Check back soon for all the latest local and international tennis news.
April (updated17.4.26)
Spring is in the air and most of the days are providing excellent weather for tennis. Please do not forget to give our club sessions a go. We would especially like to see new members and those who usually just play with friends and family joining the sessions on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings.
We hope to return to competitive tennis in Winter 2026 with our new Team Captain Adrian Sainsbury. Please let him know if you are interested in representing the club. Matches typically take place at weekends and result in a friendly and enjoyable encounter with neighbouring clubs. No match fees are charged.
The Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami) was achieved by both Jannick Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka. Sinner then went on to win the Monte Carlo title, at the start of the clay court season, beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final and taking his World no. 1 spot.
Jack Draper is still struggling with injury and has made a stuttering start to competition, losing his GB no. 1 spot to Cameron Norrie in the process. Emma Raducanu continues to frustrate her fans with her variable performances, frequent injuries and coaching changes. She is currently ranked World no. 29 Britain’s no. 2, Sonay Kartal performed well at Indian Wells, beating two seeded players before retiring with an injury, which is continuing to hamper her progress. The outstanding recent British performance was in the Billie Jean King Cup, when the GB team went to Australia without their top 4 players and crushed the Australians, who fielded players of far higher rankings, thanks to outstanding performances by 17- year-old Mika Stojsavljevic and Harriet Dart. We shall have to get our tongues around Mika’s name, as this London-born ex-USA Open Junior Champion is on the way up and at 185 cm she is one of the tallest players out there.
The French Open, begins on Sunday 24th May, which is also the final day of the football Premiership season (will Arsenal “bottle it”?).
We are particularly interested in recruiting female members to the Club Committee.
Hartfield is going to be the centre of world attention this year, with the centenary of the publication of the first Winnie-the-Pooh book. Your kids or grandkids will enjoy the Great Dragon Egg Hunt at Hever Castle, which is on until 19th April. The gardens there are spectacular. Our much-loved Vicar, Julie Sear, will retire on 26th April and will conduct services on her final weekend. For fans of the series, Friends! The Musical Parody comes to Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall from 20th to 25th April. Uckfield’s Springle Family Festival takes place on 25th April, with stories, music, crafts and African acrobats: it’s free! For our more energetic members, the Mid-Sussex Marathon Weekend is on 2nd to 4th May, consisting of a 10 mile run in East Grinstead, a 10 mile run in Haywards Heath and a 10k run in Burgess Hill. If you manage them all it totals the full 26.2 miles Marathon distance. I think that I’ll give it a miss this year!
If you have any news, or would like to comment on any of the above, I would be delighted to hear from you at madden47@hotmail.com.
Thanks,
Bernie M.
Hartfield Tennis Club 