A city worker who has played in numerous Local Tennis Leagues across North London believes the scheme is the perfect way to step away from the demands of a busy working life.

Sam Gruen emigrated to the UK from Paris seven years ago and has spent periods playing in the leagues in Haringey, Highbury Fields, Waterlow Park and New River.

Local Tennis Leagues is a nationwide initiative aimed at adults over the age of 18 who use public parks and facilities and want to play friendly, competitive tennis.

Designed to create a unique playing experience of mixed-sex singles and doubles matches, as well as women’s-only leagues, the Local Tennis Leagues operate in all areas of the UK and represent a revolution in public and park tennis.

After signing up, players create their own online account where they receive the contact details of their opponents, which allow them to schedule matches as well as receive regular updates, reminders and incentives to play. 

And for Gruen, a former fencer, competing in a local tennis league has allowed him to meet new people in a friendly, yet competitive, environment.

“Local Tennis Leagues are good, because they’re in the city and easy to find,” said the 27-year-old.

“I’ve been playing tennis for years and years and when I moved to the UK seven years ago, I wanted to keep up with it.

“Socially, I’ve made a bunch of friends through the league and the games we play are probably more of a friendly nature than overly competitive – but they’re still focused on tennis which I guess is a good thing.

“And I still have a hit about with my friends who don’t play in the league, which is really good.

“It’s super easy to organise matches with other opponents through the online system.”

Aimed at everyday players who use parks and public courts, Local Tennis Leagues is among a number of initiatives supported by the LTA, the governing body of tennis in the UK.

All told, the organisation is investing more than £125 million in public access tennis, much of which will be spent on renewing public courts and ventures like Local Tennis Leagues have helped changed perceptions of tennis.

Through grassroots initiatives like this, the LTA is keen to demonstrate that tennis is anything but an elitist sport.

While the leagues embody a friendly ethos, all players are entitled to become British Tennis Members and have their results reported to the LTA for ratings.

And Gruen values the practicality of turning up to play in his local league, where he has faced opponents from different backgrounds and ethnicities.

“In the leagues, I’ve played people of different nationalities,” said Gruen, who currently plies his tennis career in the fifth division of the Highbury Local Tennis League.

“The leagues are easy to get to because they’re all over the city, I’d like to play in more grassroots competitions to boost my own LTA ranking.”

Are you looking to play more friendly, competitive singles matches? The next round of the Highbury Fields Tennis League begins on 16 November 2017.  To join, visitlocaltennisleagues.com/highburyfields and sign up before 13 November 2017. The rounds lasts eight weeks and costs £18 to join, but get 20% off the next round with promo code Save-P20.