of a Wimbledon-inspired day. Get involved today!
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 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 3 March – 25 May.
- Venues must publish or enter the event by 2 February 2025 and will receive a venue pack w/c 24 February 2025.
Venue Quick Start Guide - How to create an Open event online
All players must have an LTA Advantage membership number and an ITF World Tennis Number between the following ranges at the time of the event they're competing in:
- 14U Singles: 32.0-40.9
- 18U Doubles: 28.0-40.9
- 19+ Doubles: 25.0-40.9
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 2011 and 2014 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 2007 and 2014 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)
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Any adult player born in 2006 or earlier 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. To qualify for the National Finals, players must reside in the UK.
- If you believe you are eligible for these events please contact disabilitycompetitions@lta.org.uk to confirm eligibility criteria.
Events will run from 3 March – 25 May 2025. Venues have until 2 February 2025 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:
Junior singles pathway
Qualifying factors
Factors to determine qualifying players
Boys and girls ages 11 - 14
Clubs, parks and schools
WTN: 32.0 - 40.9
Players who are successful then qualify for the Country Finals
Players who are successful then qualify for the National Finals
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 28 and 29 June 2025, however, some County Finals may take place on another weekend (County Finals in Scotland will take place on 14 and 15 June 2025).
County Final champions are then invited to compete in the National Finals at Wimbledon from 3-9 August 2025.
Junior doubles pathway
Qualifying factors
Factors to determine qualifying players
Boys and girls ages 11 - 18
Clubs, parks and schools
WTN: 28.0 - 40.9
Players who are successful then qualify for the Area Finals
Players who are successful then qualify for the National Finals
Adult doubles pathway
Qualifying factors
Factors to determine qualifying players
Men and women ages 19+
Clubs and parks
WTN: 25.0 - 40.9
Players who are successful then qualify for the Country Finals
Players who are successful then qualify for the National Finals
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 taking place on 21 and 22 June 2025.
Area Final champions are then invited to compete in the National Finals at Wimbledon from 3-9 August 2025.
Learning disability pathway
Qualifying events
Inital events to determine qualifying players
22 - 23 February: Leeds Learning Disability Tennis Competition, JCCS Tennis Centre
8 - 9 March: Gosling Learning Disability Tennis Competition, Gosling Tennis Centre
12 - 13 April: Pershore Learning Disability Tennis Competition, Pershore Indoor Tennis Centre
17 - 18 May: Essex Learning Disability Tennis Competition, Redbridge Tennis Centre
Qualifiers for the National Finals
Players who are successful then qualify for the National Finals
8 x mixed players (Winner & Runner Up)
Competitions are hosted as part of Regional Series Tournament (singles) held between January – May 2025.
*If the same player wins multiple events, an additional lucky loser will be added
Visually Impaired pathway
Qualifying events
Inital events to determine qualifying players
1 - 2 March: Newport Visually Impaired Tennis Competition, Newport Tennis Club
5 - 6 April: Loughborough Visually Impaired Tennis Tournament, Loughborough University
Qualifiers for the National Finals
Players who are successful then qualify for the National Finals
B1/B2/B3
4 x men (winner & runner up)
4 x women (winner & runner up)
B4/B5 - Mixed
2 x men (winner)
2 x women (winner)
*If the same player wins multiple events, an additional lucky loser will be added
Wheelchair pathway
Qualifying events
Inital events to determine qualifying players
1 - 2 February: Newport Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, Newport Tennis Club
8 - 9 February*: Graves Junior Wheelchair Tournament, Graves Tennis Club
8 - 9 March: Lee Valley Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre
5 - 6 April*: Newport Junior Wheelchair Tournament, Newport Tennis Club
26 - 27 April: Loughborough Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, Loughborough University
*indicates Junior Qualification events
Qualifiers for the National Finals
Players who are successful then qualify for the National Finals
6 x men (winner & runner up)
6 x women (winner & runner up)
4 x juniors (winner & runner up)
*If the same player wins multiple events, an additional lucky loser will be added
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 3-9 August 2025.
- Player entry will be on a first come, first served basis.
- There must be a minimum of 3 players/pairs in the venue stage for the winner(s) to be eligible for the next stage of the competition.
- All players must have an ITF World Tennis Number between the following ranges at the time of the venue stage event they are competing in:
- 14U Singles: 32.0-40.9
- 18U Doubles: 28.0-40.9
- 19+ Doubles: 25.0-40.9
- Junior players are eligible to play in both the singles and/or doubles pathway. However, players will only be able to compete in one event at the National Finals. i.e. If they qualify for the singles and doubles, they will need to decide which one they compete in and withdraw from the other.
- If two players pair up and one of the players subsequently withdraws or is unable to take part in the next stage of the competition, the whole pair are withdrawn from the event (reserve players may not come in to make up a pair).
- Any players that have previously received any professional tennis ranking points are not eligible to take part.
For a full list of rules and further information, see the organiser guide below, under the resources tab.
The majority of County Finals will be played on the weekend of 28 and 29 June, however, some County Finals will be played on other weekends. Please note, County Finals in Scotland will be played over the weekend of 14 and 15 June.
Area Finals will be taking place over the weekend of 21 and 22 June.
A full list of County/Area Finals locations and dates are coming soon.
Play Your Way to Wimbledon National Finals take place at Wimbledon from 3-9 August 2025:
- 14U Singles – 3 – 7 August
- 18U Doubles - 5 – 8 August
- Adult Doubles - 6 – 9 August
- Disability Pathways – 8 – 9 August
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:
View previous winners here.