THE ‘KONTA EFFECT’ SEES SURGE IN BRITS PICKING UP TENNIS RACQUETS

As Johanna Konta gets set to take on Venus Williams today on centre court, the UK’s leading health and racquets club, David Lloyd Clubs, reports a surge in popularity amongst the nation picking up tennis racquets and taking to the court. Inspired by Konta’s success, David Lloyd Clubs have reported 27% year on year increase of members changing their memeberships from fitness to racquets since last month. 

The club, which operates 35% of the UK’s indoor tennis courts has also seen a further  7.5% increase in the numbers of children aged 5 to 13 years signing up for its All Stars tennis lessons since this time last year. With 16,005 children playing weekly across the country, there is a high chance that the next tennis superstar is already perfecting their swing, following in the footsteps of the likes of Kyle Edmund who trained at David Lloyd Hull as a child.

 Whilst the nation sits down with a bowl of strawberries and cream to watch Johanna today, no doubt the members who met Konta recently at David Lloyd Raynes Park last month will be cheering the loudest. She paid the club a visit to crown the champions of the Jaguar tennis championships following months of dedication.

To further encourage youngsters to play the game, David Lloyd Clubs are supporting the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) Tennis for Kids campaign, which sees 25 of David Lloyd Clubs across the UK offering a free six week free tennis course for 5-8 year olds in the weeks running up to the school holidays.

David Bulgin, group racquets manager for David Lloyd Clubs said; “We’ve seen a boost in racquets participation in the last month alone so, Konta has certainly inspired a nation of tennis players. We expect the interest in the sport to grow further – just in the past week we have seen a 30% increase in visits to the tennis page on our website so we expect to see even busier courts soon.”

“We hope Konta’s success will also encourage more young girls to take up tennis too, a passion we share with coach to our coaches, Judy Murray. Tennis is a sport that everybody can try, whether they want to play socially or competitively, it’s great for both fitness and agility. We wish Johanna the best of luck!’ 

 David Lloyd Club’s summer tennis drive includes hosting the LTA’s Great British Tennis Weekend 2015, with the final weekend on 22^nd and 23^rd July.

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Note to editors: For further information about this press release, contact the David Lloyd Leisure press office on 01707 289833/34 or email [email protected] .

About David Lloyd Leisure Group

Including The Academy Harrogate and Malaspina, the David Lloyd Leisure Group has 111 clubs -  98 clubs in the UK and a further 13 clubs across Europe, comprising its two brands David Lloyd Clubs and Harbour Clubs (of which there are three -  Chelsea, Notting Hill and Kensington). 

• On 1 June 2017 it acquired 14 UK health and racquets clubs from Virgin Active as well as opened its third Harbour Club at Kensington following a £5.5m investment and redevelopment programme. It also announced it had exchanged contracts to buy The Park Club in Chiswick, London and The Academy Club in Harrogate.
• It has approximately 570,000 members and employs around 8100 people.  This includes an expert health and fitness team of over 2000 while it contracts the services of more than 680 tennis professionals.
• Across all clubs, David Lloyd Leisure has over 180 swimming pools (of which half are indoor) and offers over 13,000 exercise classes per week.
• Every week over 25,000 children learn to swim at David Lloyd Leisure, 16000 children learn to play in the Tennis All Stars Coaching Programme.
• David Lloyd Club’s racquets facilities are unparalleled with over 1000 tennis courts as well as over 400 badminton and squash courts.
• Additional facilities include health and beauty spas, club lounges with free internet access, crèches, nurseries and specialist sports shops.