Young Londoners experience world class tennis at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown
• 2 MINUTE READ
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS), an innovative and fast-paced format of professional tennis, brought its high-energy competition to London offering a new generation of tennis fans the chance to witness world class athletes up close.
Conceived by renowned French coach Patrick Mouratoglou during the pandemic, UTS has since become a highlight of the tennis season, known for its modern rules, high-intensity atmosphere, and suspense-filled matches.
Through the Rally Together London initiative and the LTA Tennis Foundation Charity Network - young people and community activators from across the capital got to experience the event first-hand and were able to watch world class players such as David Goffin and Andrey Rublev in action.
Australian Alex de Minaur secured a special place in the young UTS Tour history by winning the UTS Grand Final for a second year in a row against Casper Ruud from Norway at the Copper Box Arena in Stratford.
Rally Together London was launched during this summer’s HSBC Championships at The Queen’s Club. It is a three-year partnership between the LTA and Mayor of London which aims to make tennis more accessible to young people across the capital. It will see an investment of £500,000 over the three years and aims to introduce 5,500 young people from under-represented groups to tennis and train and deploy 250 people from similar groups into the tennis workforce.
In partnership with the Mayor of London, Rally Together London is not only opening doors to the sport but also providing inspiring experiences that help young people and community activators build real passion for tennis.
Shane McCullough, LTA Deliver Manager, said: “In partnership with the Mayor of London, Rally Together London is not only opening doors to the sport but also providing inspiring experiences that help young people and community activators build real passion for tennis.
“Bringing them to see some of the world’s best players compete in the fun, fast-paced UTS format is especially powerful for newer, younger audiences who may not have followed the sport before. It’s the kind of moment that can spark lasting enthusiasm and strengthen the engagement of tennis across community venues throughout the capital.”
Badu, who is an LTA Tennis Foundation funded partner and part of Rally Together London, aims to make tennis more accessible to young people across London by breaking down barriers to participation. They were one of the groups who attended UTS and had the opportunity to get on court for a photo with match 1 winner, Ugo Humbert, nicknamed “The Commander’’ for the weekend.
Kevin Badu, Head of Delivery said: “The team enjoyed the day and the atmosphere was great and inclusive. It was extremely exciting being in the presence of a few pro players. The tennis event itself was great; the DJ & MC added to the spectacle.
“The rules of the game really resonate with community coaches who have to adapt to different environments. Events such as this do motivate and inspire young people and aspiring athletes. They can see first-hand where they want to be and hopefully get the opportunity to interact with their heroes.’’
In addition to funding organisations through the Grant Making Framework, the LTA Tennis Foundation offers unique opportunities to its partners across the year, with UTS being one of them and six different community groups took up the ticket offer.
Our guests also included another LTA Tennis Foundation funded partner, Access to Sports, who deliver targeted programmes directly addressing some of the social and economic issues that impact London’s underserved communities. Other funded partners enjoying the sessions included Get Set 4 Tennis, and the Change Foundation. Grove Adventure Playground from Lambeth were also at the sessions.
Joseph Boooker from Grove Adventure Playground said it helped create much needed role models for their clients and inspired their coaches too. He said: “It pushes them to dream bigger.
“Watching the tennis live was incredible - you don’t realise how fast and powerful it is until you’re right there. Seeing the players up close was so exciting. It felt like we were part of the action. You can hear everything - the shots, the players talking - it makes it so much more real.”
Tom Gibbins, Head of Foundation Development said: “We would like to thank UTS for providing tickets for some of our funded partners. It is fantastic to be able to offer groups the opportunity to attend live tennis events like this - for some, it would have been their first time experiencing it”.
Find out more about Rally Together London: Mayor and LTA partner to open tennis up to thousands more Londoners
LTA Tennis Foundation
Head to the LTA Tennis Foundation pages to find out more about the chairty's missions to improve lives through tennis.
